Excessive rear tire wear

csh · Post by **csh** » 09 Feb 2022, 16:53

My 2004 S60 AWD seems to have developed a problem with excessive tire wear in the rear. Last time I checked both front and back tires were relatively close in the amount of wear. Now there is a significant difference. The wear across the tread is fairly even with no excess wear on either the outer or inner edges and no cupping or scalloping. It looks like I am going to have to kick a car out of the garage and get this one in to check the rear toe and inspect the trailing arm bushing. Given that I don't see anything with the wear pattern that would suggest an alignment problem I am a bit surprised to see the rear wearing more than the front. Along with the tire wear I have noticed that the rear tends to get a bit squirrelly when going over certain bumps. Is there anything else that I should look at as a part of checking for possible culprits?

Post by **BlackBart** » 09 Feb 2022, 18:03

Too many burnouts in the street with the kidz yo.

I would think toe would lead to cupping. Too much negative camber wears out the inside tread fast. Too much air pressure will leave a worn spot down the center, not enough will wear out the sides.

Are they the same tire front and back? The rears aren't a much softer compound? Is something bent in the rear?

TisMe · Post by **TisMe** » 09 Feb 2022, 18:49

For me it was the wheel bearings, but they made their presence known to the ear.

csh · Post by **csh** » 10 Feb 2022, 04:23

Same tires front and back. It is an AWD so I prefer to replace all 4 at the same time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to investigate this weekend so maybe next weekend. I'll check the inflation this afternoon, but it should be 38psi or less. If I fail to find anything obvious when I investigate, I think I will rotate the tires to confirm that the rear is wearing faster. There is a chance that I am remembering things wrong about the amount of front vs. back tire wear but I don't think so.