Hello everybody, after inspecting my front tires I noticed the inner side of both front tires have no thread left at all, I could even feel some of the tire wiring, while the outside still have some thread, I thought it could last a few months, but after seeing the wear on the inside I don't know what to do:

I was planning to do a rotation since I've never done it since I bought the tires back in 2005

rear tires (cheap brand don't even remember) were bought by the seller when I purchased the car (dec 2004) and I installed the front ones (BF goodrich) 5 months later (May 2005) so they were installed with only a gap of 5 months but the rear ones seem to be in good condition.

Or maybe I think is better to buy new tires (since these are 5 year old already), is it true is better to install new tires in the rear? common sense tell me this is not right but I rather ask you guys if I should let the shop install new ones on the rear or not.

I have 195 65 R15, I know the FSM specs are 205 65 R15, should I stick with 195? I ask because I rather buy the 205 but I don't know if I'll be in trouble for having fronts 205 and rears 195, or does not make any diff at all?

I'm also concerned about the cause of this inner wear, could just be an aligment issue? or could be ball joints? i don't know what do you think. what is the most common issue for inner wear on both front tires? Thank you!

 

Don't waste your money on new tires as long as you know for a fact they will develop the same disastrous wear patterns.

Any tire with case support wires coming out is a danger not only to you but everybody on the road - get the vehicle off the road immediately.

You are in serious need of alignment or maintenance on the suspension - get it seen to immediately before driving the car on any roads.

If you are planning or only have money to replace 2 tires, then always fit the best/new tires to the front of the vehicle

 

check out your control arm bushings... they are often overlooked by non-car-people so odds are if your car has more than 60k miles, they are shot. you can use the 4th gen energy suspension polyurethane ones if you take a (new) hacksaw blade and trim the rear bushing to fit.

it could also be balljoints... or even if you had toe-out i guess it would scuff the inside of the tires.

and no the mismatched tire size isn't a big deal as long as it's front/back not left/right

 

I know this is serious specially with my new job been 20 miles highway every day just one way, but unfortunately can only afford to buy 2 tires at the moment, and that is until next paycheck (this friday) but I need to know what is my best choice.

I don't know if new tires will develop the same problem, there's why I need your help, never deal with anything related to tires, before I've just had the shop take care of it and never look by myself, this time I want to make sure (specially if I'm going to get new tires) everything is in good condition, i'm talking about stuff I might be able to check and fix myself, for something I can't I'll have to take it to a shop.

Where are the control arm bushings? do you have any pictures? Thanks

 

If you replace only the tires without sorting the alignment/suspension first then you are guaranteed to ruin the new tires too.

As far as doing things yourself - alignment is difficult to check yourself properly .......... to the point of it being a waste of time imo.

Other things? - if you lift the front of the vehicle and support it on trestles, take a pry-bar to each and every suspension component/mounting as well as the wheel bearings and try to find any one of those with play in it - that is he place to start

 

I was not talking about doing aligment myself, actually buying tires and do the alignment (at the shop) at the same time was my plan for this weekend, even with the alignment properly done you think I'll ruin the new tires?

 

Its basically impossible to do a professional and proper alignment if you have any worn/suspect suspension components.

So lets say that you have no real suspension problems - if you replace the tires and have the alignment seen to properly, then yes the tires will be fine and will not/should not show the same wear pattern.

Problem is this though:

For tires to wear to the extent that you have experienced, I would say that a "simple alignment" is not going to make things right - IMO you are sure to have some mechanical suspension wear/issue going on that first needs to be corrected before any sensible/professional alignment can be performed.

 

Ok, I understand the situation, now what is your suggestion? I have no funds to perform any big repairs, actually not even small ones, my car can't be driven with those tires, I need the car to drive to work. what options do I have?

