Why Do New Car Tires Wear Out So Fast?
The comfort you experience when behind the steering wheel of a new car greatly influences buyer decision. But do you know it’s the OEM softer tires that give you the comfort and smoother ride you loved when you first took it out for a spin? For smoother rides during test drives, carmakers put on soft tires.
New car tires wear out so fast because carmakers put on soft rubber tires which do wear out fast. These tires are meant for better driving experience and not quality – it’s a marketing strategy by car manufacturers.
OE (Original Equipment) tires are the tires a new car is originally equipped with from the factory. They wear out faster compared to most of the replacement tires. Their tread life is comparatively shorter but ride comfort is high.
Soft rubber compound isn’t the only reason that determines how long a new car tire lasts. Driving style, incorrect tire pressure and improper wheel alignment are among other many reasons.
Reasons New Car Tires Don’t Last Long
A well maintained car tire should last between four to five years with average drive per year being 12,000 to 15,000 miles.
Reasons your tire won’t last for this long are:
1. Improperly Inflated Tires
Under or over inflated tires wear faster than correctly inflated tires. Under inflated tires cause premature wear on the tire shoulders. They also have higher traction which translates to more rapid wear. Due to larger surface area, the resistance between the tire and road is more.
Many are the times you see tire tread worn out at the center. Over inflating tires distorts the tire shape and rounds at the center area causing increased tear and wear as more weight is supported at the bulging area.
An overinflated tire will wear the tread most near the small part of the tire touching the ground. Besides excessive wear, continuously driving a car with worn out overinflated tires leads to blowouts, uncomfortable rides and reduces traction.
2. Failing to Rotate Tires
Tire rotation on a car makes the tires wear out evenly and thus make them last longer. Car tires are among the parts that must be replaced after a certain period of time.
A car tire estimated to go 60,000 miles if wear factors are controlled is likely to go 50,000 if it’s not rotated. To use the tires longer, car experts recommend rotating the tires after every six months or after 7,000 miles.
Evenness of the tread depth is all you need to observe rotating your car tires.
3. Improper Wheel Alignment
Among the common symptoms of improper wheel alignment is excessive tire wear and uneven wear. Do you know even news cars require wheel alignment? After riding your car for 621 miles or 1000 kilometers, a wheel alignment is necessary.
Driving a car with improper tire alignment makes each tire tread wear at uneven rate complicating tire rotation more. A brand new car direct from the manufacturer has its wheels aligned but immediately the wheels hit the road, misalignment starts to kick in. The end result is rapid tire wear.
If you are driving an SUV with all-terrain tires and do a little off-roading with it, you can expect alignment issues even sooner.
4. Poor Driving Habits
Applying emergency brakes and driving your car at high speed causes more friction between the tire and the road making the rubber softer. This makes the tires wear out faster.
Taking corners at high speed not only puts your life at risk but greatly damages the edges of the car tires. It makes the edges wear out faster than the center area of the tire.
How Long Do Tires Last on a New Car?
Different car tire manufacturers produce tires with different rubber quality and it determines how long tires last whether on a new or old car. Driving style and tire inflation standard are other factors that influence the time a new tire should last.
Typically, tires on a new car should last for 4-5 years.
How to Reduce the Wear on Your Car Tires?
Replacing car tires is expensive and every driver should take every necessary precaution to reduce tire wear. Some of the most effective and inexpensive tips you can apply are inflating tires to the recommended psi and the other is driving at an average speed and avoiding turning corners while driving at a high speed.
To reduce the wear on your car tires, first maintain the correct tire air pressure and keep monitoring, secondly observe good driving habits, then be consistent on wheel alignment and balancing and lastly rotate tires nearly after six months.
1. Rotate your car tires
Do you know how to rotate car tires? You don’t have to incur any cost when rotating tires. The general rule to follow when rotating tires is to use X-pattern for the front-wheel vehicles.
If you ride on a four-wheel drive car, use the rearward cross tire rotation pattern and your tires will take longer to wear out as the tires will wear out evenly.
2. Inflate and monitor tire air pressure
More often than anticipated, car tires lose air pressure slowly while driving. Without Tire Pressure Monitoring System TPMS, the possibility of driving the car with underinflated tires is high.
To avoid excessive tear and wear of car tires, inflate them correctly and keep monitoring tire air pressure when driving.
3. Avoid high speed
Driving at high speed all the time doesn’t make anyone the best driver or arrive faster. Sudden braking characterizes high-speed driving. These are bad driving habits and contribute to increased tire wear.
Avoiding driving at high speed will reduce your car tire’s rate of tear and wear. Driving at a normal speed, won’t make the tires get heated due to high friction, and the rubber is soft thus resulting in more rapid tire wear.
Conclusion
All new car tires are made of a rubber compound – the difference is the rubber softness. OEM tires are usually more soft compared to most replacement tires.
To ensure tires endure to their recommended tire life expectancy, observe the four car maintenance practices and tips; inflate tires correctly, observe good driving habits, keep car tires aligned and balanced, and lastly rotate tires as recommended above.