Does the Taurus eat tires?
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From: MNRebecca on 2 Aug 2010 09:51 Been googling and talking to co-workers and can't find any kind of consensus. My 2004 Ford Taurus has just eaten through its second set of tires in 4 years. First set was relatively expensive (Triple Treads, experienced severe cupping and inner tread wear after 18 months/30,000 miles). Second set was cheaper (Cientra Plus) and, at last rotation, I was informed that they are about shot (after about 36,000 miles). My driving conditions: -60 miles commute per day on paved country highways with no traffic or potholes, just two reductions in speed to pass through small towns along the way. -Northern plains state i.e. snow, ice, and melting solvents on roads. -Some potholes in parking lots at work but I try to avoid them. I don't peel out or brake excessively. Thoughts? Could it be my particular car (rather than Tauruses in general) eating the tires? I bought it used with about 20,000 miles on it. Thanks.
From: Scott Dorsey on 2 Aug 2010 09:59 MNRebecca <webbrl(a)morris.umn.edu> wrote: >-60 miles commute per day on paved country highways with no traffic or >potholes, just two reductions in speed to pass through small towns >along the way. >-Northern plains state i.e. snow, ice, and melting solvents on roads. >-Some potholes in parking lots at work but I try to avoid them. > >I don't peel out or brake excessively. Thoughts? Could it be my >particular car (rather than Tauruses in general) eating the tires? I >bought it used with about 20,000 miles on it. Thanks. 1. Find a real alignment shop, a shop that specializes in alignments and nothing else. Not a tire shop. Find some racer kids and ask them who does race car alignments in your area. Get a real alignment done by someone who knows what they are doing, not the tire store kids. 2. Put some chalk on your tires and drive around for a bit. Drive around corners. Adjust your inflation pressure so the wear on the chalk is even and that the chalk on the sidewall never wears at all even in sharp curves. The guy at the alignment shop may be willing to help with this. 3. Mark the tire inflation pressures that are optimal in your owner's manual and check your tire pressure every time you get gas. If there are major temperature changes outside, there will be changes in your tire pressure. My bet is that most of your problem has to do with incorrect inflation; if you can actually do the chalk lines and get the correct contact, do that. If you can't, or until you do, use the numbers on the door of the car or in the owner's manual. Don't just inflate all the tires to the maximum pressure; that is a recipe for poor handling and cupping. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
From: MNRebecca on 2 Aug 2010 10:33 On Aug 2, 8:59 am, klu...(a)panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: > 1. Find a real alignment shop, a shop that specializes in alignments and > nothing else. Not a tire shop. Find some racer kids and ask them who > does race car alignments in your area. Get a real alignment done by someone > who knows what they are doing, not the tire store kids. Before or after having the new tires put on? Would there be any benefit to having the new tires in place when I get the alignment done (like getting help with the chalk experiment)? It might be possible to get the tires put on and the alignment performed the same day...but they might have to happen a week apart. > 2. Put some chalk on your tires and drive around for a bit. Drive around > corners. Adjust your inflation pressure so the wear on the chalk is even > and that the chalk on the sidewall never wears at all even in sharp curves. > The guy at the alignment shop may be willing to help with this. In general, does it take overinflating or underinflating to avoid the sidewall wear? Or is there no general pattern? Thanks for the great response, by the way.
From: Scott Dorsey on 2 Aug 2010 10:59 MNRebecca <webbrl(a)morris.umn.edu> wrote: >On Aug 2, 8:59=A0am, klu...(a)panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: > >> 1. Find a real alignment shop, a shop that specializes in alignments and >> nothing else. =A0Not a tire shop. =A0Find some racer kids and ask them wh= >o >> does race car alignments in your area. =A0Get a real alignment done by so= >meone >> who knows what they are doing, not the tire store kids. > >Before or after having the new tires put on? Would there be any >benefit to having the new tires in place when I get the alignment done >(like getting help with the chalk experiment)? It might be possible >to get the tires put on and the alignment performed the same day...but >they might have to happen a week apart. If your tires are severely cupped, the chalk test won't work properly, but as long as your tires are in decent condition, it will. But, if you put different tires on your car, the proper inflation pressure may be a little different. The alignment can be done with any tires on the car at all, so you might as well get that done first. >> 2. Put some chalk on your tires and drive around for a bit. =A0Drive arou= >nd >> corners. =A0Adjust your inflation pressure so the wear on the chalk is ev= >en >> and that the chalk on the sidewall never wears at all even in sharp curve= >s. >> The guy at the alignment shop may be willing to help with this. > >In general, does it take overinflating or underinflating to avoid the >sidewall wear? Or is there no general pattern? If it's underinflated, the sidewall will touch the pavement in a turn and that's bad. If it's overinflated, the tire balloons outward and only the center of the tire touches, so you get more wear in the center and poorer handling and traction from the reduced contact area. Either one will severely reduce your tire lifetime, and unfortunately when you put tires on the car that aren't the tires it came with, the recommendation in the owner's manual may not precisely apply. It's certainly a good ballpark though (and the maximum rating on the tire sidewall is NOT a good ballpark although some service station people seem to think it is). >Thanks for the great response, by the way. Thank you. Tires are important, they keep you from dying. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
From: hls on 2 Aug 2010 10:59
"MNRebecca" <webbrl(a)morris.umn.edu> wrote in message news:a6d19c18-3941-46dc-8b35-e7ed0b2d1c9b(a)b4g2000pra.googlegroups.com... > Been googling and talking to co-workers and can't find any kind of > consensus. My 2004 Ford Taurus has just eaten through its second set > of tires in 4 years. First set was relatively expensive (Triple > Treads, experienced severe cupping and inner tread wear after 18 > months/30,000 miles). Second set was cheaper (Cientra Plus) and, at > last rotation, I was informed that they are about shot (after about > 36,000 miles). My driving conditions: A short search on Tirerack indicates those Triple Treads should have a rating of about 600, which should give pretty good life. Sometimes what you paid has little to do with the treadlife. (Ask some Porsche owners). My last set of OEM high buck Michelins lasted less than 30,000. They were quiet, and sticky, but werent meant for long life. Did you rotate these tires religiously? That is more important now than ever before. Otherwise, like Scott said, get your car checked for alignment front and back. You can eat up a set of tires before you know it if alignment is poor. If you can find a really good frame shop, for example, they will have equipment and experience that cheapo franchise alignment bays wont have. |