why do my tires wear out so fast?

tires that wear out early almost never have anything wrong with the tires. something is doing it to them, and the wear pattern says what.

read the wear, then fix the cause

both edges worn, centre fine. under-inflation. the tire flexes at the shoulders and carries the load on its edges.

centre worn, edges fine. over-inflation. the tire crowns and rides on its middle.

one edge only. alignment, specifically camber or toe. the tire is being dragged slightly sideways every metre you drive.

feathered, where the tread blocks are sharp on one side and rounded on the other and it feels rough to the palm. toe alignment.

cupped or scalloped, with scooped patches, usually with a drumming noise at speed. worn shocks or struts letting the tire bounce.

patchy and random. out of balance, or a bent wheel.

the four things that actually decide tire life

1. pressure. check it monthly, cold, against the sticker in the door jamb rather than the number moulded into the tire. that number is a maximum, not a recommendation. pressure drops about one psi for every six degrees the temperature falls, which is why the light comes on in November.
2. alignment. after any significant pothole, kerb strike or suspension work, and once a year regardless.
3. rotation, on the correct pattern for your drive type.
4. how you drive. hard cornering, hard braking and pulling away sharply cost tread quickly, and there is no product that offsets it.

the one that surprises people

alignment out by a fraction of a degree is invisible from the driver's seat. the car tracks straight, nothing pulls, and the tires are being scrubbed away the entire time.

that is why a set that "should" have done 80,000 kilometres is finished at 45,000 with no obvious cause. the cause was there the whole time, and it costs far less to correct than a set of tires.