Tire wear, why? need advice

ginman522

I just drove from Oregon to Miami and noticed my front driver side tire is totally worn down, but still holding air. I'm getting a new tire, but I was wondering why my tire would wear down like this? Alignment seems fine, could it be balancing? see pics. pics show opposite sides of the same tire. Thanks for the advice

capriracer

First, those tires are practically worn out anyway. Note that the shoulders are smooth. Plus, there is always a certain amount of wear variation around a tire - some more than others.

This appears to be a case where the car was driven in the city and the shoulders have worn more rapidly than the center - and in one spot wore into the casing - and since the casing has poor wear properties, that area would wear much faster.

Mr_Shiftright

I would say severe underinflation is one possible cause. --this would cause not only wear on the edges, as capriracer pointed out, but also lots of heat buildup.