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Conditions Affecting
Tire Mileage
There is always a trade off between performance and tread
life in the development of tires. To gain one thing you have to trade off
something else. Some brag when they get 15000 miles out of a set of tires
because they understand how hard they drive while others complain if they
get 40 to 50000 miles. The next paragraph explains many things someone can
do to improve mileage regardless of how they drive, the type of tire, or
the power of their truck.
Tread life is related to many factors some of which are;
the air pressure maintained, how often air pressure is checked, rotation,
driving habits, road surfaces, road conditions, suspension setup, caster
and tow alignment, shock absorbers, etc. There is a relationship between
the size tire used and the weight of the truck.. .the larger the tire and
the lighter the truck the better the mileage tends to be and the smaller
the tire and the heavier the truck the less the tread life will be. One of
the worst mistakes made is neglect of air pressure. Air pressure should be
checked at least once a month with an accurate gauge and checked when the
tires are cool. Two things support the weight of a vehicle...the actual
air pressure and the volume of air in a tire. When a big tire is used the
larger volume of air will support the vehicle with very little air
pressure but that does not mean the tire is stable. The tire will look
like it is under inflated because it does not appear to be low but this
low air pressure makes the tire unstable which causes squirming of the
tread. It is OK to run tires low off road but the pressure should be
bought back up as soon as you put the vehicle back on the highway. It is
recommended that tires used on four wheel drive vehicles be rotated front
to rear and rear to front about every four to five thousand miles...don't
criss-cross.
As you can see from the above there is no way of knowing
what tread life a given set of tires will have. The compounds used in the
tread rubber also vary but is constant with each type of tire
manufactured. Manufacturers try to achieve a balance in tread compounds
that will provide good highway traction and overall performance while not
sacrificing too much in tread life.
Causes Of Tire
Wear
ROAD SURFACES.
Tires provide traction because the weight of the vehicle forces the tread
rubber into the road's small surface irregularities. Unfortunately, that
same interaction causes wear as the surface tears microscopic pieces of
rubber from the tread as it slips into and out of contact with the road.
And just as coarser sandpaper removes material faster, coarser road
textures cause more tire wear. The following mileage estimate is typical
of what a 40000 mile rated tire driven on smother asphalt would deliver if
driven exclusively on other road surfaces. | 
