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tire wear

9

92tahoexj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Southwest PA
if you just using 2WD and you didn't rotate, which do think wears faster, front or rear tires? I think it would be the front unless your doing burnouts or have it locked in the rear. I actually rotate mine, so I can't prove it.
 
I think it depends how you drive. The XJ is nose heavy. If you make a habit of running turns hard, you might wear out the fronts quicker. (If your habit also does not include burnouts.) It is true that an XJ does not really inspire driving corners hard so this would probably be unusual.
 
Not sure if it applies but on my work-truck (Mercedes Axor 330hp, 22000lbs empty weight, max 44000lbs loaded) i wear out front tires at least twice as fast as the rears.
 
winterbeater said:
I think it depends how you drive. The XJ is nose heavy. If you make a habit of running turns hard, you might wear out the fronts quicker. (If your habit also does not include burnouts.) It is true that an XJ does not really inspire driving corners hard so this would probably be unusual.
Click to expand...

My thoughts were heavier in the front and turning, and the back has an open Diff and is lighter. If i had some cheap tires, I'd like to try my theory out.
4 new tires and and alignment and don't rotate for 25-30k and see which has the least tread.
 
The drive wheels almost always wear faster during normal operation and when using the same tires on all four wheels. Most of the time when the vehicle is in motion you have your foot on the gas whether your accelerating from a stand still or your keeping a constant velocity on the highway. The tire has to contend with the stress caused by the weight of the vehicle, the friction/drag from the road, and the force begin applied by the engine.
 
The tires on the front of my XJ wear faster that the rear, always. Maybe it is because I am light on the skinny pedal and heavy in corners.
 
mt ranger prerunner i had was on 33s. it obviously being a truck didnt weigh much in the rear but my rears deff went faster. my xj now rears do but its locked so it affects it more although my ranger had a lsd
 
Fronts will always wear faster, on anything, car truck you name it.

On a solid axle vehicle in perfect alignment and no tire rotations you will observe low tread in the center of the rear tires and slight feathering in the front, mostly on the outside of the right tire.

Running your hand down the tire in each direction will reveal the sharp edges of feathering that apparently some of you aren't seeing. :)
 
winterbeater said:
So are you saying that there is no tire pressure that would make the rears wear evenly across the tread?
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No, not if they're gonna sit in the rear for 20 or so thousand miles. They'd have to be aired down to 20 psi or so.. an unreasonably low pressure.

But, at the same time as your correct pressure rear tires are worn in the center, the fronts are going to be pretty well cupped too.

It's all a moot point. Proper maintenance makes it a non-issue.
 
Yes, proper maintenance is the only way to go.

However, if you use the chalk-across-the-face-of-the-tread method of determining your CORRECT tire pressure for all four wheels you can go a long way to maximizing tire service life.

Now, if you are anal-retentive enough to do that every month, you can probably maintain a very even wear pattern on all four wheels even for periods well past the recommended rotation interval.

So, the only question is: Just how anal-retentive are you?

I usually only do the chalk test twice in the life of a set on a particular vehicle--when brand new, and six months following that. I mark the proper inflation F/R in the door jamb with a permanent marker and just set the tires to those pressures for the rest of their lives.

Oh, I'm also anal-retentive enough to check all four tires for identical size when I'm buying them.
 
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I'm pretty sure the manufacturers don't recommend using chalk to set tire pressure. Their engineers do engineer-ish things and determine the magic number that goes on the data placard. The OE tire's load rating and other aspects of the tire have a lot to do with it.

I don't think I'd have my job for long if I went out test driving cars with chalk on the tires and fiddling with tire pressure. We put the tires to the placard pressure, check the alignment and keep 'em rotated.

Be careful- the chalk method usually leads to low tire pressures which can then heat up the tires quite a bit at highway speed.
 
JJacobs said:
I'm pretty sure the manufacturers don't recommend using chalk to set tire pressure. Their engineers do engineer-ish things and determine the magic number that goes on the data placard. The OE tire's load rating and other aspects of the tire have a lot to do with it.

I don't think I'd have my job for long if I went out test driving cars with chalk on the tires and fiddling with tire pressure. We put the tires to the placard pressure, check the alignment and keep 'em rotated.

Be careful- the chalk method usually leads to low tire pressures which can then heat up the tires quite a bit at highway speed.
Click to expand...

So, what is the engineers markings on your data plate for the 35s you just put on?

Get real world where people put things on vehicles like different sized tires, armor plating, tricked-out suspension components.

Those numbers the engineers worked so hard to provide for you are intended for unmodified vehicles running "approved" tire sizes.
 
I agree with Joe - the data plate on the doors is for stock tires, not for bigger tires. There is no need for 35psi in a 33" tire on a Cherokee. It will ride rough as hell and there is no benefit: rougher ride - not a benefit, smaller contact patch - not a benefit, better mileage - hardly.
 
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