Tires that actually last

I bought some Yokohama tires at Discount *ires.

They have a 60K warranty.

But after 15K miles, the tire tread indicator is already showing.

Are there tires that actually last to their rated warranties?

Thanks, Andy

Reply to
AK
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I get 80K out of my OEM fitments as a rule. Maybe you should try doing fewer burnouts?

Reply to
Xeno

Are the worn tires on the front? If so, your toe-in or alignment might be the cause of tire wear.

Reply to
root

Most *decent tyre places* will do a wheel alignment check at the same time new tyres are fitted, especially if the existing tyres show evidence of alignment issues. Every time I've had new tyres fitted, a wheel balance and alignment was a requirement for any warranty expectation. Need to start the tyre life from a known point. FWIW, any alignment should begin with a steering and suspension *condition check*.

Reply to
Xeno

The tires are on the front and the back tires are also showing the treadwear indicator.

The tires have been routinely rotated and balanced.

No one has said that any brand has been good?

Does that mean all tire manufactures lie about mileage?

Andy

Reply to
AK

IMO, mileage estimates seem to be for straight line, 50 mph, constant temp and load. I got Aspen Touring from NTB for my 06 Kia. Aspen reviews are really bad. Nearly all say that 15k-30k miles on a

55k mile warranty tire is end of life for them. However, mine have about 15k miles now and hardly any visible wear. A little rounding on the fronts. 440 tread, A temp, A trac. I drive Houston freeways from the west side to the east side and back, and 1 mile to Walmart, so my driving conditions are probably similar to yours.
Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

What? At 15K miles? One rotate at most at that mileage, if that.

Yokohama are reasonable. I use OEM, I avoid cheapies, ie. Chinese rubbish. A lot of the cheapies actually last *longer* but that's because the rubber isn't as flexible and the grip, as a direct consequence, is terrible.

Exaggerate, maybe, lie, not usually. As noted elsewhere, those mileage tests aren't done under average highway conditions.

As I stated previously, ease up on the burnouts.

Reply to
Xeno

In the past, most of our driving was high density city but included freeways. We now live in a rural city and we suffer more from camber scrub as a direct consequence of the many tight intersections in this place. Not much can be done about the camber scrub short of regular tyre rotation.

I'm not easy on my tyres but I still get quite good mileage. How someone could wear out a set of Yokohamas at 15K is beyond my comprehension short of, as I've stated, deliberate abuse.

Reply to
Xeno

I just remembered something.

They are doing a 5 yr road work project and there are a lot of places where I slow down to go over raised parts of the road.

It's may be causing faster wear.

Andy

Reply to
AK

The wear pattern will tell you exactly what is going on.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

While the manufacturer stamps the tires with the treadwear indicator, they do so following an exacting driving procedure handed to them (AFAIK) by the DOT and/or the NHTSA to be run always on a specific San Angelo TX test course always with a specific driving pattern for all tires being tested.

Let me dig that test track information up... o

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That document is labeled "TP-UTQG-W-01" US DOT NHTSA o "Procedures for tire treadwear testing"

Skimming that document there is a Test Program Overview at section 1-12. "The tires will then be labeled, inspected, mounted onto rims, balanced and then placed onto the test vehicle. The test vehicle will be ballasted to achieve the required loading of the tires. The vehicles will be driven over the established 400 mile course utilizing the prescribed driving technique for a total of 7,200 miles. After each 800 miles, the tire pressure and tire depth will be measured, the tire position will be rotated, and the vehicle's front end alignment will be adjusted when required. At the completion of the test the wear rates of each tire will be calculated."

And here is a course overview at section 5-12: "The course consists of 3 loops as follows: 1. Southern Loop 2. Eastern Loop 3. Northwestern Loop

I had originally thought it was a test 'track' but skimming the document shows it's actually real roads and intersections such as STOP at FM388 for the Calibrated Mile and U-Turn at the Camp Hudson Historical Marker, and then drive on US277 for 88 miles, then drive on Sonora Road for 214 miles, and stop at FM388 & FM2334, etc.

There's a map of the three loops which looks like a bow tie around a Christmas present, where the southern end is just a bendy ribbon while the two northern ends are both clearly large loops.

Anyway, my quick summary from a quick skim is that it's on "regular" roads in Texas, where it's regular driving (they even tell the driver what the braking & yield procedures are in the document).

When they check treadwear, they check it at 6 marked locations, starting at the DOT number avoiding treadwear indicator bars.

It's not all straight but it's not all curves either. o It sure does seem like it's seven thousand miles of "normal driving", albeit I live on a mountain so none of that is covered in this test.

See also: o Does the macadem road surface have a great effect on tire wear?

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o Questions about mounting & balancing new LT tires on new steel rims at home (match mounting marks, red dots, yellow dots, & spacers)
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o Clare, Xeno.... did you ever have a batch of tires that just wouldn't seal after the final bead?
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o Just mounted & static balanced my 30th tire in about five years - saving over $400
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o Can you return a tire you don't like for full refund?
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o What metric do you use to estimate remaining brake pad life on a typical economy sedan?
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Reply to
Arlen Holder

Hi Xeno,

As you know, I only get about 20K miles per tire, particularly if I don't rotate them every 5K miles and _flip_ them on the rim every 10K miles.

But my driving (as is the driving of all my neighbors) is considered extreme, due to the high temporary camber on the inside front tire on the downhill side (as you're well aware of).

Given these extreme conditions, I rotate at no later than 5K, and I should probably rotate even sooner, as I should probably flip them on the rims about every 5K instead of every 10K.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

Thank you for all the links. The test track info was interesting to me in that I have driven all those routes several times. About the only tire hazard there is the occasional armadillo.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Hi Paul,

Given you've seen those roads, would you call them part of a "normal" driving regimen?

(i.e., fast, slow, stop, go, turn left, uturn, turn right, brake, etc.)

Reply to
Arlen Holder

I would consider the test loops to be normal driving conditions for central west Texas only. All of the test routes are rural and San Angelo is a small town. Rural roads in Texas are usually in superb condition without potholes and are essentially flat with long sweeping curves. Its easy to go 100+ mph for long distances. The bad part of the test loops is the summer temperature. 115F air temp in the shade at

5' above grade in the summer and 150+F on the roadway. I used to live and work in the area. There is no comparison to Houston's bumper to bumper traffic with corresponding slamming on the brakes, making sharp turns, and running over road debris. If the test loops predict 50k miles usage from a tire then I'd probably half that for Houston, or 25k miles. However, the test loops would be good for a comparison / ratio between tires instead of using for a discrete number.
Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Thanks for answering the question, as my only other option was to use Google Maps Street View, but I prefer your answer, which I accept.

Given that the test loop is only somewhat realistic (at least it's run on real roads instead of on a track), I suspect most of us will _not_ get the mileage stamped on the tire carcass itself (i.e., the TREADWEAR rating).

Of course, miles are _never_ directly stated on the sidewall - they're just numbers like 100 or 200 or 300, etc., but we care about miles, so I try to convert the 100 to about 10,000 miles, the 200 to about 20,000 miles, etc.

Me? o I get 400 TREADWEAR tires and they last about 20K miles

But I drive in what Xeno would agree as "extreme conditions", in that I'm miles up on a mountain road, so the camber scrub of the inside tire's outside corner is immense and visible within 100 miles (I've posted photos of that in the other threads I cited).

The only times miles are "stated" is in the warranty, which, I've found out the hard way, is almost impossible to make any use of due to the conditions they specify in the warranty costing more than the price of the tire.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

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