The following article is supposed to be a short guideline on how to check your tires and determine the source of burned out tire tread. Usually your garage should check the tires whilst the car is in its regular servicing; unfortunately in some cases, this check can be overlooked.
It has happened to both of my cars in the last two months, and is now the driving force behind writing this article. Here on the roads in Dubai I’ve never seen so many blown up tires in my life. The extreme heat combined with burned out tires is a dangerous and even life threatening occurrence, so you should therefore check your tires from time to time to be sure that you and your passengers are safe. If you feel vibration in your steering or the car is pulling to one direction (not going straight) you should check your tires immediately.
Case 1: A tire is burned out in the middle of the tire tread
Possible reasons for this include too much pressure in your tires. This makes the middle of tire tread bend towards the outside and therefore becomes more used then the sides of the tire.
>>> check tire pressure
Case 2: A tire is burned out on both sides of the tire tread
The opposite of the previous case can results in this effect: If there is not enough pressure in the tires the sidewalls of the tire are put under pressure. This means that the middle of the tire is left with not much pressure on the road. Another reason could be taking many corners at high speed, but then this effect has to be equal on the opposite tire. Normally right and left curves are equal resulting in equal uses on each tire – if you would go in a circle only in one direction this effect would be only on one side of a tire.
>>> check tire pressure
Case 3: A tire is burned out on one side of the tire tread
If the tire tread is only burned out on one side, it is a good indication that the wheel camber is at a bad angle, especially if it appears only on one tire. This effect can appear either on the inner or outer side of the tire cap.
If the effect appears on two tires it is also possible that the wheel alignment is wrong for the front or back tires.
>>> check tire alignment
Case 4: Similar marks on the complete tire cap
A tire showing similar marks of a burned out profile is a good indicator that the wheel suspension is faulty or not adjusted properly. The wrong road contact of the tires results in this effect.
>>> check suspension
Case 5: Irregular marks on the complete tire cap
Irregular marks on a burned profile is an indicator of faulty wheel balancing. If the tire is not rotation smooth you will feel it most probably in your steering.
>>> check suspension and wheel balancing
Case 6: One flat burned out spot
A single burned-out spot on the tire cap usually appears after emergency breaking without ABS. This can happen when one or more of the wheels are braking and the tires are locked making them skid on the road.
The complexity of a car suspension and habits of a diver don’t make it easy to determine easily the source and use of single or all tires. This article should just give some indication of what could have caused a burned out tire but does not give a complete picture of possible reasons. If you locate any kind of unusual use of your tires you should consult an expert. A good garage with trained and experienced stuff and the right equipment will find the reason and fix it, so that you have a safe drive.
Even with regular abrasion, you should change the tires if the profile is too low. 5mm is a minimum profile you should have on your tires – measure the part of the tire cap where the profile is at its lowest.
(Use a One Dirham coin as reference: – if the Arabic coffee pot is not covered by the profile at all, change the tires.)
Published in May 2011
