Premature Tire Wear

[phxsmiley]

I have steering wheel vibration at about 50-70 mph, and I've been doing regular tire rotations at about 7500 miles. This would probably be coming from my tires, right? My front tires appear to be well above the tread wear indicator. Could it be a tire balance issue? The rear tires are new (<2000 miles) because I had a blow-out.

 

[thankyouOB]

I have steering wheel vibration at about 50-70 mph, and I've been doing regular tire rotations at about 7500 miles. This would probably be coming from my tires, right? My front tires appear to be well above the tread wear indicator. Could it be a tire balance issue? The rear tires are new (<2000 miles) because I had a blow-out.

i would check balance, and perhaps alignment, if the first doesnt cure it.

 

[phxsmiley]

Thanks for that input. I'll give the balance a try first. I miss my smooth ride...

 

[TRONZ]

I have steering wheel vibration at about 50-70 mph, and I've been doing regular tire rotations at about 7500 miles. This would probably be coming from my tires, right? My front tires appear to be well above the tread wear indicator. Could it be a tire balance issue? The rear tires are new (<2000 miles) because I had a blow-out.

i would check balance, and perhaps alignment, if the first doesnt cure it.

+1. If you have never curbed a wheel then you probably just threw a weight. Check the grime inside the wheel and see if there is a clean spot.

 

[NSXTASY]

The Energy Saver A/S has a 65,000 mile warranty--5,000 more than the Primacy MXV4. There is also a Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 tire that meets Michelin''s Green X standard* for low rolling resistance and has a 50,000 mile warranty.

I don't think the ES A/S is available in the stock LEAF size. Only the summer Energy Saver is and the warranty varies from 40-50k miles depending on the specific version - it comes in speed ratings from H to W.

I'm convinced the Kumhos couldn't be any worse than the Ecopias, so I may try them without any feedback.

Someone has to be the first. The only other tire you might consider at a similar price is the Fuel Max, but I'm not at all impressed with those on my Prius.

there are many far better street tires in the high performance category
...
The Leaf is not a sports car, by any stretch of the imagination, and doesn't get driven that way

Putting a good sports tire on the LEAF is probably a bit like putting lipstick on a pig. Though I think that Motor Trend showed it was possible to get the LEAF to corner at close to 1G with just a tire change... Imagine if they had adjusted the alignment, too!

Nissan knows the issue about the low miles on the ecopias. All 2013 US made vehicles will be on Michelins, but hey, your $$$ your decision...

 

[TomT]

I believe that only the SL gets the Michelins...

Nissan knows the issue about the low miles on the ecopias. All 2013 US made vehicles will be on Michelins, but hey, your $$$ your decision...

 

[NSXTASY]

I believe that only the SL gets the Michelins...

Nissan knows the issue about the low miles on the ecopias. All 2013 US made vehicles will be on Michelins, but hey, your $$$ your decision...

Im told Michelin has 100% OE placement on the US made LEAFs. the following link shows only the 17" are Michelins while the 16" are Ecopias. We'll know for sure in a few weeks I guess
http://insideevs.com/2013-nissan-leaf-overview-and-specifications/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Champions]

Just made it to 2 years and 23,000! Getting new shoes tomorrow morning.

Allen got my Good Year Assurance FuelMax order today. It was the only All Season, LRR, 6year Warranty, high tread life tire I could find that only weighs 18lbs. Not sure if anyone else is running them. We shall see how they work.

So how have the Goodyears worked out on your LEAF? I've always been a Goodyear guy so was planning on replacing our LEAF tires soon with the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max as well... Hows the ride, drive, and stopping?

 

[Ingineer]

I'm still on the Ecopias, but I discovered early on that they like to be kept at around 50 PSI (cold). I think they handle well at this pressure, and it seemed to fix the outer wear problem.

The 2013 SL I saw had 215 50R17 Michelin Energy Saver A/S.

I've done well with Michelins, but hopefully by the time the Ecopias wear out there will be more data.

-Phil

 

[TomT]

Having to run that high a pressure tells me that there is intrinsically a problem elsewhere (as in, with the tires)...

I'm still on the Ecopias, but I discovered early on that they like to be kept at around 50 PSI (cold). I think they handle well at this pressure, and it seemed to fix the outer wear problem.

 

[bradbissell]

Picture of a 2013 SV from GA. Clearly shows Ecopia tires.

 

[NSXTASY]

I believe that only the SL gets the Michelins...

Nissan knows the issue about the low miles on the ecopias. All 2013 US made vehicles will be on Michelins, but hey, your $$$ your decision...

Im told Michelin has 100% OE placement on the US made LEAFs. the following link shows only the 17" are Michelins while the 16" are Ecopias. We'll know for sure in a few weeks I guess
http://insideevs.com/2013-nissan-leaf-overview-and-specifications/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's the 17" option that are 100% OE placement. The 16" are ecopias and I stand corrected.

