Is negative chamber will wear out tire fast for sure???What tire to choose to avoid?

sobi6111 · #1 04-09-2009, 04:53 AM

I am shopping right now for new 275-40-20 and 315-35-20 tires and was wondering which one to take in order to make them live long enough(i have stock negative chamber and not planning to change it).

Any ideas????

motordavid · #2 04-09-2009, 09:31 AM

I assume your concern is more for the rear tires, due to potential wear from the negative camber Xs have...but, if you are looking for "tread life ratings",
go to TireRack.com, or other big tire retail sites, plug in your size(s), and check each brand's "Specs" in the drop down tab next to each species of tire.

It will list a series of specs, the first being the UTQG, Uniform Tread Quality Grade, which shows a 3 digit number and a series of letters. Theoretically,
the higher the #, the longer the tread life...keep in mind that really high number tread rating will probably be a "harder" compound, with potentially less
"grip", but possibly longer life; the inverse is also true, in theory.

A quick perusal of their site shows a few brands in the big rear tire size with UTQG ratings ranging from 220 to 440, the 440 Michey being the theoretically
longer last tread...

And, wait for some anecdotal comments in your thread, that talk about that 20" size tire set you have.

Tire 101...
GL,mD

dkl · #3 04-09-2009, 12:30 PM

MD, note that the UTQG rating is only valid within the same brand when making comparison. For example, my OEM Bridgestone have a rating of 140 and it wore much better (went 32K miles) than the Pirelli Scorpion Zero Asimmetrico (UTQG rating of 420) that I replaced them with, which I only managed to squeezed out 20K miles. The Pirelli actually worn much more evenly than the Bridgestone, so alignment wasn't an issue with those.

motordavid · #4 04-09-2009, 12:45 PM

DKL,
I know, I know ...

The UTQG is really a misnomer and mkting stuff from each company,
though it isn't clear that it's only within brands, not across brands,
based on the near anecdotal & very thin testing data.

I was going to paste the long winded version, with disclaimers, but
I felt the OP was not looking for a term paper and, more potential
confusion...If I were looking for potentially longer wearing tread, I
would cop the Michey Latitudes, but everyone's MMV!

Thanks for the clarification, though.
BR,mD

Tire Tech Information - Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards