Weird tire situation ?

You worry too much.
It sounds like your analysis is probably correct.
So replace them and don't look back.

 

how much tread is left, have you measured it? depending on your driving style and rain, it might be too little

 

There's a difference between the amount of tread required to pass a visual check of the wear bars and the amount of tread needed to displace standing water at your preferred highway speeds.

Might also be worth checking alignment, particularly rear axle.

 

Mine have 49k miles on them but they are getting low on tread. Gonna replace them before the rainy season.

 

I have noticed that effect with every set of tires I've ever had and paid attention to, in several different brands. I watch the tread wear and compare to the tread wear rating and projected miles and even when that seems to be right on track, the grip, even on clean dry pavement, takes a much earlier nosedive.

I've read some explanations saying the rubber compound is not uniformly grippy through the full depth of the tread, but that harder stuff is exposed as the tread wears. I've read other explanations just saying the aging of the rubber has hardened it. I don't know if either one is 'the' explanation, but there must be some explanation, because experience has convinced me there's a real phenomenon there.

 

Totally agree with you. As tires get harder as they wear out, they get slicker, which increases MPG. However I don't enjoy white knuckling my steering wheel driving slowly in the rain. Since swapping out to Michelin defenders in 2019, despite the MPG hit of 2-3 MPG, I can freely drive the car in the rain very quick and handles the best of any car I ever drove

 

Bugs me when I start unintendedly peeling out in ordinary starts on dry pavement with plenty of tread depth left. Sure, instant motor torque is part of it, but it isn't something that happens much in my driving style, and generally doesn't when the tires are new.

 

My OEM tires were evenly worn, rotated regularly, totally legal, but worn at 27,000 miles. I replaced them (for Touranzas) due to the tropical storm rains we get here - which are in season. I wanted deeper and open sipes, and the Touranzas had that for rain driving. If this was still the dry season I probably would have held off a little while longer.

That's great that you drive that smoothly that you aren't going through tires. I bought my 2019 Prius in August or September 2019, did not notice any hardening of the tires, but then I haven't put them through as many miles as you have. Any chance you've spent an appreciable number of miles on the very hot pavements of the desert out there? Hot pavement or hot black asphalt (I wish there was a white asphalt sealant for tire life instead of black) kills the life of tires.

 

How fast do you drive? 99% of my driving is to and from work at 55 or lower.

 

Still, take into account the tarmac / pavement temperature, and the effect the road temps have on the tires. Those drives baked them, and caused them to age prematurely.

Something I've seen from the retired old-timers who have learned how to save a buck: on blacktop parking lots where they park they will drive all four tires onto 1-inch boards (imagine an 8" or 10" wide 1" board about a foot long under each tire) to save their tires from the heat. These folks don't drive a lot, so it's worth the time to get the boards in place. Some of them leave cars down here in the summer to go home to where it is cooler, and they also leave the car parked on boards to insulate the tires from the heat of the parking lots. (Here in the big truck industry, it's those same black-sealed asphalt parking lots that seem to kill certain truck's batteries that sit exposed in their black battery boxes.)

I'm not writing that you have any hope of driving on boards, lol, but that there is a case that the heat will destroy tires (make them dry-rot by cooking the oils / ingredients out of them).

 

Understandable if you have a short commute.

75% of my commute can be at 80 to 92 - keeping up with traffic. Best not be in the left hand lanes if only doing 80 though. If traffic is going slowly, that's 72 to 75 MPH. About 14 miles each way of that, only then is it on to side-streets at 40 to 60.

 

Be careful - if you have better tyres on the front, you'll risk dangerous oversteer!!! The best tyres should always be on the back.

 

Thank you. I just KNEW that this thread could not end without someone saying that.

The truth varies some depending on the circumstances and the experience and skill of the driver.
While what you said is true for most drivers who have little or no experience dealing with loss of traction on the rear, if you DO have experience with that and know how to handle it (and prevent it), the possibility of under-steer caused by loss of traction on the front can be a MUCH worse situation.......because there is virtually no way to correct for that after it happens.

 

The only time I hydroplaned, it was the loss of the rear tires that caused it. So there is something to it, but that's also with very worn highways (troughs that trap water ... maybe still an issue in the state that it happened in, but I've never seen highways that bad around here, nor in the last 30 years) and speed.

 

The only time I hydroplaned, it was the loss of the rear tires that caused it. So there is something to it, but that's also with very worn highways (troughs that trap water ... maybe still an issue in the state that it happened in, but I've never seen highways that bad around here, nor in the last 30 years) and speed.

 

I had a tyre fitter refuse to correctly fit the NEW tyres to the REAR of my vehicle - so I wrote to the manufacturer - and this was the reply. I also wrote to a Motoring Magazine, and the overwhelming response was agreement.

This came 20 years after my only major accident was as a result of new tyres on the front wheels of a FWD car. Fortunately I wasn't badly hurt - but the car was badly damaged (particularly the roof where it landed). I've known 2 other people who had major accidents (one sideways into a tree) - within 2 weeks of each other - both with new tyres on the front wheels.