 

[mwalsh]

Picture of a 2013 SV from GA. Clearly shows Ecopia tires.

Center caps stolen? Weight saving ploy? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[ttweed]

Has anyone tried the Kumho Ecowing?

Well, I wasn't planning on doing it this soon, but Discount Tire had a $100 rebate on any set of 4 tires today and my wife told me she had a little "squirming" issue in the last rain, so I went ahead and put a set of the Ecowings on the Leaf this morning, even though we could have probably squeaked out a thousand or two more miles on the balding Ecopias. With TPMS rebuild kits, tax, mounting and balancing, they cost $467 out the door, with a 65,000 mile tread life warranty. We'll see how they work. I reset our efficiency gauge on the dash, which has been pretty steadily at 4.4 for the life of the car so far. I got 3.9 on the way home, but it was only 5 miles. Carwings says our annual average was 6.3 in 2011, 6.5 in 2012, and 5.9 so far in 2013. It'll be interesting to see how these tires perform over the coming months.

TT

 

[Nubo]

Has anyone tried the Kumho Ecowing?

Well, I wasn't planning on doing it this soon, but Discount Tire had a $100 rebate on any set of 4 tires today and my wife told me she had a little "squirming" issue in the last rain, so I went ahead and put a set of the Ecowings on the Leaf this morning, even though we could have probably squeaked out a thousand or two more miles on the balding Ecopias. With TPMS rebuild kits, tax, mounting and balancing, they cost $467 out the door, with a 65,000 mile tread life warranty. We'll see how they work. I reset our efficiency gauge on the dash, which has been pretty steadily at 4.4 for the life of the car so far. I got 3.9 on the way home, but it was only 5 miles. Carwings says our annual average was 6.3 in 2011, 6.5 in 2012, and 5.9 so far in 2013. It'll be interesting to see how these tires perform over the coming months.

TT

WOW, 6.5 m/kWH? How did you manage to wear out your tires going 12 mph?

 

[TRONZ]

Just made it to 2 years and 23,000! Getting new shoes tomorrow morning.

Allen got my Good Year Assurance FuelMax order today. It was the only All Season, LRR, 6year Warranty, high tread life tire I could find that only weighs 18lbs. Not sure if anyone else is running them. We shall see how they work.

So how have the Goodyears worked out on your LEAF? I've always been a Goodyear guy so was planning on replacing our LEAF tires soon with the Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max as well... Hows the ride, drive, and stopping?

So far so good. Maybe a touch better in efficiency (from lower weight) but worlds better in braking and lateral grip. Had a tiny bit of wet weather and it was a non issue for them. Gonna wait a while and then take a peek at my m/kw average. A free rotation every 5K is part of "the Allen Tire deal" so I am going to run them at the 42psi they put in and if they wear out quick, Allen will replace them.

 

[Champions]

Thanks for the feedback on the Goodyears! I took a good look at our Bridgestones yesterday at 23,772 miles. I did rotate them once in this time, and have kept about 36 PSIG in them.

The rears are bald on the outsides, and the center tread is @ .180" These were on the front to start with.

The fronts are borderline on the edges, and the tread center is @ .310". These started live on the rear.

So I plan to hold out a little more, perhaps 25,000 miles and then Go Goodyear !

 

[dgpcolorado]

Thanks for the feedback on the Goodyears! I took a good look at our Bridgestones yesterday at 23,772 miles. I did rotate them once in this time, and have kept about 36 PSIG in them.

The rears are bald on the outsides, and the center tread is @ .180" These were on the front to start with.

The fronts are borderline on the edges, and the tread center is @ .310". These started live on the rear.

So I plan to hold out a little more, perhaps 25,000 miles and then Go Goodyear !

Your measurements are yet more evidence that 36 PSI is too low for the heavy LEAF. Tire edge wear = underinflation.

 

[DaveEV]

Not necessarily, though it won't hurt. After 15k miles at 40-44 psi I still see a good deal of shoulder wear, especially on the left front (my typical driving allows for more aggressive right turns than left). IMO alignment needs more negative camber in the front and I suspect that the LEAF has very soft suspension bushings in the front which let the wheel deflect even more under cornering loads.

Isn't the 2013 supposed to have slightly tighter suspension?

 

[ttweed]

I reset our efficiency gauge on the dash, which has been pretty steadily at 4.4 for the life of the car so far. I got 3.9 on the way home, but it was only 5 miles.

After two weeks on the new Kumho tires, our dashboard energy usage average has risen to 4.1, still a little less than the 4.4 we averaged on the Ecopias, but not much, considering they are still being broken in and tread depth is much deeper. Can't perceive any difference in handling in normal (dry) driving but haven't pushed them hard enough to see if there is any. Running them at 40 psi just as we did with the Ecopias.

TT