93 Probe GT Cupped tire

You have bad alignment. A bad strut, spring, or tie rod end could easily cause this bad alignment. If you still have the original struts or outer tie rod ends, replace them, and then get new tires and an alignment.

Hmmmmm....

Had an alignment when the tires were installed. Tie rods on the rear wheels of a front wheel drive? Haven't heard of that, guess I'll have to check. I do remember the tire on that side of the car was under inflated by ~10psi. I didn't discover it until after I had driven several hundered miles, I went on a long trip the day after they were installed, but, that was several thousands of miles ago.

FWIW... bad alignment will not cup a tire..... A bad shock or strut, out of balance or a tire just plain gone bad CAN cup a tire.

I do have a concern with the original poster saying his tires are bias ply.... While there *may* be some suppliers for reproduction type tires, I doubt that any of the "newer" players in tire supply bother with a bias ply construction and I seriously doub that any tire shop would have such a tire in an appropriate size in stock (since a bias ply would be something like a

Under or over inflation will have it's own particular wear characteristics.... but, an underinflated tire might also have suffered internal damage from overheating.

What we do know..... if we replace all the parts, at least one of them will be the faulty one.

If we are to give advice, we should consider it's content carefully.

Thanks Jim,

I thought I heard the installer say the tires were bias ply when I asked if they were steel belted radials and he said "no". Maybe he said nylon belted? How do I check? I know they are the modern size ratings.

Dumb question what does a cupped tire look like?! Does it baloon out looking like a big bump? anybody have any pictures

there's a so/so picture here:

Best way to describe it is to imagine the tire surface as water and cupped tires being a sharp edged wave "forming a slight cup". Can range in sizes

hope this helps

Thanks for the link Joe. I notice the pictures show a cupped tire with cups across the center. My tire place says mine is cupped on the inside edge only. Is this possible?

Yup, entirely possible,

In the realm of vehicles virtually everything is possible, one learns this as time passes (6 defective brand new cruise control modules in a row for the same car taught me that).

As did the Caravan who's rubber rad supports would soften when hot allowing the rad to drop onto the ignition wire causing a hot running stall out, but disappearing during 90% of the driving.

Have your suspension and alignment checked, buy some good new tires. Or... if it's an older beater, say "wow, neat" keep driving, then put some other cheapies on when these wear out. :-)