Prius Fast Tirewear - Important Update

Hi Peedee...,

I got Hydroedges at 5000 miles, and am now at 40000. I have run them at 42/40 to 44/42 over their lifetime. Mostly 42/40. They have very flat tread wear, and look like they have at least half the tread still there. I went to 44/42 when I noticed a tiny bit more of outer edge wear.

I wonder if the BT Tech Plate helped this at all? Do you have one on your car?

 

donee,

Nerp. No BT plate. Would be most interesting to spreadsheet the tire wear specifics. might help find the culprit. I'd be glad to, if Toyo'd pay me to do it:flypig:

Here's a pic for thems that like such things:

 

the door jamb pressures wear tires out quickly. they are not intended for maximal tire life, they are intended for maximal ride comfort. the manufacturer doesn't give a crap how often you have to replace your tires, after all.

my integrities were toast early, then we got roughly 25k out of the michelin energy mxv4+ we replaced them with. underinflation wear on those even at 42/40. (michelin gave us 25% off the next set.) i now run the new tires at 44/42. too early to tell much on this set.

 

I believe there are legal issues for the door jamb stickers as well. fwiw...

My point is that it doesn't seem to matter on some Prii....psi that is....

 

40k miles out of a pair of tires?... nice... i would be happy to get 30k out of each pair. i've been though about 5 sets of tires (20 tires in 118k miles)

 

People complaining about getting 25,000 miles out of a tire? HAHAHAH

My previous car, when equipped with OEM approved tires, the rears would last about 6000. Yes. Six thousand. I put on some higher treadwear tires and got almost 20k out of them before they needed to be replaced.

 

Trouble is they are 80k tires....so says Michelin. Yeah. I know. yer mileage may vary.....but 1/2??!

I've always gotten more on other Michelins. This ain't my first rodeo...and look at the middle. Plenty tread left there. 7/32 at least.

and I've been told I drive like a grandma.

 

With the picture above, I'd say there's some negative camber in the alignment. Is that the front tire? If it's the rear, it's normal to have some negative camber in most vehicles. If they've been rotated as instructed in the owner's manual (front left to rear left, front right to rear right), then the inside wear may be occurring when the wheel is on the rear, due to a little negative camber.


I'd also assume the manufacturer's life expectancy is based on 0 camber. A little positive or negative camber will increase wear on the edge, and reduce the expected mileage.

 

V8cobrakid,

what kinda mileage (mpg-type) are you getting with the 215/17s, just out of curiosity?

 

Yep. Front at the moment. Rotation has aways been BF FB (HEs are directional) I'm Theorizing Neg Camber on one end and positve on the other. All measurements appear to "meet spec". Again, why such a delta between like vehicles in terms of shoulder wear..and how many more tires out there are unsafe w/o owners knowledge. Yeah. I know...

 

when was your last alignment check?

 

i get my alignment checked once a year. my 90k miles only lasted about 40k miles. (goodyear assurance comforthreads) the only tire "better" is the triple thread ones... then again.. that was stock rims while i was averageing 45 to 50mpg.

each tank i average 39+ to 45mpg being my highest these days. 9.1 gallons usually.

 

Your picture looks like pretty even wear across the face,
really, and I can't quite tell what I'm supposed to be seeing there
other than a somewhat lower tread depth. The near-sidewall blocks
are not as deeply cut as the center tread as the tire comes --
you're not seeing "edge wear" there, that's the way it was molded.
.
If it's any help, my HEs went on at 43,500 and I'm up just over
100K now with plenty of meat still left on them. And I think
the minor feathering on the right-hand pair is slowly returning
to something more normal after I shimmed out a minor rear-wheel
misalignment I had. Other than that and the initial check the
dealer did when I got the car at ~13K, I've *never* had any
alignment work on the thing in spite of our lovely new england
chuck-holes. Which amazes the crap out of me, frankly.
.
_H*

 

Yowdy, all!

