uneven tyre wear?

[murcod]

Is it normal for Ferozas to wear both shoulders on the front tyres?

I've got them pumped up to around 40PSI so it's cetainly not from under inflation; I also had a wheel alignment done a couple of months ago.

(I do tend to push it around corners a bit on the bitumen Could that be the cause?)

[*BESTY*]

Is it normal for Ferozas to wear both shoulders on the front tyres?

I've got them pumped up to around 40PSI so it's cetainly not from under inflation; I also had a wheel alignment done a couple of months ago.

(I do tend to push it around corners a bit on the bitumen Could that be the cause?)

40 psi - you've got to be joking !!! When I had normal (31") tyres, I only ran them at 30psi and it drove better at 25-28 psi !!

STOP pushing it around corners.....it ain't a race car !

[murcod]

40 psi - you've got to be joking !!! When I had normal (31") tyres, I only ran them at 30psi and it drove better at 25-28 psi !!

STOP pushing it around corners.....it ain't a race car !

Ahhh... but it is a race car!

Haven't you ever seen a Feroza going around a corner with the back end sliding!

The tyres actually had over 50 PSI in them when I bought it. They are highway tread tyres- not off road ones. The centre isn't wearing out so I've left them high; have spoken to a number of people who run 15" off road tyres up around 40PSI with no probs on the bitumen.

By the way Besty your "normal" 31" tyres are huge compared to the stock 225/70R15 tyres. (Try ~ 27.4" for the 225/70R15!)

[pidoca]

runing your tyres on 40psi must be like driving with out any suspension. Do you mean psi are you getting it confussed with the other reading on your tyres gauge? i agree with betsy, 25 to 30 is ample. treat you car nicely and it will take you every where.

[*BESTY*]

Ahhh... but it is a race car!

Haven't you ever seen a Feroza going around a corner with the back end sliding!
The tyres actually had over 50 PSI in them when I bought it. They are highway tread tyres- not off road ones. The centre isn't wearing out so I've left them high; have spoken to a number of people who run 15" off road tyres up around 40PSI with no probs on the bitumen.

By the way Besty your "normal" 31" tyres are huge compared to the stock 225/70R15 tyres. (Try ~ 27.4" for the 225/70R15!)

I reckon you should try driving with 20psi in some 35" Centipedes on WET bitumen if you want the back end to slide !! OR Try some Swampers !!

With your tyres pumped up that high....it probably has the same contact area with the bitumen as either of those tyres I mentioned...... Farck All

You've only kept the smaller tyres to make it easier for your HDE to actually spin them !!

[murcod]

There is stuff all difference in ride quality between high 20's and 40 PSI. I've tried different pressures- all the lower pressure did was make the handling woeful, the ride was the same.

Yes, I am talking PSI too- I haven't read the wrong scale on the tyre guage!

I run just under 40PSI in the fronts and 35PSI in the rears on road. If it was too high for the tyres I would have the centre of the tread wearing out first, which isn't the case. With some tyres this would probably happen.

Another point too, a lot of 4WD tyres are LT or "Light truck" construction. Some tyre models are available in both standard passenger and light truck, even in the same sizes. Light truck tyres do require higher pressures than passenger tyres to carry the same load, it's not uncommon to run 60PSI is these.

Besty, I can only dream of the HD-E spinning the tyres! I am looking at getting slightly bigger tyres when these wear out.

So back to my original question- Anyone else getting the shoulders wearing on the fronts?

[*BESTY*]

So....answering your question....again........

STOP DRIVING IT LIKE A RACE CAR AROUND CORNERS !!

But seriously, if you have checked your alignment, pressures and balancing and if everything is good....then it is your driving style which you might need to adjust a little bit !!

[murcod]

OK, so it's not normal- thanks.

Could also be a dodgey wheel alignment I guess. The tyres were already unevenly worn when I bought it (from the alignment being out) so it may just be a case of waiting until I get some new rubber and seeing how that wears.

[*BESTY*]

Yeah....get some new rubber !!

Some nice 31's

[Ferwoaza]

Lose some weight...I had one guy point out to me the camber on my front tyres looked a little strange...I just said it was cause I'm fat

[murcod]

Lose some weight...I had one guy point out to me the camber on my front tyres looked a little strange...I just said it was cause I'm fat

Don't think that's the problem- over 6ft tall and less than 75kg! I had another look today and I think most of the uneven wear may be from before I had the alignment done- previous owner didn't believe in that thing called "maintenance".......

At the moment I'm looking at MTR's in 235/75 on the standard rims- nothing too radical height wise. They sound like they're pretty good on road so I might give them a go. If they're no good on road I just might have to reinvestigate 16" alloys and low profile tyres for on road use(235/60R16). Watch me corner then!

Anyone know any Vitara owners wanting to off load their factory alloys?

[MKPatrolGuy]

Ahhh... but it is a race car!

Haven't you ever seen a Feroza going around a corner with the back end sliding!
The tyres actually had over 50 PSI in them when I bought it. They are highway tread tyres- not off road ones. The centre isn't wearing out so I've left them high; have spoken to a number of people who run 15" off road tyres up around 40PSI with no probs on the bitumen.

By the way Besty your "normal" 31" tyres are huge compared to the stock 225/70R15 tyres. (Try ~ 27.4" for the 225/70R15!)

I reckon you should try driving with 20psi in some 35" Centipedes on WET bitumen if you want the back end to slide !! OR Try some Swampers !!

With your tyres pumped up that high....it probably has the same contact area with the bitumen as either of those tyres I mentioned...... Farck All

You've only kept the smaller tyres to make it easier for your HDE to actually spin them !!

Q78 Swampers at 20psi thru the Black Spur in the rain

[*BESTY*]

Q78 Swampers at 20psi thru the Black Spur in the rain

How did you stay on the road ??

Sounds like FUN

[Guy]

33 swampers at a mix between 3 and 6 PSI at 100 in rain on the south eastern .. wondered why the Zuk was handeling funny .. mind you when I mounted the curb .. didnt even feel it ..

[WaveCult]

40 PSI is doable... I mean when I got my Terios from the dealer (standard tyres) they had 40... did about 5000kms with them... they were rock-hard but handled nicely though unless the road was extremely bumpy around corners.

A friend working for Daihatsu in Portugal took a ride in it with me on one occasion and noticed it was too hard. Apparently someone misread the gauge. Instead of 26PSI (recommended, but I actually now run 32PSI) they put it on 2.6Bar or something like that (don't quote me on the Bar figures though)... good thing it was summer and the roads weren't very slippery!

I've found that 32PSI is fine for on-road and easy off-road stuff... no real need to go higher... even if the argument is to protect the side-walls.

As for driving it hard... go for it Got the Terios on 2 wheels on a couple of occasions... (then I changed to Bridgestone ATs and never happened again... great tyres on-road and off... in dry or wet)

[murcod]

2.6 bar = 37.7PSI

The Ferozas actually handle reasonably well for a 4WD. They will slide on the bitumen when pushed- no chance of rolling from what I've seen. Of course it all depends on the tyres/pressures/suspension height etc.

Higher pressures are actually better in the wet- I was taught that on an advanced driving course. The higher the pressure the less likely it is that you'll have a build up of water under the tyre (ie aquaplane). If the pressure is lower there is a concave area under the tread (between the sidewalls) that the water can concentrate under and cause you to aquaplane.

[WaveCult]

2.6 bar = 37.7PSI

The Ferozas actually handle reasonably well for a 4WD. They will slide on the bitumen when pushed- no chance of rolling from what I've seen. Of course it all depends on the tyres/pressures/suspension height etc.

Higher pressures are actually better in the wet- I was taught that on an advanced driving course. The higher the pressure the less likely it is that you'll have a build up of water under the tyre (ie aquaplane). If the pressure is lower there is a concave area under the tread (between the sidewalls) that the water can concentrate under and cause you to aquaplane.

OK maybe they went to 3Bar? Don't know...

As for the higher pressures in the wet, you're right... higher is better, but only to a certain point. Increasing tyre pressure will open up the channels for expelling water, which is good, however the purpose is to expell water so you have more contact area with the hard surface.

If you've gone too far with the pressure you may get to a point that you only have a small contact area in the centre... meaning you lose a lot of the steering response and traction.

I was once told that rule of thumb, 5-7 PSI above recommended would work out fine for wet and dry... so I tend to stick with that. When I bought my last set of tyres (Coopers AT) I amazed to find that the shop's only reasoning behind inflating them to 40PSI was that the tyres could take 50... (is that like "we do it 'cause we can?") Oh well I'm actually quite happy with the handling of the Coopers (down to 35 now... recommended for the Suzuki GV is 26, but that's with road-tyres I guess).

Anyway, just thinking about it... the recommended pressure on the Terios may have been 29 rather than 26... I think 26 is for the Suzuki GV.

