My son’s 2003 Hyundai Tiburon’s rear tires keep going bald early. He needs the 4th set and there’s < 60,000 miles total on the car. This last time, the tire store said it was the wheels so he got new wheels and the tires went bald even faster ~ 3,000 miles. He is not a crazy driver. What should we do now, besides get the tires replaced asap? We’re thinking the advice to get new wheels was a stupid thing to follow.
Have the alignment checked at all 4 wheels. Yes, new wheels shouldn’t do anything.
The wheels had nothing to do with it. The tire store employee must have been on comission. Don’t go back there.
Has he had the parking brake linkage checked? If his parking brakes are dragging that’s a possible cause. It’s a FWD car, so that’s the only possible cause I can imagine.
That would be a longshot, I think the 4w alignment the best. Has the car been in any accidents? it is possible the axle has shifted, and 4 wheel alignment would see that problem. An easy way to tell is if you follow the car does it go down the road straight or is the rear end a little cattywampus?
Yeah, I agree, but all I could think of at the moment was his not fully releasing his parking brakes when he took off. And how he got took on the wheels.
Excellent point about the accident too.
When I had similar situation like this, I found it best to have the alignment and the tires come from the same shop. Make sure you follow rotation and alignment requirements to the letter. If something then goes wrong, there is no alternate finger-pointing, and your pro-rated replacement tires should be done without question, at reputable shops.
I don’t like the parking brake idea. The shoes or pads would have been baked off a long time ago. I vote for an alignment problem. I’m surprised that it hasn’t been offered over the last 60,000 miles. It may be the result of an accident or damaged/failing/worn out bushings. An alignment check would identify this.
If the alignment is correct then you possibly need to revisit the issue of your son not being a crazy driver.
Running a set of rear tires off in 3000 miles means either something is seriously out of whack in the rear suspension or your son is causing the vehicle to suffer a lot of wheelspin due to a lead foot.
But this is a front wheel drive car.
Maybe he is burning out the tires and then having them rotated as a cover/
aside from the obvious need to check the 4 wheel alignment, the Tiburon is a “sporty hot little car”, and despite you noting he is a good driver, has he decided to get into “drifting racing”,
You’re correct and I’m wrong. For some goofy reason AWD kept entering my mind. Maybe because the new ones are supposed to be RWD I think.
Good point though. Keep Mom off the trail!
Another good point about drifting, which has become a popular sport among the Fast and Furious crowd. Instead of spinning the tread away just slide it off at the mall parking lot.
Thanks all. Your suggestions are very helpful.
While I do not know of any accidents, at least they weren’t visible to the rest of the car, I guess that should not be ruled out at all. We will encourage an alignment check asap and share the comments about driving habits - just in case.
PS Don’t worry, I keep off the trail!