Tire wear and towing

[Stephen Tashiro]

Do tires on a van or pickup that is used for towing wear faster than those on a non-towing vehicle?

(I looked at used Toyota Sienna vans at a local dealer and noticed the tires on a 2012 AWD with 17,000 miles on it were considerably worn. That seemed strange to me, but I don't know anything about vans or van tires yet. The van did have the "towing package".)

[Chuck Wintle]

I would think the answer is yes because of the extra weight and loads imposed on the tires.

[John M Wilson]

Another source of variation is wheel alignment.

4-wheel alignment is a very tricky process, and even the experts at the factory, with sophisticated equipment, struggle to get it exactly right every time. A little variation can cause two identical looking vans, driven identical miles, to have very different wear patterns on their tires.

If you do buy this van, have the alignment checked by someone with a good, 21st century alignment machine.

[Jim Koepke]

I looked at used Toyota Sienna vans at a local dealer and noticed the tires on a 2012 AWD with 17,000 miles on it were considerably worn.

There could be a few things going on besides what was said above.

The tires could have been switched by the previous owner to keep a good set.

Those could have been some rough 17,000 miles.

Without a good explanation as to why these tires are so worn, it might be a reason to pass on this vehicle.

jtk

[Scott T Smith]

What does the wear pattern look like? If the tires are worn out on the outer edges, then the van was overloaded and the tires underinflated (which could have happened in 17K miles). However, the wear would be different from the front to the rear, with the front tires rounding over the edges.

Typically towing with a van would not have much inpact on the tires, unless high trailer tongue weights caused the front tires to become misaligned.

[Charlie Barnes]

FYI, I think those are run flats on the Sienna AWD (no room for a spare). So if you are interested in the vehicle, be aware that those are pricey.

Charlie

[Dan Hintz]

If you do buy this van, have the alignment checked by someone with a good, 21st century alignment machine.

It also depends upon your degrees of freedom in setting a rear alignment... if you check it, make sure you're loaded up as you would normally be. You could have some serious camber differences in the rear as you add on the weight.

[Stephen Tashiro]

The tires on the Sierra were worn more on the outside edge, that faces away from the vehicle that I didn't look closely at the inside edge. (This was just a casual visit. I rode along to the dealer with a friend who was buying a car.)


FYI, I think those are run flats on the Sienna AWD (no room for a spare). So if you are interested in the vehicle, be aware that those are pricey.


I've never run on run-flat tires. Are you supposed to go 20 mph like with a donut spare?

[curtis rosche]

set.

Those could have been some rough 17,000 miles.



tires on my little car only last 20k if Im really nice to them.

[Kevin Bourque]

I'd be more worried about the tranny, suspension, and drive train on the vehicle. Excessive towing is worse that snowplowing IMO.

[Greg Portland]

Do tires on a van or pickup that is used for towing wear faster than those on a non-towing vehicle?

(I looked at used Toyota Sienna vans at a local dealer and noticed the tires on a 2012 AWD with 17,000 miles on it were considerably worn. That seemed strange to me, but I don't know anything about vans or van tires yet. The van did have the "towing package".)
Yes. The problem is that the Sienna likely came with car tires and not truck tires (talking about the construction of the tire, not marketing/tire name or size). If you're going to do real work then get some truck tires (meaning a higher load rating & stronger side walls). Car tires are nice for a smooth ride and low noise levels but they don't hold up to abuse as well. Also, proper inflation is critical; you can quickly wear through tires if they are not inflated properly when towing.

HOWEVER, I would claim that the dealer probably swapped out the rear tires (perhaps the original rims were damaged) for some old worn tires. Note that with AWD it's important that all 4 tires have the same amount of wear. I would have some concern (and use it during negotiations) that the AWD mechanism could have received extra wear and tear due to the differing tires. I assume you're looking at a factory certified vehicle since it's a 2012...

[Stephen Tashiro]

HOWEVER, I would claim that the dealer probably swapped out the rear tires (perhaps the original rims were damaged) for some old worn tires.

I doubt my local dealer did any tire swapping because I'm familiar with them. They don't like to messl with tires at all. If I didn't make it clear, all four tires on the van were worn about the same. The car tires vs truck tires could explain it. I'll look at the brand and type of tire when I return.

[Jeff Monson]

1st off how are the tires worn? Worn out? Worn on the edges? There are a lot of really crappy tires out there today, I've seen alot not making 30k and its not an alignment issue.

[Jim Becker]

Towing can certainly contribute to additional stress on things, but consider that the towing capacity of a Sienna isn't very high. I'd suggest that other maintenance issues may also be contributing to the tire wear and some OEM tires also eschew longer tread life for better mileage, comfort, etc.