Tyre wear

[Seamelody]

Hi Doris just had her first service, with just over 5000 miles since new. The garage advised us we’re close to requiring two new front tyres, just interested in how many miles we should expect. Doris is a T6, 2ltr, 150BHP with DSG thought we would have got close to 10k appreciate the front ones are going to wear first.


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[Volkywagen]

Hi. You have the same spec van as me. I’ve done 10k miles now and there is still at least 50% tread on my front tyres and 90% on the rear.
Have you taken it on a track day?!
To save costs I’d ask them to swap the back for the front wheels (put worn ones on back vice versa)
I’d also question why they have worn so quickly....
Is your tracking ok?

 

[Eber123]

Hello,

I have a 150 BHP manual Ocean with about 10 880 km. The front wheels still look very good, the back wheels like new.

At the next service I will ask them to change the wheels from the back to the front as well. My plan is to change (hopefully next year) to 4x new all seasons tyres.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[Seamelody]

Thanks Paul, good plan to swap front / back. As for driving, no we haven’t done any track days, will investigate the tracking / alignment
Appreciate your quick reply - Aren’t they just amazing thou, having a great time exploring the south west thou wish we bought one years ago!


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[Andy]

Recommended to have tyres with most tread on the rear. If front starts to loose grip you can steer to regain grip. If back goes you have less control. But it is your choice. I always put new tyres on the rear.

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[Detritus]

Hi,
I’ve just swapped the original (Continental) summer tyres for Michelin all seasons before we go on our three week tour over the mountains - they had plenty of wear left in them but wanted to ensure we had as good a grip as possible in case conditions aren’t geat. The Cali has been used as my daily drive, covered 20,000 miles in total over two years and the tyres still had 6mm on the front and 9mm on the back - so there must be something causing excessive wear on your tyres if you’ve only done 5000 miles! I’ll be putting my old ones back on the van once we’re back so that I get more wear out of them - there must be at least another 500 miles in them given the wear to date. I drive to work over a mixture of rough country roads and town roads and I’m normally running late - so the difference in wear won’t be down to careful or sedate driving

Hope you get it sorted,

Jez

 

[andyinluton]

Recommended to have tyres with most tread on the rear. If front starts to loose grip you can steer to regain grip. If back goes you have less control. But it is your choice. I always put new tyres on the rear.

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The front is where you need the grip! its what steers you, does most of the braking & excepting 4motion vans its where the power gets put down.

The vans tend to understeer anyway ie the front slides if you go too fast into a corner, you would have to be trying very hard to get the backend of a cali to slide even on completely bald tyres.


5000 seems remarkably low mileage, although your location is showing as Cornwall so I would expect lots of stop start, twisty roads & pretty hilly all of which don't do much for your tyre life.

My originals are sitting in the shed with about 4mm left after 30,000 mostly motorway miles.

 

[GrannyJen]

5,000 miles is a very low mileage to be experiencing discernible wear. I Ould be having tracking etc checked. I presume pressures are adequate? My last tyres, changed at 3mm, managed 32,000 miles.

 

[Volkywagen]

Thanks Paul, good plan to swap front / back. As for driving, no we haven’t done any track days, will investigate the tracking / alignment
Appreciate your quick reply - Aren’t they just amazing thou, having a great time exploring the south west thou wish we bought one years ago!


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Fantastic peices of (expensive) kit!

 

[motacyclist]

Recommended to have tyres with most tread on the rear. If front starts to loose grip you can steer to regain grip. If back goes you have less control. But it is your choice. I always put new tyres on the rear.

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That’s what I was told by the tyre fitting people in Costco, when I went in to have front replaced they put the new tyres on the back and moved the older tyres to the front without consulting me. When I queried it they showed me a video explaining why. I can’t remember the exact reasons but I was then happy with what they had done.

 

[Amarillo]

Hi Doris just had her first service, with just over 5000 miles since new. The garage advised us we’re close to requiring two new front tyres, just interested in how many miles we should expect. Doris is a T6, 2ltr, 150BHP with DSG thought we would have got close to 10k appreciate the front ones are going to wear first.

Amarillo (2017 T6 Beach 150 DSG) has just returned from its second service at 34,000 mile. Factory fitted tyres still with 4.5 to 6mm, front wearing more than rear.

 

[tuono001]

New tyres should be fitted to the rear and old on the front. Fifth gear did a test many years ago about this and it is surprising that it's the best way to do it. Think it was something to do with the pendulum affect when things go wrong, it might be on youtube.

 

[Seamelody]

Really appreciate everything and everyone’s feedback, given Doris was purchased new with just 78 miles on the clock beginning to question if tyres were switched before I took delivery or if I have a major mechanical issue clearly need to call VDub

One last question before I call what potential causes would cause excessive tyre wear, pressures are checked and maintained so can rule that one out
Cheers
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[tuono001]

Depending on where the wear is it could be the tracking. Just swapped my wheels, but the original tyres were worn almost to the canvas on the inside! There was excessive movement in the suspension arms as the bushes were worn and suspect the tracking was out.
All replaced and checked so I'll be keeping an eye on wear to see if it does the same.
Only recently bought the van and knew about the bushes but was shocked to find the tyres so worn.

