Alignment or my driving?

[naiku]

Yesterday on the way home it was pouring down with rain, and I found myself aquaplaning quite a bit. When I got home I took a look at my tires, and noticed uneven wear on the front tires. Annoyingly to the point that despite the middle of the tires having a lot of tread left, I am probably going to have to replace them soon.

The thing I am not sure about is if it is my alignment, or my driving / roads. My commute is 90 miles (round trip) of windy country roads, and while I don't speed around the corners as fast as I can, I do try to keep up a good speed. I am leaning towards it being a combination of driving and the roads, as on the drivers side front tire, the outside edge is worn far more than the inside edge, and on the passenger side it is the inside edge that is showing more wear.

I have not rotated my tires as often as I should have, but last time I rotated them, I saw the same type of wear, but not to the same extent. There is wear on both edges of the tires, but definitely more noticeable on the outside driver, inside passenger tire, as if I take far more left turns than I do right. It is only about 2" of wear width, I would say looking at the tread pattern its the outside/inside block worn. The tires have about 27-28k on them.

The most annoying part is I do not currently have money to buy new tires, and it sucks knowing there is so much tread left on the rest of the tire. So, alignment? or driving / roads?

Thanks.

[mr shickadance]

are you lowered on anything?
properly inflated?
have you hit anything signifacnt with your wheel like a curb or a speed bump at a high speed? it could knock your alignment off and cause wear

[CorneliusRox]

mine pulls one way or another from time to time. I think it is the road mixed with the tires mixed with the wind. because other times it goes straight at 100mph and on braking

[naiku]

are you lowered on anything?
properly inflated?
have you hit anything signifacnt with your wheel like a curb or a speed bump at a high speed? it could knock your alignment off and cause wear

Stock ride height, fairly certain properly inflated (but that is something I do plan to check). Also not hit anything significant, there are a few bumps on the roads I drive, but certainly nothing like a curb or speed bump. I do need to get the wheels balanced (wobble at 60mph), but it drives straight as an arrow. I can literally get on a straight road, take my hands off the wheel and it won't change direction at all.

[Inked]

mine pulls one way or another from time to time. I think it is the road mixed with the tires mixed with the wind. because other times it goes straight at 100mph and on braking

This exactly

[Stewy]

Worn outer edges are usually an indication of under-inflated tires. What PSI are you running?

[mr shickadance]

Stock ride height, fairly certain properly inflated (but that is something I do plan to check). Also not hit anything significant, there are a few bumps on the roads I drive, but certainly nothing like a curb or speed bump. I do need to get the wheels balanced (wobble at 60mph), but it drives straight as an arrow. I can literally get on a straight road, take my hands off the wheel and it won't change direction at all.

and a check of your tires, you should at least check them twice a season, once in the fall, and once in the spring as the temps change.....i mean the more the better obviously, but you should AT LEAST check them 2 a season

[VMRWheels]

Check the PSI on your tires and get them road force balanced. Flip your tires too, if you feel like it'd help.

[80sGuy]

Yesterday on the way home it was pouring down with rain, and I found myself aquaplaning quite a bit. When I got home I took a look at my tires, and noticed uneven wear on the front tires. Annoyingly to the point that despite the middle of the tires having a lot of tread left, I am probably going to have to replace them soon.

The thing I am not sure about is if it is my alignment, or my driving / roads. My commute is 90 miles (round trip) of windy country roads, and while I don't speed around the corners as fast as I can, I do try to keep up a good speed. I am leaning towards it being a combination of driving and the roads, as on the drivers side front tire, the outside edge is worn far more than the inside edge, and on the passenger side it is the inside edge that is showing more wear.

I have not rotated my tires as often as I should have, but last time I rotated them, I saw the same type of wear, but not to the same extent. There is wear on both edges of the tires, but definitely more noticeable on the outside driver, inside passenger tire, as if I take far more left turns than I do right. It is only about 2" of wear width, I would say looking at the tread pattern its the outside/inside block worn. The tires have about 27-28k on them.

The most annoying part is I do not currently have money to buy new tires, and it sucks knowing there is so much tread left on the rest of the tire. So, alignment? or driving / roads?

Thanks.

Whenever tires are worn unevenly like this, most certainly the culprit would be your alignment. Pulling to the right or left (due to crowned road surfaces) are pretty normal and does not lead to such premature wear. When was the last time you had your wheels aligned? It is recommended that you get an alignment whenever you put new tires and to rotate them very 6-8,000 miles thereafter to 'even out' the thread wear and to extend the life of your tires. I got some new tires (upgrade from OEM size) a little over a week ago and felt that my car was 'pulling' more towards the right, I then immediately had the alignment done the next day and it corrected the problem. Occasionally, it will either still steer to the right or left due to crowned surfaces but not 'pull' and it's perfectly normal.