Just wondering what is considered normal tyre wear for a typical small family SUV type wagon with hwy type tyres driven 50/50 Fwy/Hwy and suburban roads?
The current set are the stock tyres fitted to a new vehicle and are looking like needing replacement after only 60,000km. Is that normal?
Are manufacturers putting less tread on their tyres, or are the compounds a bit softer?
I'm sure I used to get a lot more out of my tyres... I recall doing 125,000km on a set before changing them over - and even then they still had some tread on them (but were worn well into the indicator lugs). NB: This was many years ago, before we were putting kids in the car 
Depends of what type of tyres you have. Some will be softer/better and not last as long. Others will be hard/not very good and last forever.
60,000kms sounds pretty decent I recon.
Coopers guarantee most of their tyres to 80,000 km
I got 95,000 km from my last set on a 4x4 and 100,000km from the set before that.
The 95,000 km set would have gone to 100,000km+ on tread, I just had several punctures at once and it was an opportune time to change them
Both sets were Michelin Wrangler tyres, so one of the more expensive options
60,000 km from one of the cheaper brands is probably OKish, but checking the pressure every week and rotating every service helps to get more from them.
60,000km from a main brand would seem a bit disappointing.
Working in the Pilbara, doing 300km+ a day on gravel roads we used to get 5,000km from a rear and 8,000 km from a front (we never really drove in 4wd, only rear wd), so long as we didn't puncture them before that. Bridgestone V steels, 6 ply light truck tyre on 80 and 100 series 'cruisers. Standard toyota springs and shocks were good for 15,000km, you could get aftermarket brands that would go for a bit longer.
Sometimes I leave it til there is some metal coming through. I can get some miles out of tyres. My late old man was a mechanic and would shake his head when I told him I wait until the warning light comes on before I change oil, water,etc.
I am lucky to get 10k on the rears of a couple of mine, only the rears but. strange.
Running Coopers, we were lucky if we got 3 weeks out of a set of tyres on our cruiser at the mines I was on, sidewalls seemed a bit thin for what we had to drive over, and through.
Best long lasting tyres were MRF crossplys (made in India) they were the only tyres I was able to run until on the canvas. I could get several months out of them.
Every other tyre would fail from staking, sidewall failures, or similar.
MRF's tyres are built the old fashioned way- lots of layers of canvas- and are one of the few tyres recommended for real "off road" and "off track" use by Beadell tours in South Australia.
If you are interested in learning about real offroad tyres and the design, fitting, repairs and maintenance of them- head over to the Beadell Tours website.
It is a goldmine of info- written by real people, not factory public relations hacks.
But!! the old school crossplys cant compete against other manufacturers highway designed modern construction tyres as they were never intended for modern highway speeds.
horses for courses.
We found our work 4wds, with showroom tyres, to be absolutely hopeless off road in the wet. We got a set of chunky Coopers. Solved the muddy track problem, but would then lock up on bitumen under only moderate braking.
Road tyres seem to work OK in sand, but anybody with offroad/onroad pretentions on the east coast who doesn't have two sets of tyres is going to get a surprise if they do get off road and it rains.
I'd say one of those falcon utes with diff-lock RWD and two chunky spare tyres in the back would be a better go anywhere vehicle than a 4wd with only a set of showroom tyres.
I can't understand the tyres I see on some 4wds. It's like putting ballet shoes on a lumberjack.
^^^
and some of those Ballet 4WD's will probably never get off the black-top...
When I had a GQ Nissan Patrol I used to have some quality AT (All Terrains) on them... they were probably a good compromise for a car doing 80%+ roads and only moderate grade 4WDing.
i have had my xr6 turbo for about 9000k's now and i have only had to replace the rear tyres twice is this normal?
Your ability to stop, brake and turn you car is somewhat proportional to how fast your tyres wear. Our work cars have 'long life' tyres are they are straight up suicidal to drive in the wet. Sure you might get 60k+ out of them...not much good 6ft under though.
I always put super sticky rubber on my car (V8 commodore wagon), sure they might only last 30K at MOST (rwd v8 after all :D) but **** i'd rather pay a couple of hundred extra per year in tyres and have the ability to stop my car. I've never understood the mentality of going cheap on tyres or going for something so hard and long lasting you may as well just run on the rims.
I got 105k on my falcon, should of got a wheel alignment and they would of lasted a lot longer
I got 108,000 out of Michelin Pilot Primacy on a Suby Impreza RS. Could have got 'em up to 120,000 too. But I like the extra grip of new rubber. Put Good Year Eagle F1's on after that, and they were 97% as good as Pilot Primacy but only 60% of the price.
Can't believe you're having a moan about 60,000 on a SUV. Depending on tyre and the way you drive, I think you can expect anything from 50,000 to 80,000. 90-100 I would expect to be upper limit, and 35-50 would mean that someone is doing some dodgey driving !
Here's your cents per kilometre...
Assume 4 decent tyres at $175 each average for a $700 change over, lasting 60,000km = 1.16 cents per k. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel, worry about the last 1/2 cent mate!
Car Rego & Insurance, assume circa $1200 / year minimum, for say 20,000km travelled = 6 cents per k for the privilege of parking your car in the driveway...
Fuel, lets go with 10l/100km at $1.40/l for 20,000km travelled for the year = 14 cents per kilometre...
Now, let's talk depreciation... $35,000 Jap SUV, after 4 years, and 80,000km later, she'd realistically be worth $18,000 max... A cool $17,000 spread over 80,000k's = 21 cents per k.
A BMW, let's go for $90,000 new, after 4 years and 80,000km, assume resale at $55,000 max = $35,000 down the drain or a whopping 44 cents per k !! Just on depreciation....
Tyres also harden up with age. If you don't do a lot of miles each year you should get more out of them. I've heard of taxi drivers who'd buy and store tyres for a while before using them to maximise mileage.
But they lose grip, just like an old eraser skates over a typo.
60k for a set of tyres on an AWD SUV is more than fair. I'd be lucky to get that on my front wheel drive wagon.
It is possible to do better though, but it means buying harder compound tyres. This will compromise grip so you really need to ask yourself one question. "Do I want my tyres to last a long time, or do I want my tyres to do their job well?"
You can't have it both ways so choose wisely. Being able to turn corners and stop is important to me so I always go for softer compunds (within reason based on the design of the vehicle). Most car manafacturers put a fair amount of thought into choosing stock tyres, based on the weight, suspenstion set up and expected use of the vehicle. You don't have to stick with that decision but be aware that you will effect the way the car performs and be prepared to take well intentioned advice from experts at the shop when you purchase.
Given how fast my bike can chew through tyres, I see the car as being pretty cheap . Duel compound tyres make life on the bike a lot better though. It's a pity cars don't lean over so they could take advantage of that technology. :)
Use to run BFG A/T's on the landy, got over 100k of the set (rotated every service) with 30 - 40% being on Pilbara/Kimberly dirt roads & 4wd tracks. Tyres actually started cracking through age?/lack of use?/uv exposure? - unsure which & needed replacement even though they still had 30 odd % tread left.
If your in no real rush, do as alot of us 4wdrivers are doing and buy from tirerack.com - lots of variety & still a ****load cheaper than buying in WA even after freight - expect arrival within 7 to 10 days.
^^^
Thanks buckles (and everyone who replied). I reckon we'll get 'em done shortly... prob start with a call to Subaru to see what rubber they are now putting on the new Foresters...
Thanks again.
