Unusual tire wear
The outer treads on my steer tires have apparently worn to enough to expose a different rubber compound. I wondered if anyone else has experienced this. The rest of the tread is excellent. The tire...
Forum Discussion
CapriRacer wrote:spotrot wrote:
3rd try
It's a little hard to tell how much wear there is, but this looks like the base compound being exposed. Nothing to worry about, except that you are very near to needing to replace that tire.
Background: When a tire is made, the tread rubber is extruded in a slab, cut to length, then wrapped around the uncured tire and the ends of the tread slab are spliced together to form a smooth, continuous looking tread. (Note: The tread splice is cut at about a 45° angle)
It is common for the tread slab to be 2 extrusions in one: A Cap Tread (made of a good wearing rubber) over top of a Base Tread (made of a cooler running, but poorer wearing compound.) The idea is that the base shouldn't be exposed, but if it is, it will be at the end of the treadlife and not matter in the big scheme of things.
Edit: Apparently, I was lucky enough to be able to see the photo before it disappeared.
Thank you for the detailed info and the website on your profile is the best I've ever seen about tires:
http://www.barrystiretech.com/index.html