Sorry for the delay. Here's perhaps the final install on this issue:

To answer an earlier Q: Last alignment was last December, as I recall. Wasn't needed as it was "in spec".

Now on to the good stuff.... Michelin offered me a 45% discount on a new set of HEs. Plus a $70.00 rebate. Fair enough I thought, so I went with it. Originally, they offered 25%. I did get good service for about 1/2 of their expected life.

I still have no idea why they wore like they did. Good alignment and per-Toyota air pressure is not enough. This is still an issue in my mind and will be watched closely. Now that it is documented quite well and I know exactly what to watch for, I'll take Toyo to task if it happens again. It is a safety issue.

Now on to something that came up in the research dept. The tires that I purchased new in 05 were actually well over two years old. This is what forced Michelins' hand for the additional "adjustment". This is a common practice, so check the DOT date codes on your tires when you buy them. Don't purchase anything over 2-4 months old. 6 months max. This was key in Toyo blaming Michelin (who don't play nice together it turns out. Why can't we all get along?;>) Lots of tiny cracks in the sidewalls was the tip to their age. Sears was slapped nasty for selling 15 year old tires a few years ago. Anyway, the tire store that sold me the original HEs burned down about a year ago, so they were no help.

When enough of us make noise to Toyota, they will acquiesce and make the right decision. It has been sadly amusing to watch the blame game in action. One of the many reasons I got out of "corporate" was that I could no longer lie to people for corporate gain. Something is amiss on some of our Prii. I've owned quite a few new vehicles in my day and never experienced this odd tire wear. I even had to sue GM to take back lemony S10 4X4 in the early 90s. I won. Easily. They bought it back for what I paid for it AND paid me every dime I put into it (Rhino bed liner, electric moon roof, etc. plus tax and attny fees) Anyway, if you feel you have been wronged and can prove it, don't be afraid to speak up. We may have a legitimate class here.

I'm very curious to see how the Goodyear Fuel Maxs' play out. And, come next Wednesday I'll have safe Mic HEs back my Prius.

Happy Motoring! (remember that Esso slogan anybody?)


Oh, and thanks to all y'alls input on this. Maybe this internet thing will catch on after all!:wave: Like we say in the South, "Y'alls good people".

pdp

ps. Now, on to why it hurts when I pee..... Alignment maybe?? hmmmm.

 

Our 2008 is at 34,500 miles with perhaps another 5K to go on the Goodyear Integrity originals. I keep them at 46/44. They get rotated at each service interval which I have done at the Toyota dealer. I always have to pump them back up to 46/44 after Toyota gets their hands on my car. They are wearing evenly.

I would appreciate a little better handling, and wouldn't mind getting 60K+ on the tires, but LRR is important because I want to keep my mpg in the 49-51 range we normally experience. I'm considering Hydroedge or X-Radials when we change in a couple of months.

For OEM tires I'm pretty happy. Getting 40K miles on the original set of tires on any new car I've owned is pretty typical for me.

 

I have my first free check up in July so I will have them check the alignment.

Just a little sick humor for everyone====

I was a VOTEC instructor before 911 and we put out of alignment 300 cars before I found the problem. I noticed the computer was saying negative camber and I could see with my eyes positive camber. I went and borrowed two levels from the carpenters shop and discovered the problem. Had the machine fixed!!!!!! How many shops never get their alignment rack calibrated?????????????
Check it with an 18†level and it looks like the rear on my Prius has a fixed axle which means full plate shim to fix that if it is too far off.

 

A lot!! I have found a good shop for wheel alignments and I'll stick with them, the last 2 shops I used were crap even though the right numbers were coming up on the screen.

 

i must be lucky so far i still have 3/4's of tire tread left..they look fine. They handle for crap though, 24,000 miles

I will probably replace them at the end of the year

they are just medicore tires overall...i will be happy to get a new set on the car when the day comes...till then I will run them semi bald.

 

What psi do you run in your tires?
Thanks.

 

I'm sorry, "you don't know what brand of tires they put on your car".

Is that really true, or are you just saying that for effect??

:jaw: