MTFCA Forum

Put these 21" 4.50x4.75 Universal tires on the '27 touring in March 2019.

So, 5 years later a bit of tire wear, lots of tour season miles. The worst one on the left is from the right rear, likely from fast acceleration, or perhaps braking hard The middle is a front tire, and on the right is the spare is as new 2019, hasn't been on the pavement.

Replacing with the same 4-ply, Nylon tires from Universal.

I wonder what would cause one tire to wear more than the others? I have a Model A that has one worn tire on the right front. Odd.

CatGuy wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 12, 2024 3:52 pm

I wonder what would cause one tire to wear more than the others? I have a Model A that has one worn tire on the right front. Odd.

Front tires can wear fast if alignment is off, low pressures, high pressures, or wheel balance if wheel isn't round.

The heavy wear on the one tire, is from rotating, was on the front at first and then a few years ago, was placed on the left rear. That could have hastened my tire wear. Anyway, tires do wear, and better tread is best for safety.

I have 30 x 3.5 inch Universal Clinchers. The right rear shows the most wear of all the tires and will be replaced shortly. All tires have balance beads in their tubes. I'm going to replace both rears which will leave me with a couple of decent spares after I discard the right tire. The fronts should get a couple thousand more miles before needing replacement. I have a little over 11000 miles on the tires at this point.

Maybe you can see what I'm talking about on this photo. the center tread is almost gone on the right tire.

I think it is common for the right rear to wear faster due to drive forces. Front tires should wear evenly. My front tires have worn less than the rears, which I attribute to drive and braking forces. Ideal wear is even across the tread, with rears perhaps slightly "flatter" due to less steering forces. Driving fast on the open road will increase rear tire wear, and a lot of city driving might cause more front tire wear than open road driving.

Might the uneven wear also be contributed to by lax quality control during manufacture. It would be interesting to see how a set of four tyres from the same batch would wear. I can't see modern car tyres wearing this way.
Likewise, my set of 4 Universal T drivers saw one go south long before the others, and that was on two different cars.
Allan from down under.

So, does anyone rotate their car tires? Was that a maintenance thing back in the day? Would it make sense these days?

Yes. Rotating tires is a time-honored practice and will prolong tire life and improve handling. Ideally, you'd start with 5 matched new tires and put the spare in rotation. A T with Ford wire wheels allows fairly easy tire rotation. A car with two different tire sizes is another matter, and some types of wheels are difficult to deal with.

Found this on the web. Jim

Tim Juhl,
I have nearly the same experience with my 30 x 3.5 Universal tires as you have. At 11,000 miles the rears are about worn out. However, the left tire has slightly more wear than the right tire. Tires have no balance beads.

The difference in wear might be caused by a slight difference in the hardness of the rubber. I measured the hardness (durameter) of each tire when I mounted them and saw a slight difference. I didn't record the reading. There are other significant causes of wear besides hardness.

I suspect that the front tires will last another 4000 miles. At least I hope so. Tires are a significant expense of driving the car. Not complaining, just stating a fact.

Art Mirtes

Must be running circle track. Lop it off like a right rear tire of a race car. lol.

A slight bend in the front axle yoak will wear one tire, yet the axle will pass the caster/camber test ok.
A hard stop by a curb will do it.