Stock tires have pieces of rubber falling off.

T

teradyl

Member
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2013 Mazda CX-5 Touring
My tires seem to have really weird wear on them.

Stock tires when I got the 2013 model in September 2012. 28k miles. So the tires have been on for 4 years or so, but not driven much.


The auto shop guys said it could be suspension, but I doubt that. I think it's because I leave the car parked for long periods of time, possibly weeks at a time. Perhaps if I park on a big rock it will make indentations like the one at the end of the video?

Any other theories on why the tire has wear like this?
 
I wouldn't call that wear...

I might think of looking at chemical degradation. Portland cement, petroleum, alcohols... any of these sound like something you could have driven through at least once?
 
I had the same thing with those tires. I thought maybe the rubber was getting torn because of the way I take the back roads curves- kind of fast. Didn't see anything until they were down to 3/32.
 
Direct sunlight degrades the rubber rather quickly, so not out of the question after 4 years of exposure (I assume you don't have a garage).
 
minnesotaart said:
Direct sunlight degrades the rubber rather quickly, so not out of the question after 4 years of exposure (I assume you don't have a garage).
Click to expand...

Oxygen attacks rubber as well. Eventually even an unused tire will rot to point it can't be used. This video shows weird almost slicing patterns.
 
The damage seems to be mostly towards the tires' edges. Any chance the pressures have been low?
 
Hah I don't think I've done any chemical pond drive throughs.

I had it garaged most of its life until 1 year ago. So that's 3 years garaged, 1 year on the street.

Low tire pressure could be a culprit. Usually my tires are fine, but one of them has a very slow leak (1 psi a month or so) so it ends up lower than the rest.

I still figure I can take these for another year or two before I have to replace them. I only drive 7k a year.
 
teradyl said:
My tires seem to have really weird wear on them.

Stock tires when I got the 2013 model in September 2012. 28k miles. So the tires have been on for 4 years or so, but not driven much.


The auto shop guys said it could be suspension, but I doubt that. I think it's because I leave the car parked for long periods of time, possibly weeks at a time. Perhaps if I park on a big rock it will make indentations like the one at the end of the video?

Any other theories on why the tire has wear like this?
Click to expand...
You can call Yokohama customer relations and see what they'd say. I'd think this's some sort of defect from manufacture. Or may be there's some bacteria eating the orange oil. :) There's warranty info in the folder with owner's manual.
 
teradyl said:
I still figure I can take these for another year or two before I have to replace them. I only drive 7k a year.
Click to expand...

They defintly look fine for around town.
Just be careful at high speeds especially if it's hot out. If you hear pieces of rubber flying off into your wheel wells I would recommend slowing down.
 
teradyl said:
Hah I don't think I've done any chemical pond drive throughs.

I had it garaged most of its life until 1 year ago. So that's 3 years garaged, 1 year on the street.

Low tire pressure could be a culprit. Usually my tires are fine, but one of them has a very slow leak (1 psi a month or so) so it ends up lower than the rest.

I still figure I can take these for another year or two before I have to replace them. I only drive 7k a year.
Click to expand...


You may have had oil/grease from somewhere sitting on them for a long time - normally this gets burned off through driving. That stuff attacks rubber. Combined with low PSI, this could be the result. Driving also burns off the rotting surface rubber, constantly exposing the protected material underneath. Eventually it will all rot though.
 
I've looked at this video twice since you posted it and still haven't really got a clue what would cause that kind of wear. But I keep thinking it's got something to do with San Francisco streets; riding on cable car tracks or whatever. As a native of that city, I'm keenly aware of the toll those seven hills can take on a vehicle. You might want to give this some thought as you drive around because that certainly is not normal wear and I doubt that it has anything to do with defects in tire manufacture. My Yokos, at 31k miles, don't look anything like that!
 
paris1 said:
I've looked at this video twice since you posted it and still haven't really got a clue what would cause that kind of wear. But I keep thinking it's got something to do with San Francisco streets; riding on cable car tracks or whatever. As a native of that city, I'm keenly aware of the toll those seven hills can take on a vehicle. You might want to give this some thought as you drive around because that certainly is not normal wear and I doubt that it has anything to do with defects in tire manufacture. My Yokos, at 31k miles, don't look anything like that!
Click to expand...

don't several of the bridges around there have metal grates? I imagine a few hard stops on something like this could chew the tires up pretty good:
_DSC3577.JPG
 
I have a conclusion for this story!

First off, I've talked to many other people in real life, and the most recognizable name for this kind of wear is Chunking. If I tell tire people my tires are Chunking they usually understand what I'm talking about.

So I called/emailed/tweeted at Yokohama with my video, and I was eventually contacted by a representative who had me take the car to an authorized Yokohama dealer to check out the tires. After lots of back and forth, I made it to one of these places (America's tire in Millbrae, CA) and Yokohama offered me 45% off new Yokohama tires.

I got some Yokohama Avid Ascend 17" for about $350 after all the taxes and fees and discounts and whatnot.
 
Good to know! Thank you for the update.

How are you enjoying the new tires?
 
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