Why is My Tire Tread Worn Unevenly?

Tires are an investment that you likely expect to last for years of regular driving, which is why noticing uneven wear on your tread can be frustrating. Uneven tread wear leads to decreased longevity, causing more frequent replacements despite much of the tire still having adequate tread remaining. 

Ensuring that your tires are experiencing even wear as you drive is important to protecting yourself from premature replacements, but what issues lead to this problem in the first place? In this article, we’ll cover the most common causes of uneven tread wear and how you can avoid it in the future!

Underinflated/Overinflated Tires

Maintaining the proper PSI in your tires is important to ensuring the tread is contacting the road evenly. 

When tires are overinflated, the center of the tread will bulge out and receive the majority of the wear. Similarly, underinflating the tires will have the opposite effect and lead to rapid wear on the outside of the tread rather than the inside. 

The best way to prevent incorrect tire pressure is to check your tire pressure monthly and adjust as needed. Newer vehicles may even show you the exact pressure of each tire on the dashboard, allowing you to catch improperly inflated tires before they can cause uneven wear. 

Misaligned Wheels

Consistent wheel alignments are important for keeping all four wheels aligned perfectly straight. Alignments consist of using equipment to precisely align each of the many suspension components connected to the wheels, ensuring that each wheel is perfectly straight.

Over time, these suspension components will gradually fall out of alignment, allowing your wheels to become misaligned with the road. The irregular wear your tread will experience depends on the severity of your suspension’s misalignment, but will often cause bands of excessive wear on certain parts of your tire. 

In general, it’s best to have your wheel aligned every 7,000-10,000 miles or about every year. If you suspect your vehicle has fallen out of alignment, you should have it inspected by a trusted professional to avoid further wear.

Unbalanced Wheels

Over time with regular driving, it’s possible that the wheel weights keeping your wheel and tire assembly balanced during rotation may detach and fall from the vehicle, causing an imbalance in your wheel and potentially leading to irregular wear as the tire wobbles and fails to maintain full-contact with the road surface.

If you’re experiencing issues with your wheel balancing, it’s important to have it inspected and corrected by a trusted professional as soon as possible to avoid further tread wear and suspension wear. 

Worn or Failed Suspension Components

Like we mentioned above regarding wheel alignments, there are various interconnected suspension components that play a role in the alignment and control of the wheel. When one of these components experiences damage or failure from old-age, it can cause the wheel to contact the road unevenly, leading to irregular wear on your tread. 

When noticing unusual sounds or sensations from your suspension, such as squeaking or rubbing, it’s important to have your suspension system inspected as soon as possible to avoid further and expensive damage. 

Suspension & Alignment Services in Easton, MA

If you notice uneven tread wear on your tires, contact the friendly and knowledgeable team at Shoveltown Auto Service in Easton, MA for dependable suspension and alignment services! We serve the entire surrounding area, including Mansfield and Norton! Our ASE-Certified technicians have extensive experience in narrowing down the source of irregular tire wear, and will return yours to driving as it should. Give us a call or schedule online today to secure your appointment at Shoveltown Auto Service!