My rear tires that are getting extensive wear down the middle of the tread. They were inflated to 36lbs. I even lowered them to 34lbs to see if that would help...but nothing.

Tire specs:

Bstone S-03
255/40 - 17

I'm guessing that PSI is not too much for the tire, but I could be wrong. Is there anything that could've contributed to that? Alignment? I need new tires soon, so i would like this question answered before throwing on new shoes.

Thanks,
chikai

 

Too much pressure can lead to center tread wear. With proper alignment (camber) on this car, we tend to have inner tread wear (on the rear tires) as the norm for street driven duty.

 

I am seeing the same problem with my Pirellis (265x35 18). I've checked the pressures routinely (32psi) and still wear down the center. I've been getting around 8000 per set on these sneakers. Grippy as hell, but I swear I can hear the rubber wearing off.

 

Launching can cause center wear on tires....

 

hmmm....these are my street tires. I don't do hard launches with these. I have a 30 mile round trip commute that's 90% highway.

 

Your's may be a function of tire sizing. A 265 width, with a small aspect ratio and an 18" diameter must be adjusted for air pressure because the weight loading across the tread changes. You may not be able to relate your wear to that of the original poster. You have a different set of parameters.

 

I've had three sets of tires do the same thing, one with mostly highway miles (no autocross, etc.) I have even lowered pressure to 30 psi, but same result.

 

I have addressed this question with Bridgestone and even they don't have an answer either. Other than air pressure I don't have an answer.

 

kind of a late post... but could it be possible if you oversize the tire a little bit in respect to rim width, a slight tire pince could cause wear down the middle? would deflating the tire a little help?

 

Yes.
Possibly.