2014 focus tire pressure

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My car was due for a rotate . I do it every 10,000 and it was at 9700 and I'm going on vacation Friday. I noticed my front tires had a lot of center wear for 10,000 miles. I run the stock 35 psi the pressures were all between 32 and 35. The backs are still like new but the fronts center have worn to about 6 or 7/32 the sides of the tire tread have not worn quite that much. Would you bump the pressures up to say 45 given that wear? Anyone with a focus that has opinions or advice on what to you have done. It has the continental conti pro contacts . Thanks in advance for the help.
 
If I recall correctly, center wear is typically due to over inflation. I don't think you'd want to bump up the pressure. Unless you're talking about bumping up the rear tire pressure to make the center wear even all around
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I'd also consider rotating the tires closer to 5-8k, considering the big front/rear wear difference.

Edit:
Wearing down from 10/32 to 6/32 in 10k is pretty huge, might want to check out the suspension and alignment.
 
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Yeah your right not sure what I was thinking. Lol
The inside to outside wasn't hugely different and we have several back roads and I drive pretty spirited. But I was surprised. They probably are about a 7/32 now. Backs were 9 or so
 
What are you using to measure tread depth? Or are you guessing? 7/32" after 10k miles is terrible IMO. I'd keep the pressure the same but rotate every 5k.
 
With bias ply tires this would usually be true including a size mismatch between the tire and rim.

Some belted tires that are under inflated may not properly expand and this can result in center wear and it's possible with some belted tires that over inflation could wear the outside edges of both sides of the tread.

The tire wear you are experiencing at such low mileage and normal driving habits might indicate a tire size/rim mismatch, or a defect, not an inflation or alignment problem.
 
I had OEM Dunlops on my Honda Fit, and I am an EXTREMELY gentle driver.

They were shot in 40,000kms.

OEM tires generally have poor treadlife.

Check the alignment but center wear for correctly inflated tires just means junk tires.
 
It's interesting that your '14 Focus wears it's front tires. My '11 (very similar suspension design) doesn't wear it's fronts at all but destroyed rear tires until I had it aligned to my specifications.
 
No unusual tire wear on mine running the spec'd 35 psi all around. Between 7 and 8/32 of the original 10/32 left after 30k. Two things to consider:

You may want to rotate more frequently - I do it every 5k.

Are your sure your tire gauge is accurate? Some of the inexpensive stick-types can be way off.

I have the Continental OEM tires, which seem to me a very good ride/handling/quietness/tread wear compromise. Do you have the Contis or the Coopers Ford began using later?
 
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Continental conti is what my car has I drive pretty hard sometimes. Maybe I'll rotate more often than what ford recommends.
 
35 psi seems high for a small FWD car... and is most likely the cause of the center tire wear. The rears carry roughly 1/2 the weight of the fronts, and do 1/10 of the braking and no steering or accelerating, so they usually wear very little period...even if over-inflated.

Try dropping a few psi, maybe 32 or so. The ride will be smoother, but he handling and steering response might get less crisp.

The 35 psi is usually a 4 passenger and full trunk / hatch recommendation, ie max load...

Some cars have a couple of tire pressure specs, depending on load / speed etc.

Read this link for a Porsche 911... it had a comfort spec that was wayyy lower than the door sticker.

http://www.edmunds.com/porsche/911/2013/...e-pressure.html
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
It's interesting that your '14 Focus wears it's front tires. My '11 (very similar suspension design) doesn't wear it's fronts at all but destroyed rear tires until I had it aligned to my specifications.


What specs did you set the rear suspension to?
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
My car was due for a rotate . I do it every 10,000 and it was at 9700 and I'm going on vacation Friday. I noticed my front tires had a lot of center wear for 10,000 miles. I run the stock 35 psi the pressures were all between 32 and 35. The backs are still like new but the fronts center have worn to about 6 or 7/32 the sides of the tire tread have not worn quite that much. Would you bump the pressures up to say 45 given that wear? Anyone with a focus that has opinions or advice on what to you have done. It has the continental conti pro contacts . Thanks in advance for the help.


10,000 miles between rotations sounds long to me. I would do it every 5000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
It has the continental conti pro contacts

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
What are the tires? OEM tires usually have poor treadlife. Ive never got over\ 15K out of cheapo OEM tires with spirited driving.

His OEM ProContacts are either 215/55R16 97H XL 400AA A LRR, or 215/50R17 91H SL 500 AA A tires. Tread depth for both is 10/32" as are the vast majority of ProContacts, but 400 and 500 are not exactly barn burner treadwear ratings. I would expect a tire like that to wear somewhat quickly.

35PSI might be too much, or not. I ran 35 and then 34PSI in my Corolla front's for 64K miles with even wear and long life, but they were different brand tires. I ran higher than doorsill pressures for fuel economy, which worked out well. I also ran 1-2PSI more in the rear tires than front, to lessen the understeer qualities of the FWD system. Supporting the heavier front end was not an issue because I was already well above all minimum pressures.

From the mileage info in the Sig I take it this was the first rotation? If you got 50-66% of the lifetime wear of the tire (3 or 4/32 / (10/32 - 4/32) in 10K, I would look at for alignment issues.
 
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