Tread depth mystery

[iklo]

A new Willys, just a tad over 6k miles. Thought will do tire depth measurement before tire rotation. I have a fancy high precision gauge I use on my bimmer, so it should work for the Jeep, right? The first funny thing: the fronts wear more than the rear: 18.16/32" vs 19.18/32". Very even wear left to right. Higher front wear is odd to me coming from the RWD experience, especially since the Jeep was doing 2H perhaps 90% of the time. But then the spare, which never touched the ground, reads 17/32"! According to the Tirerack the Wildpeak MT01 in 285x70/17 should have the tread depth of 18.1". The tires are made in Thailand, so quality control maybe low on the priority list, but c'mon. It also presents a practical problem: how to do the 5 tire rotation patten with one tire being so different?

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[Dale's Jeep]

Fronts are on a steer axle. Much more wear. Fronts scrub, rears just have to follow.

 

[2nd 392]

Do a first time 4 tire, maybe even front to back, check for the next rotation. But yeah, it is strange.

 

[Sublime]

Are you sure you weren't hitting a wear bar on that spare?

 

[iklo]

Are you sure you weren't hitting a wear bar on that spare?

Pretty sure: I take four measurements per each channel and do it on two opposite sides of the rim.

 

[iklo]

Fronts are on a steer axle. Much more wear. Fronts scrub, rears just have to follow.

One of the challenges with the staggered setup (wider tires at the back in RWD sport cars) is inability to rotate tires. Without rotation rear tire life will be less than half of the front.

 

[Ratbert]

One of the challenges with the staggered setup (wider tires at the back in RWD sport cars) is inability to rotate tires. Without rotation rear tire life will be less than half of the front.

And the tire's warranty is cut in half.

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