5 Types of Tire Wear Explained

Tires are important components of your car as they make the contact with the road for and move the vehicle further on the road. These can assure you safer driving experience and a more comfortable ride. Maintenance of tires is necessary for their proper functioning. This includes inflating tries to correct pressure, correcting their alignment and keeping the balance of wheels and examining the depth of tire treads. All the factors are important but the later ‘tire tread’ is an indicator of tire integrity and vehicle performance. That makes sense to check tire treads frequently and on the regular basis. Here we are discussing about 5 types of tire wear.

The importance of Tire Tread Wear

The movement of a vehicle on the ground is dependent on many factors including the contact of tires with the ground. A vehicle runs smoothly when the tires grip the road in a proper way and maintain constant contact. The loss of grip can lead to the loss of the control of the vehicle. It can result in skidding.

Uneven or excessive wear of tire treads may reduce the vehicle’s ability to maintain and grip or traction of the road surface. Putting another way, the shallower the groove or tread, the greater is the tendency for water to push the tire off the surface of the ground resulting in the loss of control of the vehicle.

5 Types of Tire Wear

• Center Rib Wear

Center rib tire wear indicates the over inflation of tires wears. It can increase the pressure within the inner walls of the tire making the inner walls rigid. But, it can lead to reduction in the tire’s overall performance.

Another disadvantage of overinflating the tires is the reduction in contact patch. The air pressure will cause the center rib of the tire to swell. It restricts the contact patch to the center. This will result in increased fuel consumption.

The contact patch on the center can also result in an unstable ride. So, if you see excessive wear in the center that means you have overinflated your tires.

• Side or Both Shoulder Wear

It is the opposite of center rib wear where excessive wear is seen on the sides or shoulders. Often, it is caused due to under-inflation.

The constant underinflating of your tire is not only courting your shoulder or sides wear, you are also risking tire failure. It is because the underinflated tires increase the tire source area that is in contact with the ground.

Underinflated tires also result in poor handling of the vehicle.

• Cupping Wear

Cupping is a different kind of wear. You will notice patchy worn out sections on your tire. It is mostly brought by the irregular up and down movement of the wheel. The cupped tire can produce a very distinct rumbling noise at high speeds. It can be due to a bad suspension or shock absorber, problem in wheel alignment and vehicle balance.

• Flat Spot Wear

Flat spot wear indicates problem with the brakes. For example, driving the brake pedal straight to floor to avoid hitting an object can lead to skidding of the vehicle. As per the braking principle, the sudden braking stops the wheels from turning. However, it does not stop the forward movement of the car. So, the stationary tire will rub against the surface of the road. The skidded part of the tire will develop flat spot wear.

• Sidewall Wear

As the name indicates, this type of wear occurs at the sidewall of the tire. It is mostly caused due to poor driving and parking habits. It happens when tires rub against the curb.