I was wondering if someone could tell me how good of shape these tires are in. They're on a set of wheels that I'm getting and I would like to know if they still have a good amount of life left in them or not. I was told by the owner that they have under 3,000 miles on them and 95% tread life left, but I think that may be a little high.

They are Hankook Ventus HR II 215-45-17.

It looks like they have quite a bit of camber wear on the inside tread, would it be a good option to have them remounted to even that out? I'm not familar with camber wear, so it looks unusual to me. Also, the far right tire looks like it has some ripples or something near the middle section, should I be concerned? They've been sitting around mounted on the rims and off the vehicle for a while.




Any info. is appreciated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MilanoLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was told by the owner that they have under 3,000 miles on them and 95% tread life left, but I think that may be a little high.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The most accurate way to determine a percentage of tread life is to interpolate based on measuring the tread depth. For example, this tire comes with a tread depth of 10/32" when new. Like all tires, it is no longer legal to use once the tread is worn down to 2/32", when the treadwear indicator bars appear flat across. Assuming you want to use the tires up to that point, that means you use 12.5 percent of the tread life for each 1/32" less tread depth. If you measure the tread depth, this is how much treadlife is remaining:

10/32" - 100 percent
9/32" - 87.5 percent
8/32" - 75 percent
7/32" - 62.5 percent
etc.

It's impossible to determine the tread depth accurately based on a photo. You can use a tread depth gauge or a ruler on the tires in person.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MilanoLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It looks like they have quite a bit of camber wear on the inside tread, would it be a good option to have them remounted to even that out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Only if your car does not wear tires evenly.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MilanoLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the far right tire looks like it has some ripples or something near the middle section, should I be concerned?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes. That tire appears to have "cupping", which is usually the result of a suspension problem. You can read more about cupping on this website. If you use the tire, you may find that it has a vibration due to the uneven wear, and there's not much you can do about it other than replacing the tire.

My advice: If you're not paying much more for the wheels and tires than you would pay for the wheels only (if they had no tires), go ahead and buy them, and try them out. That way, if the tires don't work out, it's no big financial loss.

 

Thank you.

I realize this is not the suspension forum, but the seller is parting the car out and I was going to grab the shocks and springs as well. Would this not be a good idea considering the cupping and camber wear?

I would assume the tires would continue to wear the same.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MilanoLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I realize this is not the suspension forum, but the seller is parting the car out and I was going to grab the shocks and springs as well. Would this not be a good idea considering the cupping and camber wear?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Springs don't usually get damaged (unless someone cuts them). Shocks, well... shocks can wear and eventually fail, so it's possible that that's the problem causing the cupping. I'm always leery of getting used shocks from anyone. I keep my cars a long time, so when they need replacement, I generally prefer to buy them new, then they come with a lifetime warranty so that's the last set I have to buy for the car.

HTH

 

I'm also hesitant to buy used suspension equipment, but it was offered to me at a good price and I've been in the market for a while. Suspension wise I thought 3,000 miles was nothing, but I'm starting to believe otherwise after further inspection.

Maybe I should pass up on the shocks, but take the springs (ground control coilovers).

Another thing, which may or may not contribute to this, is the car has been towed with the front wheels elevated and the rear wheels in contact with the road as it does not run. I'm not sure of the distance, but I'm thinking this could have been a source of the wear.