Low Profile Goodyear's - Bad inside wear :(

I don't get it :dunno:

This is my 1st set of low profile high performance tires, so I don't know what kills 'em, how long they last, or what causes this problem.

The inside of all four tires has worn right through to the steel belts, and now one is leaking air.

I know the outside edges of a regular profile tire will wear if the air pressure is constantly low, but that's both edges. So, what would cause this set to wear through on just the inside??

I'm pretty sure I have 36psi in all four, and the marking on the tire says 44psi MAX. Maybe I should have been keeping them up to 44 :dunno:

Also, this is my daily driver, 125 miles per day, most of that above 80mph, not scared of the twisties. This set is almost due for replacements anyway, their up to 45k miles, and slipping a bit in the tight turns. I just need to know what I'm doing wrong to make the insides wear through so I don't screw up the next set.

BTW.. any specific brands stand above the pack for replacements ?

http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1529/dsc00232qa5.th.jpg (http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/1529/dsc00232qa5.jpg) http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/594/dsc00229rr6.th.jpg (http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/594/dsc00229rr6.jpg) http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/396/dsc00230lh4.th.jpg (http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/396/dsc00230lh4.jpg) http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/2628/dsc00231cg5.th.jpg (http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/2628/dsc00231cg5.jpg) http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/4939/dsc00234di6.th.jpg (http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/4939/dsc00234di6.jpg) http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8734/dsc00235sk1.th.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8734/dsc00235sk1.jpg)

In order to diagnose this we are going to need to know what the original tire size was on your vehicle and the specified pressure for that size. These can be found on the vehicle's placard which is usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box.

It would also be good if you gave us the year / make / model. It's obviously not a Towncar!!

From that we can determine if the tire is properly sized for the vehicle. If it is not, then we are a step closer to figuring out what you can do to fix the problem.

BTW, my gut says that you aren't using enough pressure, and the photos seem to confirm this - too much deflection for spirited driving.

Thanks, My Bad... I'm always lecturing folks on posting their Yr/model and now look what I'm doing :embarrassed:

The car is 2006 Mazda3 4door Sedan, w/ Goodyear Eagle RS-A P205/50 R17 V88
45,000 miles on the odometer, All four have the same problem.

These were installed from the factory / dealer as a sport package.
Not to say they know what their doing, but they do it to allot of cars....

After inspecting all the suspension components, and looking around for any obvious rubbing, everything looks fine. Some things are a bit 'close' to the tires on the rear's but no rubbing. Also, these are factory wheels so there's no 'spacer' issues. I'm beginning to think the 44max also means 44min.

Here's the shots of the factory stickers, and a few others.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7056/dsc00236dm7.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7056/dsc00236dm7.jpg) http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8900/dsc00237yl0.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8900/dsc00237yl0.jpg)
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9817/dsc00238uv8.th.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9817/dsc00238uv8.jpg) http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8302/dsc00241de7.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8302/dsc00241de7.jpg) http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8768/dsc00242it7.th.jpg (http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8768/dsc00242it7.jpg)
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8193/dsc00243uk8.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8193/dsc00243uk8.jpg) http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8103/dsc00244gl1.th.jpg (http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8103/dsc00244gl1.jpg)

I would venture a guess that whoever did the alignment may have screwed up the job. Just a guess.

Yeah, I hear ya...

I'm being told by other folks too that negative camber is designed into this car to improve cornering abilities, and 36psi was wrong, I should have been at the max, ie 44psi.

Also, I've only rotated these at 10k intervals, some folks say 5k is best for this type of tire.

How many miles do you have on these tires anyway? From the photos they seem to be pretty worn down.

Oh yeah, their shot all right.. their going on 45k miles too.

I was waiting till the wear bands came all the way up before I replaced them, but then this was discovered.

I was looking over at Tirerack.com reading the comments for this specific tire, most have negative comments regarding the mileage. One guy said he got only 17k from a set. I get many replies elsewhere saying Goodyear = Good for a year.

I'm not too sure what brand to go with on the replacements.. whatever they are, I'm keeping the pressure at max if their low profiles.

Here's one more close up:

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3871/dsc00251jm1.th.jpg (http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3871/dsc00251jm1.jpg)

Yeah, those are shot, I’d be worried about driving in the rain with those. Anyway, picking a tire for one’s car is subjective as hell. Are you thinking about performance or all season tires?

Well, I occasionally find myself hitting the canyon roads pretty hard, and I have a tough time keeping the speed under 80mph elsewhere. I've gotten really accustomed to that 'cornering on rails' feeling. I really don't like the screeching / slipping feeling of non performance tires. My governor kicks in at 118 so speed rating isn't a big concern.

So, it's going to be some sort of performance tire that wont let loose when I turn.

I'm not going to use the Eagle RS-A this time around... I want to see what else is out there. If I'm only going to get 30/40k miles from these tires I'll have plenty of opportunity to try them all. I cant knock the RS-A they really stick to the road, and now I'm learning 45k miles from these was great.

I've had several recommendations for Kumho Ecsta ASX ultra high performance all season tires. At Tirerack.com (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Ecsta+ASX) the consumer ratings and comments are pretty good as well. They list for $376 + $43 delivery then add about another $60 mounting / balancing; that's less than $500 to get back in the mix; I can do the TPMS calibration myself as long as they don't toast the sensors.

I have Michelin's on the Town Car.. Their very good IMO. I haven't looked at the consumer ratings yet for their performance styles.

Thanks for the info and the photos - very helpful!!

I agree that camber is the problem, but you might want to look at the toe in as well. I now think that is the problem and not the pressure.

Also, if you are doing spirited driving, the ackerman might not be appropriate, but ackerman is not easily changed and requires quite a bit of diagnostice work to confirm.

I think your first step should be an alignment. BTW, "in spec" isn't good enough. My experience says that the alignment has to be within the middle half of the tolerance.

Oh, and 45K on a set of OE high performance tires is excellent.

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations.... It's nice to see some positive results from posting here, the Town Car and Mazda3 piece of this board is a bit lonely :)