20" tire tread life

[ukrcan]

is it true that 20" tires wear off a LOT quicker than 19"? I am debating about upgrading from 19" to 20" but have heard that i would be going through tires a lot quicker than if i stick with my 19"

[JCL]

Wider tires may wear faster, or a lot faster, but won't necessarily do so.

Different tires will have different tread patterns, and tread compounds, both of which affect wear rate. Wider tires will be more sensitive to alignment issues, particularly toe-in, since they will essentially be scrubbing with each revolution and a wider tire will scrub more simply due to its width.

[Ricky Bobby]

Its been said time and time before, your alignment settings, tire pressures, and tire brands/types will dictate the rate of wear, not necessarily the sizes.


In theory, if all other things are the same (tire brand, type, pressure, alignment, etc) the tires should theoretically wear the same, given the same miles driven.


The best thing I would do before going through buying a set of staggered 20s and tires would be to get an alignment check, and see what your specs are. Chances are good you are due for an alignment anyway. Have you done any recent suspension maintenance? For example, at 68k miles, my entire front suspension is fresh, some parts were worn and some parts were seized and unable to be adjusted to I had to replace them.

My rear suspension is fine for the most part, and I was recently able to get aligned, however, my right rear camber was not able to be adjusted into spec. Even with my low mileage, I still have a part that is worn in the rear (most likely swing arm ball joint or wishbone upper control arm), and that side still had excessive camber.


If you want maximum tread life and for the tires to wear evenly, zero out the toe in the rear! That's all you need to do, the combo of the aggressive negative camber and excessive toe scrub the hell out of the inner edges (and which is why the myth that "staggered wheels don't wear evenly" comes into play)

The problem is most guys get aligned at the dealer, and even at minimum, there is still too much toe spec'ed for the 20s. Go to a good indy shop who will align to your specs and have them zero out toe in the rear, and you'll have no wear issues.

[JCL]

You don't necessarily want zero toe-in, you want it to be set to the minimum of the published specification, whatever that specification may be for your vehicle.

[ukrcan]

Thanks for the info. It all makes sense... i was going to do the alignment anyways, just need to make sure camber and toe specs are at the allowable limits
i guess its time to start sourcing out a set of 87s...

[absentmathis]

With factory alignment settings on cars like BMWs (see rear camber), lower profile tires are going to wear faster because they are less forgiving...that is less flexible. That said, an inch difference is going to be marginal, IE no great difference between 18-19, or 19-20, but from 17-20 yes maybe.

[Qsilver7]

Tire wear is going to be different depending on what type of tire you have...not because of its size (ditto to those that already mentioned this).

If you go with the same brand/type of tire...the size is not going to wear quicker as the size gets larger...but if you go from an 19" tire brand/type to a different 20" tire brand/type...then you may get different wear.

For example, if you go from an all season 19" tire to a 20" summer tire...then the "wear" is going to be different due to rubber compound and tread pattern etc...not because the tire is 1" greater in circumference.

[tmv]

I am one of a few who went out of BMW spec in toe-setting alignment, base on recommendation from a very knowledgeable/well-known alignment shop (who set the alignment on my Z32 for some road course). Everything was set according to spec but toe setting as close to zero as possible to maximize tire life. My Michelins Diamanris (soft summer tires) worn evenly in the rear.