Tyre wear - outer edge nearside front. Why ?

[WindsorRob]

The outer edge of my front near side tyre seems to be wearing at a faster rate than the rest of the tyre. Just wondered if this is a symptom of enthusiastic roundabout use, or could indicate a tracking issue. Car is an E39 M5, tyre a Goodyear Eagle F1. Bit grieving to have to buy more, given the rest of the tyre is ok ? Any thoughts...

[Rowan138]

either too much toe in or too much positive camber

[Zerotonine]

This happens a lot in Swindon, every vehicle I have known has wrecked the NSF on the outer edge, mainly caused by the amount of roundabouts. We call it 'Swindon Syndrome'. I am currently rocking the 'Spare wheel' look on my car until I can get a new tyre.

[Fish981]

Tracking affects both tyres.

[Blue Oval84]

My tyres have done the same but only on the very outer edge, plenty of tread across the rest of the tyre so I'm not bothering to change them yet. Will probably get it sorted at the next service.

[Jayfish]

+1 for too much toe in

[Slashmb]

I have the same issue on my work van. I put it down to roundabouts too as it is a VW Crafter and so is rwd.

[Billy_rfc]

Fish981 said:

Tracking affects both tyres.

Nope!

[swifthobo]

tyre pressure? under inflation?

[911p]

Four wheel alignment needed!

[gavgavgav]

Being an E39, you had your bushes looked at in the last service? They wear out often.

[jr502]

Could a wheel bearing on its way out cause this? (Just wondering, as I have the same sort of wear, and I think a wheel bearing needs replacing)

[rsox87]

swifthobo said:

tyre pressure? under inflation?

If it's worn at both edges it could well be underinflation, but if it's just the outer edge it'll be a suspension geometry issue.

[AJB]

Billy_rfc said:

Fish981 said:

Tracking affects both tyres.

Nope!

If roads didn't have any camber then yes, it'd affect both. But they do. Toe in tends to scrub the outside of both tyres (as they're pointing inwards, and so the outside edge of both gets dragged along the road). But, roads are cambered so that you're normally pulling slightly right on the steering to keep the car in a straight line. This means that the right hand wheel is going fairly straight, and the left hand wheel is pointing to the right and scrubbing the outside edge of its tyre.

Too much toe out scrubs the inside of the tyres. In this case, the left hand wheel will be going fairly straight and the right hand wheel will be pointing to the right, scrubbing the inside edge of its tyre.

I find it easier to visualise by pointing my hands toe-in or toe-out, and then imagining pushing them down the road!

Having said that, worn bushes or camber issues could also cause uneven wear.

Edited by AJB on Monday 23 July 12:23