Tyre wear

[Neb]

Hello!

I've just managed to get 20k miles out of a set of hankook all season tyres, which isn't brilliant but not terrible. Interestingly, I've noticed the rear tyres have worn at the same rate as the fronts, the most worn tyre on the van is the rear nearside tyre.

I drive the 1.2 petrol commercial Berlingo, the rear load is typically empty or lightly loaded with mountain bikes. Any thoughts as to what might be causing the rear tyres to wear so quickly?

My first thought was got the wheels aligned, but the local tyre fitter suggested that not all rear suspension can be aligned so it wouldn't be worth it but not sure if that was just that they couldn't align it rather than it couldn't be done. Can the Berlingo rear wheels be realigned?

Any thoughts appreciated!

Cheers

[evdama]

I was getting about 30 from Energy Savers so 20 from soft compound all season tyres is fair

Rear axles vary in integrity but youd more likely get heavier wear on one side of the tread as if it were front wheel tracking.

Mine does this on the rear offside so I rotate older tyres round so it never gets to eat a decent one.

Road camber is another trope given out by the industry - this could affect the nearside if it were true

Are the tyre presures appropriate? -the rears need extra only if running loaded

But as long as theyre wearing evenly across the tread then its fairly normal for front /rear to be about the same- well balanced weight ratio.

[Neb]

I was getting about 30 from Energy Savers so 20 from soft compound all season tyres is fair

Rear axles vary in integrity but youd more likely get heavier wear on one side of the tread as if it were front wheel tracking.

Mine does this on the rear offside so I rotate older tyres round so it never gets to eat a decent one.

Road camber is another trope given  out by the industry - this could affect the nearside if it were true

Are the tyre presures appropriate? -the rears need extra only if running loaded

But as long as theyre wearing evenly across the tread then its fairly normal for front /rear to be about the same- well balanced weight ratio.

Thanks for that, gives me confidence that its all working as designed! I guess it's a low powered light engine so the fronts won't suffer too much additional wear from engine torque. The roads in Cumbria aren't the best and there is potentially some bouncing over pot holes that the rear would suffer from in a way the fronts wouldn't. 

My previous van was a remapped, fully loaded, VW transporter camper van. The front tyres would only last about 10k just from engine load, rears would last about 25k

[Izzug]

I had uneven tyre wear on my previous B9, evently traced to the back axle being 'out'. This was a comon and known issue by Citreon. There was a 'fix' but i sold the car and got my K9.  Now after 30k miles the tyre wear 'nearside rear' is noticely more than the other 3 tyres. I was hoping that Citreon had fixed this but i guess not. The issue/problem is apparently due to the low roll centre of the rear axle compaired to the front, the 'skewed' roll causes the outside edge of the rear tyre to skate/slide/slip over the road surface when lightly loaded (bend / roundabout) , you may feel the back end skipping occationaly on a bend if you touch a pothole etc...in short it is just a 'feature' of this car design, some cars are fine, which leads one to beleive that a very slight variation on the rear geometry was the 'fix' , just poor design by Citreon.

[shtu]

Poor design and manufacture. It's a lottery if the rear tyres will wear, or not.

The rear alignment is not officially adjustable, but there is a way that I've been looking into,

https://www.eibachshop.co.uk/products/ei...m-5-75400k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4UXxy7qw38

Apparently, some of the good alignment kit knows about these shims, and will tell the operator what shim and setting is required to fix the alignment.

I need to contact some local places and see if they've ever used these before, it's a pretty unusual thing in the UK.

[Neb]

Poor design and manufacture. It's a lottery if the rear tyres will wear, or not.

The rear alignment is not officially adjustable, but there is a way that I've been looking into,

https://www.eibachshop.co.uk/products/ei...m-5-75400k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4UXxy7qw38

Apparently, some of the good alignment kit knows about these shims, and will tell the operator what shim and setting is required to fix the alignment.

I need to contact some local places and see if they've ever used these before, it's a pretty unusual thing in the UK.

That is promising, I would be interested if you find out more information.

[Neb]

I had uneven tyre wear on my previous B9, evently traced to the back axle being 'out'. This was a comon and known issue by Citreon. There was a 'fix' but i sold the car and got my K9.  Now after 30k miles the tyre wear 'nearside rear' is noticely more than the other 3 tyres. I was hoping that Citreon had fixed this but i guess not. The issue/problem is apparently due to the low roll centre of the rear axle compaired to the front, the 'skewed' roll causes the outside edge of the rear tyre to skate/slide/slip over the road surface when lightly loaded (bend / roundabout) , you may feel the back end skipping occationaly on a bend if you touch a pothole etc...in short it is just a 'feature' of this car design, some cars are fine, which leads one to beleive that a very slight variation on the rear geometry was the 'fix' , just poor design by Citreon.

Thanks for that, its good to know it's not just me!

Sounds like a 'feature' rather than a bug...!