"normal wear " of rear tires
 

hi, have a 2003 TT x50 in Tip…
i recently had to change the rear tires ; noticed that both of the inside 1.5"or so of tread was completely worn down to thread but the rest of the tire wasn't as worn… is this a normal wear pattern for the car, as far as from the oem alignment spec ? the front seems to be wearing out more evenly….

just wondering what other owners are experiencing with their tire wear pattern…..

been driving mostly calif street/freeway….not a tracked car….

james R
'03 TT x50 tip

Mine wore in the same manner and was told it was normal, I had them replaced and alignment done at local Porsche dealer. I was told they kept it within specs and I should notice a more even wear but I haven't driven enough to see yet.

IMO, tire construction is weak or toe is wrong

not normal. it's too toed in and/or sagging if lowered.

also check for any suspension link looseness, or bushing deterioration/softness...suspension might be flexing around.

Have you been carrying a full or near full load, extra passengers, etc ?

I had this issue and went though 3 sets of tires in a year. I was pissed. After alot of research on the dynamics of the car and talking with a few members on here I found that toe was the issue. I put the back tires at +.25 toe per tire. I'm stock with 100000 miles on original and h&r springs. I'm at a year now with tires looking great.

Mine wore like that too..
But after they did the alignment to the other end of the spec range it stopped doing that..

I'm still on stock suspension. That's only huge plus. Zero tire wear inside. I also say check your toe.

I'm sure you guys are right and its the alignment but on previous posts most people noted with specs where they belong inside wear was something that couldn't be avoided totally. My car is within factory specs so I will have to wait and see how they wear.

Definitely toe. Search "rear tire wear" under the 996tt forum using the search function. I have the same issue on JICs and very low. I have dog bones and links making it easier to correct a "lowered" geometry.

The usage of my 03 Turbo is pretty much the same usage and rear tire life can exceed 20K miles.

In one case a rear tire picked up a nail. I had road hazard coverage on the tires and the tire was replaced free of charge because even at nearly 23K miles the rear tires still had 3mm of tread depth left. ('course, I had to replace the other tire out of my pocket but it was at least nearly worn out.)

All I can tell you is when I have the car aligned I ask/request an alignment that is conducive to good tire life without in anyway compromising the car's road feel, handling, or stability at speed. Even though I do not track the car the car can sometimes get driven at rather high speeds.

The tech obliges and that's that.

Just got back from a 5K mile road trip and had the car in for new 02 sensors. The tech asked me about the tires, asked me if they were new, and I told him no. (I just looked it up: I had this latest set of tires installed in Dec. of 2103 with 115K miles on the car. The other day when the tech was looking over the car it had 131K miles, so the tires have 16K miles on them.) I reminded the tech that the car had *his* alignment settings, as he was the last person to align the car and he did this some miles before I even installed the current set of tires on the car.

The alignment that promotes good tire life with even wear across the tread face has less aggressive rear toe settings, something like (in inches) 1/32" of toe in per rear wheel. Any more positive and this can shorten tire life. (I just looked at the last alignment settings printout for my Turbo and my Turbo's rear wheel toe is 0' 10" of toe in (per wheel). (The range is 0' 5" to 0' 15".) (I do not know what this is in inches or fractions of an inch.)

Too much toe or negative camber. If the car is stock ride height this can be adjusted for with the stock eccentrics. If you're lowered, you'll need additional suspension mods.

Rear toe links from Tarret w/locking plates and your issue should be fixed. Geometry gets out of whack under acceleration and this is the biggest culprit.

It's normal wear. My Turbo has worn out 3 sets of rear tires like this. My previous 996 Cab I owned for 7 years did the same. The Boxster we have owned going on 15 years wears tires the same but to a lesser extent because my wife drives it pretty conservatively.

It's the squat under hard acceleration that wears tires like this. Hard on the throttle and dramatic weight shift will do this. My alignment is spot on and was on my previous 996 as well. I even had my pro alignment guy that will align for whatever you want give me high speed stability and good wear over quick steering and prowess on a tight track.