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6 Common Causes of Uneven Truck Tyre Wear and How to Prevent It
Truck tyres are one of the most critical components on any truck. They carry heavy loads, stabilize the vehicle, and play a crucial role in providing safe transit. However, truck tyres sometimes wear out unevenly, decreasing the tyre life, draining fuel, compromising safety, and leading to costly repairs. Knowing why truck tyres wear unevenly can help fleet owners and drivers prepare better.
In this blog, Amigo Tyres, a trusted name for truck tyre service in Rocklea, brings reasons behind uneven truck tyre wear, and also shares tips to make your tyres last longer. But first, let’s underline what we mean by uneven tyre wear.
What is Uneven Tyre Wear?
Tyre wear is just another part of the natural phenomenon of a tyre rolling on the ground. However, when one side of a tyre wears faster than the other, it is called uneven tyre wear. You may see bald spots, bald patches, grooves, or it may simply look like it is worn more on one side than the other.
Uneven tyre wear is generally an indicator of something being wrong, whether that is with the tyre itself or the truck. And it can lead to tyre failure and increase the risk of accidents on the road.
6 Causes of Uneven Truck Tyre Wear
1. Wrong Wheel Alignment
If the truck has incorrectly aligned wheels, the tyres do not roll straight. Misalignment causes the tyres to drag or scrub at an angle along the road. The outcome is wear on the inner or outer edges of the tyres.
How to detect it: If you notice that the tyre is more worn on one side compared to the other, or if the truck pulls to one side while driving, your wheel alignment could be the cause.
2. Incorrect Tyre Inflation
Tyres need to be properly inflated. Too much air (over-inflation) causes the tyre to bulge in the middle, and the centre of the tread wears quicker than the rest of the tyre. Too little air (under-inflation) causes the tyre to flatten out and wear quicker on the edges.
How to detect it: Look for wear patterns; centre-wear means over-inflation; edge-wear means under-inflation.
3. Unbalanced Tyres
Tyres and wheels have to be balanced to rotate evenly. If unbalanced, the tyre vibrates and causes various patches of tread to wear harder than others. This is common with larger truck tyres that have heavy loads.
How to detect it: You may feel the vibrations in the steering wheel or the seat while driving.
4. Worn or Damaged Suspension
The truck suspension system supports the tyres and absorbs shocks from the road. If any of the components of the suspension system are worn or damaged, the tyres are not likely to remain firmly pressed down on the road surface, and this can result in uneven pressure and ultimately, uneven wear.
How to detect it: If you are experiencing uneven tyre wear, combined with an overall rough or bumpy ride, you may have a suspension issue.
5. Improper Load Distribution
Many trucks carry heavy loads, which sometimes may not be properly loaded (unbalanced). If too much weight is distributed on one side of the tyre, the tyre will experience more load than they were designed to manage, and this will speed up your tyres wear rate.
How to detect it: Uneven wear on the tyre, especially if this occurs on one side of the truck (or one axle in the case of an all wheel drive truck).
Recommended reading:
All about mismatched truck tyres
All about dry rot in truck tyres
10 common reasons of truck tyre puncture
All about all-terrain truck tyres
6. Heavy Braking or Sharp Turns
These driving habits will affect the wear on your truck tyres as well. Abusive driving, such as applying excessive or more than necessary brake pressure and sharp turns, puts stress on your tyres, especially on the outer edges, to wear unevenly.
How to detect it: Look for excessive wear on the outer edges of the tyres or patches on the tread.
How to Avoid Uneven Wear of Truck Tyres
The good news is that most types of uneven tyre wear can be avoided with little care and attention. Here are things you can do to help ensure your truck tyres wear evenly and last longer:
1. Regular Wheel Alignment
Regular checks of your truck’s wheel alignment and correcting it if necessary contribute to the tyres rolling straight and wearing evenly. Most tyre shops and service centres offer alignment checks. Ideally, this should be done every 6 months or after hitting a deep pothole.
2. Regular Tyre Pressure Checks
Make sure you check the pressure of the truck tyres regularly - at least once a week or before longer trips. Invest in a reliable tyre pressure gauge if you do not already have one. Make sure you inflate the tyres to the recommended pressure in the vehicle manufacturer's handbook. This quick and easy step can help avoid tyre wear due to over or under-inflation.
3. Tyre Balancing
Get your tyres balanced periodically, and especially after you have had new tyres fitted or tyre repairs carried out. Proper balancing of the tyres allows for smooth rotation of the tyres and prevents wear from vibration.
4. Inspection and Maintenance of Suspension
It is always a good idea to keep the suspension system in good working order and have it inspected and serviced regularly. Any worn-out shocks or struts or bushings should be replaced as soon as possible to avoid damage to truck tyres.
5. Load Balance
Make sure the load inside the truck is balanced properly. To prevent uneven tyre wear across all tyres, it is critical to distribute weight evenly.
6. Practice Smooth Driving
Avoid hard braking and sharp turns when possible. Smooth driving reduces sudden stress on tyres and helps them wear evenly. Plan routes to avoid rough roads and slow down over bumps.
7. Rotate Tyres Regularly
Rotating your truck tyres (switching them from one position to another) every 8,000 to 12,000 kilometres helps even out wear. Different positions on the truck cause different wear patterns, so rotating tyres balances this out.
Causes of Uneven Truck Tyre Wear Conclusion
Uneven tyre wear on trucks can lead to expensive problems and unsafe driving conditions. However, understanding a few typical causes of truck tyre wear—wheel misalignment, incorrect inflation, unbalanced tyres, suspension problems, failure to distribute load properly, driving too hard on the truck, and driving on poor roads—can help truck drivers or owners take the appropriate action to avoid any of these factors leading to uneven wear.
It is possible to extend the life of truck tyres and improve truck performance on the road by ensuring proper tyre inflation, routinely checking wheel alignment and balance, checking the suspension regularly, properly distributing loads well, and their workloads, driving smoothly where safe, rotating tyres regularly, and checking for tyre wear frequently.
Still got any queries to ask? Contact us today to have them answered by our truck tyre experts! Or visit our Rocklea workshop to experience how we repair, rotate, align, and shine truck tyres.
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