Tire Wear

[jamjr]

My left front tire is wearing on the outside of the tire, but it's uniform around the whole tire. The rest of the tires are just fine. My allignment seems ok, and I've also checked the pressure and it's good too. Any ideas of what could be causing it or do you think that it could be my driving style? There are a couple of hard right turns that I make to and from work.

[Kermit]

What load index are your tires?

[aeropilot]

I found my left front tyre wear's out the quickest as well, which is why I now try and rotate them around as much as possible to even out the wear.
I always assumed it was because we have roundabouts here in the UK, which of course you don't have in the US.

[AeroNate]

Originally Posted by aeropilot

I always assumed it was because we have roundabouts here in the UK, which of course you don't have in the US.

Yes we do.
Massachusetts has quite a few. We just call them a rotary.

[bazwold]

Theres a tyre fitters in Leighton Buzzard (confusingly) called MK Tyres that knows when anyones come down from Milton Keynes because of the tyre wear pattern i.e outside edges of the front tyres worn. As mine are at the moment, pair of Falkens on the front fitted last year , probably less than 10,000 miles and sh*gged.
Milton Keynes has probably more roundabouts than any where I know of.

[jamjr]

Originally Posted by Kermit

What load index are your tires?

I don't exactly know what the load index is, but here are my tires.
Michelin Energy MXV4
215/55R16 V Speed Rated
I was going to rotate them, but the wear on that one tire went so quick from the last rotation that now it's not even worth it. And we do have a few roundabouts here too and but we call them traffic circles.
It's about time for new tires anyway, but I just wanted to see if there are other causes that I need to look out for. I'm pretty sure it's my driving style tho especially after reading other threads and seeing the same type of wear described. Maybe I'll run a bit more air pressure than normal to help with the loading....

[Eirian]

Originally Posted by bazwold

Theres a tyre fitters in Leighton Buzzard (confusingly) called MK Tyres that knows when anyones come down from Milton Keynes because of the tyre wear pattern i.e outside edges of the front tyres worn. As mine are at the moment, pair of Falkens on the front fitted last year , probably less than 10,000 miles and sh*gged.
Milton Keynes has probably more roundabouts than any where I know of.

i had falkens on aswell and they lasted bout the same, just crap tyres i think, i got kumho's on the mo and they seem alot better.

[Kermit]

Tyre sizes are made up of a number of different numbers and letters. For example tyre size 185/60 R 14 82 H is made up of the following information:

185 The tyre section width in millimetres
60 The aspect ratio in % (the height of the sidewall divided by the tyre's width)
R Denotes the tyre's construction type - in this case it's a radial
14 Rim diameter in inches
82 Load Index
H Speed Rating

The reason i ask is because SAAB changed the load index from 91 to 94XL (extra load) following complaints of excessive wear on the outside of the tyres. If you are running 91's this may partially explain why they are wearing in this manner.

[jamjr]

Thanks Kermit,

I'm still not sure what the load index is on my particular tire I can't find it online and I'm not about to go look at my tires in the weather we are having. However, I do know that those tires were the OEM tires put on that year ('99) in the states. I guess the last owner just kept with them for ease in tire buying. So, if those were OEM and Saab increased the load index from 91 to 94 I'd say that those tires aren't cutting it and that explains a lot of the wear.