Could this happen in less than 16 miles?
Most experienced tire hands would recognize this as an example of the kind of irregular
wear you can expect when toe angle is misadjusted. But how could this much damage occur in
just under 16 miles?
Using a special test trailer at its Texas Proving Grounds, Bridgestone engineers were able
to deliberately set this tire with 5 degrees of toe angle. Then, they simply ran this tire
twice around the facility’s 7.7 mile oval track.
Of course, 5 degrees is a huge misadjustment. But if 5 degrees can cause this much
irregular wear in less than 16 miles, how long is it going to take for a typical 0.15
degree misadjustment to produce a serious wear condition?
Good vehicle alignment is clearly a major contributor to long tire lifea topic
we’ll explore in detail in future issues of Real Answers.
By comparison to a new tire, the R227
tread above shows severe toe-in wear. |
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