Anyone ever seen tyre wear like this?

[Deebo007]

I'd appreciate some help with this, has anyone ever seen tyre wear like this? This was on a Pirelli P7 Cinturato with around 6mm tread remaining on the tyre:



Tyre is fitted on the front drivers side of the car. I'm thinking it's a tyre defect rather than a tracking/suspension issue, as the wear is in only one area on the tyre.

Thanks in advance!

[E-bmw]

Is it possible that, that part of the tyre has sat on something that has caused deterioration?

Not something I have seen before.

[Panamax]

I don't like the look of that at all and suspect concealed damage to the carcass of the tyre.

At the very least I'd have the tyre removed so that the inside can be inspected. If it was mine I'd make sure the tyre fitter has an identical tyre in stock beforehand since replacement seems likely.

[dudleybloke]

Looks like something with small sharp teeth has been chewing on it.

[Deebo007]

Panamax said:

I don't like the look of that at all and suspect concealed damage to the carcass of the tyre.

At the very least I'd have the tyre removed so that the inside can be inspected. If it was mine I'd make sure the tyre fitter has an identical tyre in stock beforehand since replacement seems likely.

It is very odd. The tyre fitter has offered to replace the tyre, like you say it does hint to some sort of tyre structure damage.

[Deebo007]

dudleybloke said:

Looks like something with small sharp teeth has been chewing on it.

Agreed, I was wondering if one of the local cats had decided to sharpen his claws on the tyre. Guess I'll never know.

[Deebo007]

E-bmw said:

Is it possible that, that part of the tyre has sat on something that has caused deterioration?

Not something I have seen before.

The car has only done a few hundred miles since the tyre was fitted. It's usually parked on a tarmac driveway.

[Longy00000]

I agree with those that think it may be something small and fury

[Fore Left]

Or large and furry.

Perhaps the op has been to the safari park recently...

[Deebo007]

No visits to a safari park recently. Though this exact thing did happen to us once at Longleat, in my sister-in-laws Nissan X-Trail.

[tapkaJohnD]

If it is due to wear on the road then something is distorting wheel movement, once per revolution. A tyre fitter would balance the wheel before refitting it, so it's probably not that Have you jacked the wheel up and spun it by hand? Crude test but worthwhile, so what about when driving? Any sensation from that corner?

[Deebo007]

tapkaJohnD said:

If it is due to wear on the road then something is distorting wheel movement, once per revolution. A tyre fitter would balance the wheel before refitting it, so it's probably not that Have you jacked the wheel up and spun it by hand? Crude test but worthwhile, so what about when driving? Any sensation from that corner?

The wear was highlighted by the MOT tester, who only gave an advisory for it. There was no sign of any distortion/buckling of the wheel and it drives without issue.

[Pica-Pica]

It looks like the steering has been turned repeatedly while stationary. It does not look like it was initiated while rotating. If the the offer is for a free replacement, I’d take that.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Weird. Looks heat induced.

[Smint]

If you zoom in, you can see swirl shape marks on the rest of the central tread where it's chewing up.

Older design Mercs (124) when you went onto full lock the wheels would 'lean' at quite an angle due to the steering geometry, as a result if your driving included a lot of cornering the whole inside 1/4 of the front wheel treads would wear very quickly (alarmingly quickly this could happen), could there be a similar geometry issue at work here i wonder?

If you took a corner too quickly on full lock causing understeer and a sideways slide and that wheel locked up on say rough concrete then it's possible that sort of tyre ripping could result, or is it possible someone (child maybe?) has been sitting in the car twirling the steering from one lock to another? does the tyre the other side show similar wear starting or evidence of twisting scoring in one spot?

What i'm really asking is, are you the sole driver or has the someone a little too enthusiastic or maybe innocently childishly playful been using or in the case of child had access to the car keys, is there any evidence of rubber waste (or ground scoring) where you typically parked or around the inner wheel arches...i have seen such shredding (though whole circumference) on a brand new unregistered hot hatch part of a load i collected from the docks with two now almost bald front tyres with bits of rubber stuck the plastic inner arches, and yes that caused a major investigation because someone (probably in France) had been abusing the car badly.

Edited by Smint on Friday 27th May 05:20

[Demelitia]

This picture is of the damage rats have done whilst chewing their way in to a recycling wheelie bin.

I’d say it looks similar enough I’d put some money on your tyre suffering the same damage.

I wonder if you’ve driven through something they like the taste of and they’ve gone to town on it.

[NMNeil]

Deebo007 said:

I'd appreciate some help with this, has anyone ever seen tyre wear like this? This was on a Pirelli P7 Cinturato with around 6mm tread remaining on the tyre:



Tyre is fitted on the front drivers side of the car. I'm thinking it's a tyre defect rather than a tracking/suspension issue, as the wear is in only one area on the tyre.

Thanks in advance!

I've seen one other tyre like that.
The tread separated internally and caused the tyre to bubble. It's very common on the sidewall, but rare on the actual tread, but when it happens that bubble will wear a lot faster than the rest of the tread.

[Deebo007]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I've had the tyre replaced free of charge.

To answer some questions, this car is driven by my wife who is a very steady driver. I sometimes commute to work in it (30 miles along A38 and M42). It's only a 1.4CRDi Kia Rio, so not exactly a sporty car.

I'll keep an eye on the new tyre, if the same happens then I know there's something wrong with the suspension/geometry in that corner of the car.