Quick Question About Tire Wear

Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Messages
6,186
In general, does a tire get noisier and ride less smooth as tread depth wears down and the tire ages? If so, is it the reduction of tread depth that causes the issue or is it age, assuming that the tire is relatively new, say a year or two old?
 
I've had tires that lasted quite long and wore well that stayed quiet. However they did ride slightly firmer(but not harsh) over broken pavement after about 5-6 yrs. I noticed this most when new tires of the same quality were installed.

Tires are made up of more than just rubber, however as rubber ages it does become harder, maybe noisier too due to age.
Also, I have installed new tires of slightly lesser quality & different tread design and noticed that the these new tires were more audible compared to the previous set. Mostly from tread design.
 
Tire noise that gets worse over time is caused by misalignment. The misalignment is causing irregular wear, which is the source of the noise. And, of course, the worse the misalignment, the faster the noise gets bad.

But even a little misalignment can generate noise - it just takes longer. And that means even if everything is "In Spec". The published alignment specs are too wide - by half. The vehicle has to be within the inner half of the range for good tire wear.

Regular tire rotation helps prevent irregular wear - and therefore noise generation. Each corner of the vehicle has its own wear pattern - especially front to rear. Rotation forces the tire to wear a different pattern. Long intervals between rotations could result in a wear pattern becoming permanent - one that isn't substantially altered by moving the tire to a different wheel position.
 
It depends on the tire. I've found with cheaper tires or tires with unreasonably long tire warranties, the more the tires wear, the louder they get. I've experience it with Pirelli 4 Season Plus (90k mile warranty) and Cooper CS5 Grand and Touring (although they market it as a quiet tire throughout its life). Both were good tires and served me well but got noisy as they wore. I have a long commute and put about 20k per year on my vehicles.

Noise within the first 2 years and under say 20k miles? Yeah, it's likely uneven wear and sometimes the road surface. LIving in PA, you experience this a lot!
 
Tire noise that gets worse over time is caused by misalignment. The misalignment is causing irregular wear, which is the source of the noise. And, of course, the worse the misalignment, the faster the noise gets bad.

But even a little misalignment can generate noise - it just takes longer. And that means even if everything is "In Spec". The published alignment specs are too wide - by half. The vehicle has to be within the inner half of the range for good tire wear.

Regular tire rotation helps prevent irregular wear - and therefore noise generation. Each corner of the vehicle has its own wear pattern - especially front to rear. Rotation forces the tire to wear a different pattern. Long intervals between rotations could result in a wear pattern becoming permanent - one that isn't substantially altered by moving the tire to a different wheel position.
Would doing a tire rotation rearward cross or forward cross (AWD/RWD or FWD) be much ideal vs rotating straight front to back?
 
I've noticed as tires age, they seem to wear slower maybe due to it hardening. So that has me wondering if maybe getting the freshest tires might not be the best for squeezing out longevity.
 
I've noticed as tires age, they seem to wear slower maybe due to it hardening. So that has me wondering if maybe getting the freshest tires might not be the best for squeezing out longevity.
When tires are new, the tread is longer and there is more squirm, which causes faster wear.
 
Back
Top Bottom