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Old 09-10-2020, 05:05 PM   #1
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Strange tire wear on a 2013 Escape 19

I noticed odd tire wear on my 2013 Escape 19 a few months ago. The tires were getting old and were due for a replacement regardless, so I went looking for new tires and an explanation of the wear pattern. The trailer guy said he's never seen anything like this before, and couldn't offer an explanation.


The wear seems to have happened in bands across the width of the tire. The bands are not straight across the tire, but are diagonal.


I'll attach a few pictures to try to make it clear what's happening.


As far as I know, nothing significant has changed that could explain this. I did have Escape do the frame recall weld last year, but I can't see how even something like a twisted frame could cause this sort of wear.


I'm a little concerned, of course, that whatever has caused the wear will now attack my new tires...


Has anybody seen anything like this before, or have an explanation of what could be causing it?
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Old 09-10-2020, 06:14 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbailey View Post
I noticed odd tire wear on my 2013 Escape 19 a few months ago. The tires were getting old and were due for a replacement regardless, so I went looking for new tires and an explanation of the wear pattern. The trailer guy said he's never seen anything like this before, and couldn't offer an explanation.


The wear seems to have happened in bands across the width of the tire. The bands are not straight across the tire, but are diagonal.


I'll attach a few pictures to try to make it clear what's happening.


As far as I know, nothing significant has changed that could explain this. I did have Escape do the frame recall weld last year, but I can't see how even something like a twisted frame could cause this sort of wear.


I'm a little concerned, of course, that whatever has caused the wear will now attack my new tires...


Has anybody seen anything like this before, or have an explanation of what could be causing it?
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=263

https://www.michelinb2b.com/wps/b2bc...ts_Trailer.pdf

Maybe a visit to a wheel alignment shop is in order - a twisted frame / misaligned axle would cause this sort of wear.
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Old 09-10-2020, 07:59 PM   #3
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Because the wear doesn't go all the way around the tire, it doesn't seem likely to me to be related to alignment or inflation issues. It looks like the tire may be bouncing because it is out-of-round or imbalanced... the sort of problems which most people would notice on a car but go unnoticed on a trailer. Both are easy to check on a balancer.
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Old 09-10-2020, 08:36 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
Because the wear doesn't go all the way around the tire, it doesn't seem likely to me to be related to alignment or inflation issues. It looks like the tire may be bouncing because it is out-of-round or imbalanced... the sort of problems which most people would notice on a car but go unnoticed on a trailer. Both are easy to check on a balancer.
The pics show diagonal wear all around the tire. Why do you say "the wear doesn't go all the way around the tire"? It sure looks like it does to me.
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Old 09-10-2020, 08:42 PM   #5
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My vote is out of balance or possibly broken belts from potholes. Don’t know just guessing. On some occasions balance is reflected in cupping. A trailer and frame shop old time technician might have good answers.
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Old 09-10-2020, 09:07 PM   #6
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Thanks for the feedback, folks.


The problem has only recently shown up, after ~50k km. I don't recall any hard potholes or similar that might affect the alignment, but it's always possible.


But Brian is correct -- the wear is not consistent all around the tire. It is significant around roughly 1/3 of the diameter, and mostly non-existent otherwise. So an imbalanced tire seems possible.


Unfortunately with all new tires I can't verify that theory.


Does anybody have a rough estimate for what an alignment check costs? If it's cheap, I may get it done just for peace of mind.
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Old 09-10-2020, 11:01 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbailey View Post
I noticed odd tire wear on my 2013 Escape 19 a few months ago. The tires were getting old and were due for a replacement regardless, so I went looking for new tires and an explanation of the wear pattern. The trailer guy said he's never seen anything like this before, and couldn't offer an explanation.


The wear seems to have happened in bands across the width of the tire. The bands are not straight across the tire, but are diagonal.


I'll attach a few pictures to try to make it clear what's happening.


As far as I know, nothing significant has changed that could explain this. I did have Escape do the frame recall weld last year, but I can't see how even something like a twisted frame could cause this sort of wear.


I'm a little concerned, of course, that whatever has caused the wear will now attack my new tires...


Has anybody seen anything like this before, or have an explanation of what could be causing it?
Just the one tire out of the four that this happened to?
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Old 09-10-2020, 11:07 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by tdf-texas View Post
The pics show diagonal wear all around the tire. Why do you say "the wear doesn't go all the way around the tire"? It sure looks like it does to me.
If you follow a row of tread blocks around the circumference of the tire, you have some worn blocks then some not-worn blocks... it isn't continuous.
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Old 09-11-2020, 06:18 AM   #9
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Did you get the new tires balanced?
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Old 09-11-2020, 07:31 AM   #10
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Both tires on the right showed the wear, but one was much more pronounced than the other.


I didn't explicitly ask to have the new tires balanced -- I just assumed they would be... Aren't new tires always balanced when they're put on? I guess not necessarily, but it never occurred to me that they might not be... I'll call the shop and ask.
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Old 09-11-2020, 09:29 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by dbailey View Post
Both tires on the right showed the wear, but one was much more pronounced than the other.


I didn't explicitly ask to have the new tires balanced -- I just assumed they would be... Aren't new tires always balanced when they're put on? I guess not necessarily, but it never occurred to me that they might not be... I'll call the shop and ask.
On cars & trucks, yes, but many don't believe balancing is necessary for trailers, so you probably need to ask.
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Old 09-11-2020, 09:55 AM   #12
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Sure enough, when I called I was told it's not necessary to balance trailer tires... I have found a local place that will do an alignment check (for about the cost of an hour's labour) -- I'll do that, and see what comes back.
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Old 09-11-2020, 05:37 PM   #13
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Both tires on the right showed the wear, but one was much more pronounced than the other.
Might be a"dumb question", but I have to ask. Been in any really tight right hand turns lately?
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Old 09-11-2020, 09:18 PM   #14
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When I go to get new tires on the trailer I always remove the weights off the wheels and pay for balancing just like I do for tow vehicle tires. I usually ask the tech how they balanced up and look at how much weight they had to use on them. I feel pretty good if it’s only a couple ounces. Five or six, not so much.
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