Weird wear in center of front tires only

[Brain75]

On your first picture I see very little squish out, and you said that is only 30... not even the door sticker 32 (every vehicle I have is 32, so I kinda assume yours is too).... How confident are you in your tire gauge? and just one gauge? I think we all know that excessive wear in the center is overinflated... but that doesn't explain weird wear pattern. If you have a couple different gauges check em against each other. My first guess would be sun rot + overinflated. Kinda a stretch to just say that though, do you always park so the front are exposed to morning or evening sun and the rear are shaded?

You have a lot of meat left on the tire , especially for 8 years old... so much so I am kinda wow'd at how few miles you put on. Discount Tire here in Colorado will not repair, rotate, or even let you back on the road with anything older than 6 years. "Any tire over 6 years old is aged out and too dangerous for the road" according to them. My 48 (which is garaged) has no sun rot and is easily 15 year old tires. 6 years is ridiculously low to me, but on a vehicle that never gets relief from the sun I can see the new compounds getting brittle and starting to chunk out/fail early.

Parking consistently every time with that wheel cant as shown in the first pic, I can see how the driver's front would be getting all the sun in the world. Is there a big difference between passenger and driver front?

All 4 the same brand? My GM vehicle had michelins from the factory and I had a tire fail from "internal separation" the tire shop said, they replaced all 4 because it was a known bad batch. 2 more (michelin's) failed (less than 5k) and I went to a different tire shop and got a different brand. 5k miles later my last 2 michelins looked terrible - not like yours, but illustrates brand X sometimes just wear and look like almost crap right away.
As long as we are going there - are all 4 the same week/year or close? I have gotten a set of 4 "new" tires and 3 were made 2 months ago, one had been on the shelf for 2 years - oddball size.

One other thought for a road truck that doesn't see offroad... do you drive on a lot of macadam, or especially new macadam. (road made of crushed rock pressed into a tar substrate) Combine well aged tires, sun rot, and macadam roads the front (cause of the weight on the front) would be first to show the damage.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Usually wear just in the middle is over inflation.

Not sure why its chewed up though. Unless its overinflated and putting to much stress on the rubber as you roll over pebbles and shit

 

[pjtoledo]

slow speed grinding as you park against the curb is my vote.
nothing wrong with parking against the curb on a slope, try turning the tires during a 3-4 ft roll.

 

[RussAdams]

The date codes are all the same. And they are all continental same model tires.

Cross checked all my guages and they agree within one psi. Good gages.

Here's the door sticker showing 30 psi. Sorry it's a tad blurry.

 

[RussAdams]

<snip>
do you always park so the front are exposed to morning or evening sun and the rear are shaded?
<snip>
Parking consistently every time with that wheel cant as shown in the first pic, I can see how the driver's front would be getting all the sun in the world. Is there a big difference between passenger and driver front?

The passenger side gets the morning and afternoon sun. Sun rises on right corner passenger side and sets on left corner driver side.

The (us) driver's side is in shade pretty much all day.

Both front tires are wearing pretty much identically.

The rear tires look fine. No chunks missing at all.

Very weird!

 

[Uncle Gump]

The passenger side gets the morning and afternoon sun. Sun rises on right corner passenger side and sets on left corner driver side.

The (us) driver's side is in shade pretty much all day.

Both front tires are wearing pretty much identically.

The rear tires look fine. No chunks missing at all.

Very weird!

Rotate the tires and park differently for a couple weeks. Check wear...

 

[Brain75]

Still a little curious about the macadam roads.... brand new macadam around here is rolled with a steam roller, which breaks the stones up exposing sharp edges.

slow speed grinding as you park against the curb is my vote....

If I am reading what he is saying, he is suggesting/asking if you come to a complete stop, then while stopped turn the steering wheel to angle tires for final position - essentially twisting the front tires in place, grinding em against the asphalt/gravel whatever (with all the weight of the engine sitting on em to boot) .... since that is the 2nd most significant thing the front is doing differently than the rear I would kinda guess there as well... combine the age and the stress of being twisted every time you park.

 

[Curious Hound]

Maybe your neighbor comes over in the middle of the night and whittles at them with a dull pocket knife.

 

[pjtoledo]

or an ex?

 

[RussAdams]

Still a little curious about the macadam roads.... brand new macadam around here is rolled with a steam roller, which breaks the stones up exposing sharp edges.



If I am reading what he is saying, he is suggesting/asking if you come to a complete stop, then while stopped turn the steering wheel to angle tires for final position - essentially twisting the front tires in place, grinding em against the asphalt/gravel whatever (with all the weight of the engine sitting on em to boot) .... since that is the 2nd most significant thing the front is doing differently than the rear I would kinda guess there as well... combine the age and the stress of being twisted every time you park.

The road out front is pretty smooth and has not been repaved since I moved in. But yes, I am coming to a dead stop, turning the front wheels out away from the curb, then rolling back to rest on the curb.

I'll modify my approach... angle out while slowly rolling forward then let it roll back. I'm guessing that's the culprit. Old rubber, lots of weight and not moving. Hmmmm.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I wouldn't sweat it, not like whatever you are doing is drastically wearing your tires out.

 

[Curious Hound]

I wouldn't sweat it, not like whatever you are doing is drastically wearing your tires out.

I thought you were going to say “It will eventually stop doing that.”

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I thought you were going to say “It will eventually stop doing that.”

Not with how he wears tires out...

 

[MaicoDoug]

I wonder where you got those tires from, looks like those fake china knock offs. For both tires to show the exact same pattern, I'd say it's the tire. Take it to a Continental Tire shop. They will not be impressed. It has been a popular issue.

 

[RussAdams]

I wonder where you got those tires from, looks like those fake china knock offs. For both tires to show the exact same pattern, I'd say it's the tire. Take it to a Continental Tire shop. They will not be impressed. It has been a popular issue.

If they are a knockoff they did a very good job. The tires appear well made. I doubt they are fake.

The tires came with the truck when I bought it. EIGHT years and 40,000 miles ago.

So they are getting old enough to consider replacing based on age alone.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll ask my local Firestone station what they think.

Edit: Double checked, and these tires are eight years ago, not six.