 

[AlanC]

The best way to do the tracking is by using a computer controlled laser system. That will look at the front and back errors, to enable accurate correction and will give you a printout. Costs about £65 but well worthwhile in my view.

Alan

 

[Andy]

The best way to do the tracking is by using a computer controlled laser system. That will look at the front and back errors, to enable accurate correction and will give you a printout. Costs about £65 but well worthwhile in my view.

Alan

Agree with you. Bur surely if tyres were worn due to tracking whoever fitted new tyres would have told OP that and recommended doing the tracking.

Were the tyres evenly worn ?? Or worst on the shoulders ??

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[Seamelody]

Hi thought I’d respond to clarify Doris was purchased with 78 miles on the clock although she was about 5months old we’d been informed she’d lived in the showroom and not really been out to demo etc. Since then we’ve clocked up £5k she’s never driven hard hey we have plenty of time to get anywhere now ! The wear is more in centre of front of tyres but all 4 are low.


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[treecity]

We've been changing fronts every 10k miles. 204PS DSG Ocean

 

[AlanC]

Hi thought I’d respond to clarify Doris was purchased with 78 miles on the clock although she was about 5months old we’d been informed she’d lived in the showroom and not really been out to demo etc. Since then we’ve clocked up £5k she’s never driven hard hey we have plenty of time to get anywhere now ! The wear is more in centre of front of tyres but all 4 are low.


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Wear on the centre of the tread would indicate the tyre pressures are too high, not that the tracking is out of alignment.

Alan

 

[Andy]

Really appreciate everything and everyone’s feedback, given Doris was purchased new with just 78 miles on the clock beginning to question if tyres were switched before I took delivery or if I have a major mechanical issue clearly need to call VDub

One last question before I call what potential causes would cause excessive tyre wear, pressures are checked and maintained so can rule that one out

What pressure do you put in them ? as Alan says center wear is caused by over inflation. Do you check when they are cold ? Is the gauge you use accurate ? I check mine against tyre fitters gauge which should be calibrated annually.
No mechanical fault that I've heard of will cause centre tire wear.

 

[Scaliwag]

I've my Ocean in for a check up next week but primarily for the excessive wear on both rear tyres, especially the rear inside (passenger) side. The wear is excessive on the outer corner threads and is probably due to the tracking. I'm at 26,500km (16,500miles) & am only unhappy as the 2 fronts have plenty of wear left.
My dealer tells me that tracking is not covered by the VW warranty any further than 6k km or 6 months but he will do it for me for free, while I wait, as "they value me as their customer".
So full marks to them in fairness!
It remains to be seen how they react to the "drive belt noise at start-up" issue and the leaking window in the rear at the cooker??

 

[andyinluton]

Hi Doris just had her first service, with just over 5000 miles since new. The garage advised us we’re close to requiring two new front tyres, just interested in how many miles we should expect. Doris is a T6, 2ltr, 150BHP with DSG thought we would have got close to 10k appreciate the front ones are going to wear first.


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What tyres are they ? - include load ratings etc Just wondering if they are the wrong spec

 

[Andy]

I've my Ocean in for a check up next week but primarily for the excessive wear on both rear tyres, especially the rear inside (passenger) side. The wear is excessive on the outer corner threads and is probably due to the tracking. I'm at 26,500km (16,500miles) & am only unhappy as the 2 fronts have plenty of wear left.
My dealer tells me that tracking is not covered by the VW warranty any further than 6k km or 6 months but he will do it for me for free, while I wait, as "they value me as their customer".
So full marks to them in fairness!
It remains to be seen how they react to the "drive belt noise at start-up" issue and the leaking window in the rear at the cooker??

What do you call excessive wear on the rear tyres ?? How much tread is left ?
Rear N/S (passenger side) always wears more than the O/S (driver side) due to all the weight being on that side. Tracking wear shows as wear on one shoulder of tyre. You mention wear on the rear N/S tyre inside & outer shoulder, which would suggest under inflation
I would take your cali to some place where they do FULL computerized laser wheel / axle alignment, VW dealer probably will not be able to do this.
On the rear axle toe in is adjustable but the camber is not. I had mine done when I first got it, front was out but rear within tolerances.

 

[Scaliwag]

What do you call excessive wear on the rear tyres ?? How much tread is left ?
Rear N/S (passenger side) always wears more than the O/S (driver side) due to all the weight being on that side. Tracking wear shows as wear on one shoulder of tyre. You mention wear on the rear N/S tyre inside & outer shoulder, which would suggest under inflation
I would take your cali to some place where they do FULL computerized laser wheel / axle alignment, VW dealer probably will not be able to do this.
On the rear axle toe in is adjustable but the camber is not. I had mine done when I first got it, front was out but rear within tolerances.

Not the shoulder but rather the outer thread which is typical of tracking issues. I'm booked in for a full laser wheel / axle alignment with my dealer and he'll provide me with a report. I guess if it's not the full job I can go elsewhere but my impression is that they will do the lot there with no charge. I'll know more next week.

 

[tuono001]

With regards to pressures, if you look inside the drivers door pillar there is a chart with all the pressures for the various tyre sizes and loadings.