 

If money is that tight, I would say buy a cheap 2nd hand tire with good tread allover, fit that together with the car's current spare tire on the rear of the vehicle, and move the original rear tires to the front - this will ensure you are safe and can still drive to work for a few months even though you will effectively be ruining the tires on the front too

 

Ok, I might take your advice on the used tires while I can afford to look further on my suspension problems, I'm willing to check myself but without the guidance I'm lost, and this is same as brakes I never feel confident on doing something I don't know if my life is at stake.

I thought the spare tire was not supposed to use for long drives

 

sounds like you just have a bit too much camber, it helps with cornering but unfortunately wears your tires unevenly. A 2 wheel alignment should cost under $80 and i bet you can find some cheap tires on your local craigslist

 

yea but the camber isn't adjustible with stock struts. so if he does in fact have negative camber then it has to be because of an issue with the parts on the car. toe is the only adjustible thing on a 3rd gen, front or rear, in stock form.

 

And this keeps me thinking, what could have cause this? the car was fine otherwise my tires wouldn't last the 5 years I've use them.

I believe It is one of two options, I suddenly have something wrong in my suspension or the lack of alignment cause this uneven wear, which to me it makes sense (at least I want to keep the possibility in my mind) for the bumpy roads around my area and too long haven't done any alignment. but i don't know i'm just guessing.... to be honest... I'm clueless when you talk about camber, toe, control arm bushings, etc, sorry but still a complete noob on this matter... I'm thinking to take a picture of my tires maybe I was exaggerating on the state of my tires, but still that does not change the fact that I have a problem to take care of, also I want to go to a shop and have the car evaluated and see what they say, but that estimate is not gonna be cheap

 

5 years is a LONG time for a small problem to slowly get worse. maybe everything was fine and dandy when you put the tires on but slowly some part of the suspension kept wearing to the point where it was no longer within the proper alignment. it isn't always something that 'suddenly' goes wrong esp if it's both front tires doing it. usually a sudden thing would be if you smacked a curb or hit a pothole really bad but that would only affect one side of the car. unless you hit something head-on.

at any rate, it's most likely just some worn out component(s) that simply need to be replaced and once they are everything would go back to normal. you just have to figure out what those parts are.

 

what do you think could be the most expensive parts to replace on the suspension? just range those "worn out components" you think, just to have an idea what to expect in the worst case.

 

RE the spare:

AFAIK all 3rd gens came with full-sized normal rims and tires - exactly the same as what is normally driven on ................. so why would you not be able to drive on those for extended periods? IMO no reason at all - don't know where you got the info/idea from but its obviously wrong.

From you other comments:

I would advise against you tackling any of these rather serious repairs - if you are not able to follow the FSM and diagnose the problems with suspension (if any) then you are going to have a hard time effecting a reliable and safe repair of any of those components because you are obviously not mechanically experienced enough - there are tons of small items/issues with each of the suspension components that can/will trip up the unwary and result in way more money having to be spent to rectify the situation.

 

No sr, you are mistaken, the spare tire is not a full size rim and tire, is called T type spare tire. I have it and I know for fact, and manual and FSM can't be wrong

 

OK then - the 3rd gens in the states obviously are "better" equipped ito weight-saving and its correct not to use it for extended drives at all................ so you get to buy two cheap 2nd hand tires then till you can afford better

 

I had that same problem last summer i checked out my front tires and the wire was showing just a little on the inside, but my rear tires were fine... i had only driven on them for a couple months so i decided since i was low on cash to put the good rear tires on the front and the garbage tires on the back since i didnt have enough money to buy a whole new set of tires.... i decided to fix the problem by changing both ball joints up front then got i it alligned and it seems to be fine now i did go out and buy some cheap rear tires though as soon as i had enogh money to

 

Better buy new tires of a high quality.

