One tire has bare tread.
 

Ok guys I bought 4 new tires about a year and a half ago and had them put on at the same time. Today I had a flat tire on the rear passenger side. I take the tire off and notice that the whole center section of the tire is completely bare, still good tread on both left and right sides its just the middle that's bare. So I check all four other tires, and they look like they are wearing evenly.

And before someone asks, yes I manually check the air pressure once a month. And the tire monitoring system has always said they were at the right psi around 36-37psi cold. And after about 20 minutes driving in 95-100 degree temps they read 39-40psi.

Is there any other reason why this happens? Can the tire monitoring system read incorrect? I should mention that I noticed not long after putting the tires on that for some reason this specific tire had some cupping issues.

Either way this tire has got to go, now if only there were some good deals on tires somewhere. I have never been real happy with these tires (General G-Max), but they are about all I can afford.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psb65833ad.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ps63132b07.jpg

well I gotta tell you, by looking at that tire, its WAY past due to be replaced anyway.

but to answer your question as to the wear....I can't say, considering you ensure proper inflation and check it manually.

I just hate that I will have to replace the rear drivers side as well, it still has good tread. But you should always replace in pairs. Guess I will just keep it for a spare.

Funny thing is I still have to get the above tire patched, so I can drive the car to a place to get the new tires mounted. Will be interesting to hear what the tire shop says when I ask them to patch it up.

I don't think they will patch a tire that bad.

Then how am I supposed to get my car anywhere?

Good Lord, you didn't see that tire was worn down that far until it was flat?!?!?! If you are "manually" checking air pressure once a month, you should've seen that a LONG time ago!!! I would say something is severely AFU with your alignment, maybe the toe-in on that side is way too aggressive.

Well when I check the tire I look at it from a side view mostly, and from that angle the tread is about the same as the other three. I wasn't seeing the tire from straight down.

I do still have the original Pirelli, it doesn't have great tread, but better than this one. Can I have that tire mounted and be ok driving with it on that one wheel, and the other three still the Generals. The generals are all season, and the p-zero summer of course. Or is doing that a bad idea. I would probably drive about a week that way until new tires come in.

If the flat is a simple puncture not in the sidewall, you can plug it yourself and it'll be fine for the short length of time it'll take to get your new tires.

It is normal for tire inflation pressures to creep upward as the tires warm up from driving on them. Tire rolling resistance gets dissipated as heat.

How many miles are on those tires? What treadwear rating? How often do you do burnouts? Do you do much high speed running?


Norm

I get one tire that goes away much quicker than the others because my pois unit was crap from the factory and I drive like a bat out of hell. It isn't really uncommon for the rear to kick out going around turns.

Where you are tight on money, you can check with local tire shops and see who might have a pair of rears that were take offs that were still in ok shape. I've been able to find tires for $50-$75 each that would last 10k miles or so of "normal" driving for a couple of the guys out here.

Check your alignment when you go to have the flat fixed.. That tire could be out and scrubbing bad.

You could also have a weak posi and be spinning that corner. Doubt it though with a V6.

If your alignment is good then send this off to General tire. I've seen this before where a tire has a shitty vulcanizing process and is soft like gum. They may replace it for you. QC issue.

Too late to do most of these things now. I had them mount the Pirelli, which they said was in pretty good shape. I may just have them change out the other three tires with the original Pirelli's if the shop says the other three are still in good shape. Then I will just run the Pirelli's till Winter, when I have money saved up to swap out all four tires with new ones.

Really should have not let them keep the General tire that was bare, just in case I could have claimed a QC issue. Oh well Ill just have to figure something out.

Honestly, that is really even tire wear. And that is nowhere near "good tread" remaining on left & right sides. I also would not suspect you have an alignment issue, but it's hard to judge without seeing the rest of the tires. You should get it checked, at least. You may be able to lower the air pressure 1-2psi cold (not sure what the actual spec is, but 37 sounds a little high) to take some wear off the center of the tread, but it's not going to be noticeable IMO.

Get that one replaced a.s.a.p., it's a safety problem at this point. Check your tires more often. :)