[L.J.Grace]

I drive a 2017 QX30S... I took her in, after feeling a vibration I couldn't identify... I was told that the vibration was caused by an unusual wear pattern on the tires and would require new tires... The car has less than 18k miles on gentle driving. Would it be wise to replace the tires, before finding the underlying cause of the "unusual wear patter"? After all, Run On Flat tires are not cheep.

 

[p07r0457]

Are you running factory tires?

If the tires are shot, then they'll need to be replaced. However, you'll want to identify the underlying cause of the unusual wear so it may be corrected and save you from ruining a new set of shoes.

At a minimum, I'd have have the suspension inspected and a 4-wheel alignment performed by a shop that really knows what they're doing.

For the new shoes, try to use a shop that will road-force balance the tires.

For both balancing and alignment, stress that you want someone to really take their time and dial it in. Alignment specs are given in a "range" and some of the more lazy shops will see that you're at the end of the range and consider that good, as where a quality shop will adjust you to the center of the spec.

Can you share a picture of the tire and describe the abnormal wear pattern? That may provide clues as to what caused the issue. Is it all four tires wearing unevenly? Or just one axle? Just one tire?

Did you perform regular rotations? On what interval?

 

[alexmed2002]

Like it was mentioned earlier, you need to figure out what is causing the tires to not wear out correctly.

 

[L.J.Grace]

Are you running factory tires?

If the tires are shot, then they'll need to be replaced. However, you'll want to identify the underlying cause of the unusual wear so it may be corrected and save you from ruining a new set of shoes.

At a minimum, I'd have have the suspension inspected and a 4-wheel alignment performed by a shop that really knows what they're doing.

For the new shoes, try to use a shop that will road-force balance the tires.

For both balancing and alignment, stress that you want someone to really take their time and dial it in. Alignment specs are given in a "range" and some of the more lazy shops will see that you're at the end of the range and consider that good, as where a quality shop will adjust you to the center of the spec.

Can you share a picture of the tire and describe the abnormal wear pattern? That may provide clues as to what caused the issue. Is it all four tires wearing unevenly? Or just one axle? Just one tire?

Did you perform regular rotations? On what interval?

Yes. I am the original owner and I live less than a mile from the dealership. She has just shy of 18000 miles on the odometer... The tires have been rotated twice in that time period... We think that the cause of the unusual wear is the floor that it has been parked on... A crack in the floor of the concrete garage floor... Since the car isn't driving on a regular basis, it has spent long periods (Weeks at a time) Parked in the same spot... In the heat of the summer, the softer rubber was imprinted with the shape of the cracked concrete... This caused a small, crease in the tire... Long story short... Unusual wear pattern that nobody seems to be able to identify... This is just a theory, at the moment. Do you agree that this is a possibility?

 

[p07r0457]

Yes. I am the original owner and I live less than a mile from the dealership. She has just shy of 18000 miles on the odometer... The tires have been rotated twice in that time period... We think that the cause of the unusual wear is the floor that it has been parked on... A crack in the floor of the concrete garage floor... Since the car isn't driving on a regular basis, it has spent long periods (Weeks at a time) Parked in the same spot... In the heat of the summer, the softer rubber was imprinted with the shape of the cracked concrete... This caused a small, crease in the tire... Long story short... Unusual wear pattern that nobody seems to be able to identify... This is just a theory, at the moment. Do you agree that this is a possibility?

Right off the bat I see two problems:
1. Rotating every 9k miles is waiting too long! Rotate them every 5k miles.
2. If you're parking for weeks-on-end then that's bad for tires, regardless of the condition of the concrete. You're going to develop flat spots.

Why have the vehicle if you're not going to use it regularly?