Premature outer wear + all-season tire brand?

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predatorvi

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My wife's 2015 Explorer Sport is approaching 33,000 miles.  It came with the Hankook Optimo H426 Tire P255/50R20.  The vehicle is a branded title (reconstruction) and we initially had some issues with alignment, but I believe it had been remedied, but all 4 tires are showing excessive wear on the outer edges to the point that Discount Tire won't work on the TPMS low pressure issue. 

I'm curious what other's experiences are with these tires and what brand/model you like.  I'm getting the alignment redone again tomorrow to make sure I don't prematurely wear out any new ones.  My initial searches suggest folks have experienced premature wear on the Hankook tires anyway but not all reviews I've seen are on Explorers.

Also everyone at the shops keep telling me to run 35 PSI and that seems way too low for a tire rated for 51 PSI max and would seem in my mind to potentially contribute to outer tire wear.

Thanks for any info!
 
51 psi max pressure is a pretty typical passenger tire rating.

What is on the door tag for Recommended tire pressure?
 
My 13 XSport inflation recommendation is 35PSI, and that's what I run in mine (regardless of tire brand). Keep in mind, the maximum tire pressure on a tire sidewall is for use at the maximum load rating. OE tire pressures are based on your vehicle weight. The exact same tire installed on a vehicle of different weight would have a different inflation recommendation. If you are heavily loaded with cargo or heavy tongue weight trailer, you may want to air up your rear tires for the added load, but for normal use, use the recommended pressure on the sticker inside your driver's side door.

Over-inflating the tire will cause premature center wear and reduce your traction in all conditions. Under-inflating can cause outer wear issues. Is outer and inner edge wear both excessive or is one worse than the other?

EDIT: I have Nankang SP-5 tires on my XSport now, and they are the worst tire's I've ever had. They only had 500 miles on them when I bought my truck new, so it seemed wasteful to buy a whole new set. One of them already had a broken belt and needed to be replaced. I'm going to wear them down and replace with Michelins when ready.
 
I'm not sure on the inner wear.  I'll have the shop measure inner and outer wear tomorrow.

The door sticker does say 35 PSI so I guess that's right...unless both inner/outer are worn, correct?

Thanks!
 
If you've been running recommended pressures, I doubt that's the primary cause. Any possibility they were under inflated (below the 35 psi OE recommendation)? That could cause inner and outer wear as well.

If they can throw it on the alignment rack and run a report that would help confirm if everything is in spec. Usually they don't charge for just checking it.

How aggressively do you drive? I'm pretty "spirited" so the edges of my tires tend to wear out relatively quickly as well. LOL


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Temperature will affect tire pressures.  I beileve TireRack.com had stated 1 psi for every 10F change.  So if you set pressures to 35 psi at 80F, you could very well see the TPMS coming on if the temperatures fall below 10F, because the actual pressure at ambient is at 28 psi or below.  Lesson?  Check tire pressures regularly.

Some tires apparently need a bit more pressure in them than recommended to work well.  Example:  General GMax, around 40-42 psi.  But as a rule, stick with the recommended tire pressure on the door placard.  Lower tire pressures may be ok for the track, but on public roads, the ride can become harsh/jarring.  Over inflating will cause loss of handling, as you are essentially driving on "skinny" tires, and are not taking full advantage of the tread pattern, which goes from shoulder to shoulder and may not be repetitive at all except bilaterally.
 
SHOdded said:
Temperature will affect tire pressures.  I beileve TireRack.com had stated 1 psi for every 10F change.  So if you set pressures to 35 psi at 80F, you could very well see the TPMS coming on if the temperatures fall below 10F, because the actual pressure at ambient is at 28 psi or below.  Lesson?  Check tire pressures regularly.
Click to expand...

Correct. Im not sure the capability of the Ford system, but the NHTSA requirement trigger pressure is less than or equal to 25% below recommended cold tire inflation.

That could allow a drop to 26.25 psi (nominal) which would require almost a 90 degree F temp drop to trigger, assuming no other air loss.

https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/tpmsfinalrule.6/tpmsfinalrule.6.html#IV_1


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It's most likely an alignment issue.  I typically get my car aligned at least 2 times per year, but i do a lot of miles.  If it were an inflation issue, both the outer and inner ends of the tire would be worn.  Just one side usually points at an alignment issue.

51 psi is the max you can safely put in there.  Most tires are rated around there, but i never fill up anywhere near that.  All my cars are run at 35 psi.  My MKS recommends 33 psi when the tires are cold, but I just run 35.  Your tires will feel like rocks at 51 psi over bumps.  The ride would be very harsh.
 
I think you all are overthinking this. From the OP, he stated the car is rebranded, with known alignment issues. Then all 4 tires outer edge worn. So only 1 of 2 things possible.

1. The suspension components are tweeked somewhere. This seems logical as any component can cause every other component to vary some if not properly compensated for.

2. Frame damage. Have body, frame repair or some tire shops check frame of vehicle. If it is damaged......

As a rebranded title you should have gotten the repair bill to see what damage to vehicle was so you would know what was repaired.

Does car/truck track in a straight line?

Tire inflation
tire_inflation_500x324_zpsctssuwq4.jpg


Alignment
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evolution4_zps5s1hyhli.jpg
 
I'm tending to side with you dx, but OP hadn't confirmed whether or not the inner edge was worn as well. He said he was going to have the shop look. That might help confirm your suspicions.


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The shop confirmed alignment still good.  This shop was the only one of the 3 I took it to that was able to find the original alignment issue about 20K miles ago. 

I had them check wear and they confirmed both inside and outside wear (1/32" to 2/32") was more than center (4/32") on all 4 tires.

I said I think I'll run them a bit higher pressure to force center wear a bit more and one of the desk jockeys says, that won't matter.  The new tires don't change shape with less/more air like the older tires.  If that is the case, how did the outside edges get worn more than the center?  Still, I think I'm going to run them up to at least 40 PSI hoping to get a few more months out of them before I have to replace them.
 
I think DX is right....a correct alignment wont show suspension or frame problems

Id say thats why cars with frame damage are wrote off so quickly ..can be very tricky to restore twisted metal accurately to its original place and ive seen them lead to a lifetime of alignment problems

Most shops only know how to read what the computer tells them but not how to properly check a frame and body for squareness or being plumb
 
So, a little history.  Before I bought it, I found the original documentation and photos of the damage.  I also took it to a body shop and had them go through it and put it on the rack to make sure it was square.

In all shops I've had it in for work, I told them it was a branded title and after the work, every single one mentioned that they wouldn't have known it if I hadn't told them.  The body shop said the same thing.

All in all, I'm fairly confident that it is in good shape despite the damage to the right side front and rear quarter panels.  I believe the alignment issue we were seeing was related to installation of new parts and it turned out to be just a loose bolt on (IIRC) the rear control arm.  It's been close to 2 years since it was resolved.

Regardless, I'm still interested in and tire brand/model recommendations for my next set.  I've always liked the Michelins on my F350 dually, but that is a whole different beast.
 
Are you looking for summer or all-seasons or winter tires?

I think I would go with:
SUMMER:
Michelin Pilot Super Sport series
Continental ExtremeContact series
BF Goodrich g-Force Comp T/A series

ALL-SEASONS:
Continental ExtremeContact DWS06
BF Goodrich g-Force Comp T/A series
Pirelli Cinturato P7
General G-Max (higher inflation pressures are best)

WINTER:
Bridgestone Blizzak
Michelin X-Ice
Yokohama IceGuard
& MANY MORE
 
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