Many car owners have both summer (all season) and winter (snow) tires.
If you are in this category be sure to switch them over as the seasons change.
We recently had a client with an 87 Mercedes 190E who still had their snow tires on in August and due to the very high mileage that they drive, had worn out the front tires. The tire treads had the most unusual and the most severe cupped wear we have ever seen.
After inspection, all steering and suspension components were good as was the wheel alignment. This ruled out a problem with the vehicle causing the tire wear.
Snow tires are made with very soft rubber and wear much faster than all season tires. With all the twists and turns and bumps encountered in everyday driving these tires started to wear funny and leaving them on too long accelerated the wear process.
Had they been removed in April, which is appropriate in the Vancouver area, the tires would still be in great shape. Now they are junk and next winter 2 new ones will be required. While this occurred on an old Mercedes we see this scenario played out on many different types of cars and trucks.
So be proactive: if you use winter and summer tires, change to winter tires in November and summer tires around April.