 

They were a good quality though thats what pissed me off they werent cheap tires

 

rmdl51 i sugjest that you check your ball joints and steering connecters (cant remember what there called lol) get some tires with a high wear rating and get it aligned right away that should allow you to drive without them wearing to unevenly just rotate them ever once in a while especially since you have 20 miles to work and then another 20 back

 

Here I add a couple of pictures, the first one is the driver side, I think the passenger side is not that bad, the one have me worried is the driver side tire, you can see the wires

 

low tire and camber wear? that's what it looks like, anyway. maybe a bit of toe, as well.
check the bushings and stuff, if they are good, get an alignment.

 

ya those are not as bad as mine were just put the rears on the front and the fronts on the rear they should be fine untill you get some new tires but get it alligned right after you switch them or the same thing will happen again.... its probably just the allignment although i would check your ball joints cause thats what caused mine to get out of allignment in the first palce made the front end loose which in the end screwed my allignment.... lucky you noticed at such an early stage in your tires mine were much worse lol

 

take that wheel off (the corded one) and take pics of the ball joint and the control arm bushings.

also, when the steering wheel is straight, does the top of the tire lean a bit toward the body? or does the front of the tire seem to point away from the body?

 

Honestly, it seems straight without any lean, but if I'm very picky i would say just a little bit toward the body, also when driving in a straight road and put the wheel straight and let it go, the car turns it self to the right, I was told this is sign of the alignment needed, but not sure if that could mean something else.

 

same thing as my car just get it alligned it should be fine

 

ok I took a lot of pictures but not sure which ones will show better the ball joints or control arm bushings (don't know what they look like)

Hope this helps...

 

it's where the control arm attaches to the body. one is a rubber thing held on by a u-shaped strap, the other is behind the big 22mm nut just underneath the frame by the axle shaft (forward facing)

 

You have several problems going, all typical of an older car in need of maintenance.

First.. Notice how it looks like the inner edge of the tire is "shaved" at an angle? That's indicative of a toe (alignment) problem. with the inside edge being worn, that means your wheels are toed-out. i.e. the tires are pointing away from each other while you're going forward.

that causes the tire to pull toward the outside of the car and the tread rolls this way. since the tread blocks are then not flush with the road surface, you scrub the inside edge off and it creates a bit of an angle.

That can USUALLY be fixed be getting an alignment, but it can also be caused by many worn out suspension components. ball joints and tie rod ends are often the culprit, but control arm bushings on our cars are also very common to die- as all previous posters have mentioned.

The second problem I see is that the outside edge is worn as well, while the center of the tires isn't worn as much. this is a tell-tale sign of low tire pressure. air up them tires and you'll get better gas mileage! 30psi is 'about right' for these cars. factory says like 27psi, but that's a bit low. I usually use about 30. If you wear the outside edges of the tires, then pressure is too low. if you see the middle of the tread wearing and the edges are fine, then air pressure is too high.

Third, those tires are dry-rotted and need to be replaced. See the tiny cracks on the surface? Rubber does that with age and exposure to oxygen and UV light. they simply dry out and shrivel up. They can eventually crack all the way through and begin to leak air, or they can catastrophically fail while you're on the highway and blow out.

Running dried-out tires low on pressure is one of the leading causes of highway blowouts-- so make sure you keep an eye on tire pressures. (check them at least once a month. I usually do it about every other time I get gas. just set the pump to go and walk aorund and check your tires while you're waiting for the tank to fill.)


As for a recommended course of action.
First. BUY NEW TIRES. replace those two. As has been said, the one showing cords is unsafe and could blow at any minute.
even if you have to drive on a bad alignment for a while until you can afford to get the car fixed, you NEED new tires! Driving a week or three won't ruin the tires- you'll wear off a bit more rubber than you want, but they won't just wear out in a matter of weeks.

second. get the suspension checked by a qualified suspension/alignment shop. depending on the tire shop, they can often look at the car and give you an estimate of repairs. Places like Discount Tire don't do alignments, but there's usually someone in the area.

third. examine your rear tires. if they're dry and cracked like your fronts- even if they have plenty of tread- then you need to replace them as well. I know you're tight on money, but it's a safety issue and you should get them replaced as quickly as you can afford to. make sure they're up to the proper pressure and you should be okay until you can afford to replace them.

