What Causes Excessive or Uneven Tyre Wear?

It is normal for the tread on your tyres to gradually degrade over time but excessive or uneven tyre wear may be a sign that something is wrong with your Mercedes, Audi or BMW.

It may even point towards your vehicle becoming unsafe especially in adverse weather conditions.

It maybe that your Mercedes, Audi or BMW has an issue with tyre tracking, wheel balancing and alignment. Your suspension could also be damaged which with the state of roads in Rayleigh, Essex wouldn’t be a surprise.

Signs of Uneven Tyre Wear

It’s normal for the tread to wear out but not excessively or unevenly. You should review signs of abnormal tyre wear to ensure your car remains legal and safe. A few main things to look for:

  • The vehicle dragging or pulling to one side
  • Visible tyre wear
  • Vibration on the steering wheel
  • A sawtooth appearance on the edges of the tyre
  • Faster tyre wear on the outer edges than in the middle
  • Faster wear of front or rear tyres on front-wheel-drive cars
  • Excessive tyre wear on one side
  • Cups or dips in the tread

Driving Style

Your driving style can easily cause uneven tyre wear and this includes sharp cornering, hitting the kerb whilst driving, wheel spinning and excessive braking. Potholes are a major cause (especially in Rayleigh, Basildon and Southend in Essex) for cancer as they can affect your alignment and speed up tyre wear.

Wrong Tyre Pressure

If a tyre is not inflated correctly, it will start to wear faster and unevenly.

Correctly inflated tyres help optimise the distribution of the vehicle load, acceleration, braking, and cornering forces. If the tyre pressure is too low or too high, the contact area of the tyre tread is not optimised to handle the specific task at hand. As a result, different parts on the tyre tread may wear away quicker or abnormally.

Incorrect Wheel Alignment

Tyre alignment or wheel alignment is the adjustment of the car’s steering and suspension. Whilst this includes the tyres and wheels, it also adjusts the angles of the tyres and their contact with the road.

Common irregular tyre tread wear conditions from improper alignment, over-inflation, under-inflation or overload include the following:

How to Minimise Uneven Tyre Wear

The following are ways to minimise tyre wear.

  • Avoid potholes where possible as this can knock a tyre out of alignment
  • Do not bump into kerbs at awkward angles as it can also affect the tyre alignment
  • Check the pressure and tread of all your tyres at least once a month, before going on a long trip carrying extra load.
  • Don’t over-inflate your tyres and always follow the manufacturer’s specifications
  • Examine the tyre wear pattern regularly to see if certain tyres or areas are showing excessive or uneven tyre wear
  • Don’t replace one tyre at a time

Another way is to book your car for a regular service wheel alignment and balancing in with your Mercedes, Audi or BMW specialist. We can provide these services in  Rayleigh, Essex. We are conveniently situated for easy travel from Basildon, Hockley, Southend, Rochford and Wickford which are all within 30 minutes of us.