Tyre needs replacement at 17,000Kms?

[MR 225]

I was walking towards the back of my car yesterday when I noticed what looked like something stuck to my rear passenger side tyre. I got the shock of my life when I took a closer look and noticed a bald spot!

To give you a background:

- The tyres are the original Pirelli P7’s with less than 17,000kms on them
- The front tyres are perfect, the rear drivers has probably 70% tread left
- I have never done a burnout (ie. foot on brake and accelerator at same time)
- The only other person who drives my car is my conservative wife

Now I have been known to turn ESP off during the rain and get the occasional sideways action but this is few & far between and I’m not talking about fishtailing 100 metres up the road.

The bald spot is right in the centre of the tyre and you can see the inner wall of the tyre. It is concaved and the inside & outside of the tyres aren’t too bad. A you can imagine, I was shocked.

I called my local Chrysler dealer & spoke with the Service Manager. He said he has never had warranty problems with the Pirelli’s before & if it is a legitimate issue, it would be addressed by Pirelli & not through Chrysler (but arranged by Chrysler). He said it sounded like a problem with tyre pressure and asked if I checked it regularly. I told him I check it at the service station about once every 2 months and I check the pressure through the EVIC daily. He said to bring it in when I get my service done (May) and they’ll check it out.

I don’t want to blow a tyre with my kids or clients in the car so does anyone in Sydney want to sell me 1 tyre (or tyre with rim) so I can put it on and I’ll take the damaged one in upon my service? If I can’t find one, I’ll buy a set of four with 70% tread for $300 offered to me by a local tyre shop (2 Continental’s & 2 Goodyear’s 18/235/30).

Attached are some pics. Has anyone come across this before?

[300c Touring]

I have just done 20,000ks and the tyres are still good.

As it's in the centre of the tyre, I would presume that over inflation might be part of the problem

[MR 225]

Regarding overinflation, I never exceed the recommended PSI (on the sticker inside the door)? Also, the problem is only with one wheel

[wog boy]

Looks like from a burnout to me and obviously only the one wheel means you have a open centre diff and that must smoke it up good

see what Steve has to say

[Hemi57]

Something is definitely dodgey to have caused that particular tyre to wear that bad that quickly. I am disappointed that the dealer reckons you should wait until your next service. I would be driving it only from point A to point B - B is the place I would be replacing the tyre.

Things that spring to my mind are,
tyre manufacturing fault,
significant over inflation,
fault with your ESP/TC

BTW, that deal on the 4 wheels (?) & tyres is a steal.

[Kelvin]

Originally Posted by wog boy

Looks like from a burnout to me and obviously only the one wheel means you have a open centre diff and that must smoke it up good

see what Steve has to say

Apparently wog boy, you have have something different to other 300C's.

And yes it sure does appear to be over inflation. However it does seem very strange considering that you are so carefull with your tyre pressures MR 225. Hopefully just a tyre warrantly issue.

[wog boy]

Originally Posted by Kelvin

Apparently wog boy, you have have something different to other 300C's.

And yes it sure does appear to be over inflation. However it does seem very strange considering that you are so carefull with your tyre pressures MR 225. Hopefully just a tyre warrantly issue.

What's different Kelvin?

I was thinking over inflation at the start too, I used to have a similar problem a few years ago with Bridgestone Eagers but after he mentioned he was always carefull and daliy checked his TPMS screen I ruled that out, plus when I did a burnout on the Eagers they always seem to leave a few cuts in the tyre from the bitumen in the centre too, thats what I can see in this pic.

[NMG]

The tyre appears to be worn evenly accross the tread, appart from the middle, this would suggest it was not an alignment issue, otherwise it would have worn the outside or the inside edge. If it were an issue with the tyre's manufacture ( defective tyre ) why would only one tyre be defective?
The damage done to this tyre appears to be consistant with doing burn outs?

[Black SRT-8]

Does not look like burn out to me.

If it was burnout wouldn't the sides (left and right of the damage) also be worn out?

[Manas]

Weird... my goodyear RSA is 30,000kms & still good.