Cracks in tires

[tyler811]

These Goodyear Endurance tires are just about brand new. I bought them about a year ago and they have about 4500-5000 miles on them. You can see how much tread is left compared to the wear bar. Each tire is showing these "cracks".

[llr]

what cracks? the only thing I see in the pictures are designed in slits.

[Trobec]

Yeah, I don’t see anything wrong. Am I missing something?

[boondocking]

No cracks that I can see, just slits and grooves of the tire design.

[A32Deuce]

Are you talking about the hairline cracks at the edges? If so, they are fine. Normal use from cycling temps. Really had to blow up pic to see them.

[TitanMike]

The tiny "cracks" in the bottom of the groove are perfectly normal. They're merely surface cracks in the harder tread compound.

It may just be camera angle but it appears you have an alignment issue with your trailer axle(s). From the picture it appears one side of each "rib" is wearing more rounded and the other side of same rib appears sharp. This is a sign the tire is sliding sideways as it rolls down the highway and is cause by excessive toe, either in or out, depending.

Might be money well spent to have the alignment checked.

If a single axle it may require some bending or replacement. If tandem, it could be more simple with the two axles not exactly parallel.

Either way, your tires appear to be wearing faster than they should.

Simple check to verify what I see or disprove. Run your hand flat across the face of the tire from outside to in. Then run your hand across same spot on tire from inside to out. If one edge of the ribs feels sharp compared to the other, you have a toe problem.

Years ago when I was a factory rep for an Alignment Machine manufacturer I'd align my wheels when putting on new tires. Set the toe to specs. After driving a couple thousand miles i'd do the "hand slide" test and adjust toe either slightly in or out depending on which edge felt sharper. (Inner edge sharp means toe in).

When I did this it was not unusual to get at least 75-80k miles out of a set of good tires. One set went to 100,000 miles before hitting wear bars.

One last note for those reading this, on a radial tire EXCESSIVE toe (in or out) can mimic a wear pattern similar to what we would usually associate with excessive Camber. When this happens you have extremely excessive toe.

[tyler811]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

The tiny "cracks" in the bottom of the groove are perfectly normal. They're merely surface cracks in the harder tread compound.

It may just be camera angle but it appears you have an alignment issue with your trailer axle(s). From the picture it appears one side of each "rib" is wearing more rounded and the other side of same rib appears sharp. This is a sign the tire is sliding sideways as it rolls down the highway and is cause by excessive toe, either in or out, depending.

Might be money well spent to have the alignment checked.

If a single axle it may require some bending or replacement. If tandem, it could be more simple with the two axles not exactly parallel.

Either way, your tires appear to be wearing faster than they should.

Simple check to verify what I see or disprove. Run your hand flat across the face of the tire from outside to in. Then run your hand across same spot on tire from inside to out. If one edge of the ribs feels sharp compared to the other, you have a toe problem.

Years ago when I was a factory rep for an Alignment Machine manufacturer I'd align my wheels when putting on new tires. Set the toe to specs. After driving a couple thousand miles i'd do the "hand slide" test and adjust toe either slightly in or out depending on which edge felt sharper. (Inner edge sharp means toe in).

When I did this it was not unusual to get at least 75-80k miles out of a set of good tires. One set went to 100,000 miles before hitting wear bars.

One last note for those reading this, on a radial tire EXCESSIVE toe (in or out) can mimic a wear pattern similar to what we would usually associate with excessive Camber. When this happens you have extremely excessive toe.

Thanks, yes the cracks in the treads. Thanks for the help. I did the test and did not feel any sharp edges. Though when we get back from DC (leaving tomorrow) I will take it to a tire place to see what they say.