At the end of the day, this is nothing too drastic- just get your front tires replaced ASAP and then work on the rest as time/money allows.

 

Thank you very much Matt for all the advice! Thanks to eveyone for the help provided.

Today I rather lost my work day than having an accident on the highway, I used my time to find a friend to borrow some money and Right now I'm headed to buy new tires, at least this will allow me to drive safely, I'll try to get and alignment done today if not I'll do it Satuday, and as you suggest as soon as I can afford I'll have my suspension checked.

It's weird I got too low pressure, I always check my tires PSI and never let them go below 30, I actually have them at 35 PSI all the time, at least I check them once a month, but I'll be checking every time I fill up the tank since it's a good time to do it.

what about the tire size? 205 or 195? does it matter or not?

Thanks again!

 

205, check under your arm rest there is a label.

PS you shouldn't be putting more than 30 psi because it makes it more stiff and less traction at higher speeds and stopping.

 

pfft... I run 32 on mine. no rough riding, and no problem braking (no inside wear, either).
but I am running 205's. 195 won't hurt anything, your speedo may be a hair off, but that's about it.

 

maybe it's just the type of tires

 

If you need to replace those bushings you can go two ways. Order the whole lower control arm assembly as they will include both bushings, but a little expensive. The other is to order only the two bushings and replace them yourself or someone else does it for you. That's the cheapest route but the downside is front bushing will not be easy to take off.

EDIT: Ball joint is #40160, next to the lower control arm

 

I know the specs are 205 65 R15 but I was wondering if it makes any difference at all by using 195 instead, but anyway I just bought the 205 65 R15, hope it does not interfere with the rears since those are 195, but I will replace rears too sometime soon.

Thank you for the diagram! it makes things way easier to figure it out!

 

Yeah, they'll be fine. The big issue is that the overall diameter is as close as you can get to the same. Just be sure to keep the same size tires on the same axle.

If you want a bit more performance, you can also go to a 215/60/15. That's what they put on the 92-94SEs IIRC. I know guys that even put a 225/60/15 on the stock wheels, but that's a bit too wide for my tastes.

higher tire pressures will cause a loss of traction, but you're only looking at a small fraction of a percent in your case.
I run anywhere from 25 to 45psi in my track tires, depending on how rough the track is and the weather conditions. They do just fine traction-wise, but it's more of a tire wear and temperature thing.

For street tires, your ride comfort will also change quite a bit based on tire pressures.
The shoulder wear can also be caused by aggressive driving and/or worn struts and driving on lots of curvy roads. i.e. the car leans too much in turns and with hard driving, the tire's sidewall rolls over and you use more of the edge of the tire than the center.

Based on your previous comments, I'd assumed you weren't that aggressive of a driver.. point being, the harder you drive, the more of the edge of the tire you'll use.

 

Well, now that you point that out last year I lost my job which was about 8-9 miles away, and I could drive there by city, my new job is around 19 miles away and 17 of those are highway miles and the road is really curvy, (well not that bad but compared to my previous route it is).

I know this two months on this job I've been putting more than twice the miles I used to put on the car, besides this Maxima is on the need of many repairs I've been delaying, like my struts, I know all 4 are bad (per last year shop inspection) and this could lead to more trouble.

You were right about PSI, before taking the car to install new tires I check my air pressure and I had 28 PSI on rear tires and 25 PSI on front (26 on the passenger side) IIRC I check my air pressure about 1 month ago and they were ok.

I think from now on I'll keep an eye on air pressure more often and will keep it on 30-32 PSI range

 

just an a correction to an oft incorrect statement. you put the best tires on the rear of any car.
the reason is to prevent the rear end from whipping around to the front in a less than high friction situation (i.e. panic braking on snow)