Cheers,


Luis

[murcod]

The recommended pressure for the Feroza is only 23PSI from memory- what a joke! May be they meant to include "when off road" on the placard.

[Le0n]

Gotta be alignment. I'm running 23 570 15's at 28-30 psi with a real wide footprint on my 91 narrow track. Perfect wear.

Jeez fancy 40psi down a corragated bush track or trying to cross a rocky crrek.

David, just a thought. Have you raised the back higher than the front. This would change your caster angle giving you the problem as well as making the steering a little erratic.

[murcod]

As far as I know mines all standard height. I certainly haven't change it- but the previous owner???

Don't really know anyone here with one to put mine side by side to check.

[rocknferoza]

A mate of mine has a suzuki sierra and he only runs 18psi on the road with his 30x9.5r15 inch muddies.
I run around 30psi in the feroza and if it's loaded up or towing a trailer I pump the back tyres up around the 40psi mark.
I'm running 235/75/r15inch muddies

[murcod]

Just an update and some interesting info I found yesterday.

It appears all the "experts" I've listened to in the past may be wrong about radial tyres wearing in the middle of the tread when over inflated. I found this link yesterday and the pics and explanations for the tyre wear are very interesting: http://www.tyremaster.com.au/tyre_care_ ... ssures.htm

My front tyre wear fits in perfectly with the pic second from the bottom (only the shoulders aren't worn anywhere near that badly.) I noticed the other day there are the "island" or high patches forming on the inside shoulder.

So I'll try lowering the pressures and see how they wear then.

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Well I'm only new here but have found your tyre discussion interesting to say the least.

I run 31 x 10.5 x 15 on mine at 28psi. I've had them anywhere between 22psi and 40psi and no matter what I do these Goodluck Year tyres still handle like soap although current presure seems to be the best.

I once took a bend at about 25 kms p/h and the damn thing went into a four wheel slide (sideways) before driving itself up the gutter backwards.

Mine were also wearing on outside edges but I found that wheel alignments on a regular basis and a little less right foot seems to sort it out.

Paul

[Mudpig]

Paul, sounds like you do need new tyres. But just dont blame the
Wranglers for being slippery on a wet road, you wont find anyone
on this site that will tell you their muddies (any brand) stick like the
proverbial on a wet road.
I recently bought a set of Wrangler MT/Rs (with new tread pattern) and in their element and price range you wont find better.
And to David 235/75/15 are an excellent choice for Wrangler MT/Rs
You should think about getting steel rims with them. If you shop around
for a package look for about $200 per tyre and about $40-$50 for
white rims. Be aware that when you fit these tyres you'll have to remove
your front flaps, as the tyre lugs will probably rub on the bolts.

[murcod]

Thanks for the info Mudpig. I've been wondering how you were going with your MTRs. Are your new rims 15x6 or 15x7?

Paul hasn't got the MTR's- I PM'd him and his are the AT Wranglers. I read somewhere that a person with MTRs reckoned they were better on road in the wet than a HT tyre! I've talked to a few people and they've all said about how good they are on road.

The one thing that will probably stop me from getting them is I can't legally fit them here in SA as they will increase the tyre diameter by 37.5mm- max increase allowed is 15mm.

My insurance company is also turning out to be a bunch of ##%^(^@. See my other thread on extractors.

[Mudpig]

Yeah thats a bummer.
The only sensible thing to do would be buy the pakage (15x7 by the way)
and keep 'em locked up in your garage, use what your currently running
around on ( if they are worn buy some super cheap road going retreads)
and swap 'em over to head into the bush. The added bonus is that they will last 10 times longer (maybe).
Jase

[rocknferoza]

Be aware that when you fit these tyres you'll have to remove
your front flaps, as the tyre lugs will probably rub on the bolts.

I'm running 235/75r15 muddies on my feroza and it has mud flaps. I dont get any rubbing anywhere.

[rocknferoza]

I'm also running standard feroza rims with these tyres

[*BESTY*]

I'm running 235/75r15 muddies on my feroza and it has mud flaps. I dont get any rubbing anywhere.

You're NOT driving it hard enough !!

When I had 31" tyres....I needed to remove the front mudflaps, and the rear ones fell off on some tracks somewhere !!

I wouldn't have thought you'd need to remove the flaps if you weren't running such big tyres !!

[murcod]

The difference could be in the different brand tyres? 235/75R15=29" too, so it's a fair bit smaller than what you were running Besty.

Jase, yours is a widetrack and James has a narrow track (I think that's right?) so that would make a difference.