[pickwick]

This is a picture of my front Toyo RA-1s. Left on the left, right on the right. The left one is corded, as you can see. I got six days out of them, around 730 miles: two days at Road Atlanta, three at VIR, and one at Barber.



   



Does this look like normal wear? I think I ran one day with them reversed but should have switched them more often. The left one is dished; the deep groove on the left is about gone and there's actually a higher spot to its left. And the left side of the right tire is worn quite a bit more than the right side; maybe that's normal as all the tracks are clockwise.



Should I change the alignment? the pressure? (I ran 40 or 41 hot). Or is this as good as it gets? I'm still searching for that super-grippy tire that lasts forever.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[BruceWard]

They do not look like they are directional. Did you try having them remounted inside out?



Sounds like you had a lot of fun with those tires!

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Jim Child]

That wear pattern is typical of tires that haven't been regularly swapped side to side and flipped on the rim. I just corded two front Toyos and got at least a dozen days out them. The difference is that I'm fanatical about swapping the tires side to side. I usually swap the fronts twice a day, and the rears once. Don't worry about the directional tread pattern. It means nothing in the dry. When the outsides of the fronts look like they're getting close to cording I have them flipped on the rim, which effectively doubles the number of days you can get out of them. I keep a close eye on the rears, but I can usually get away without flipping them on the rim.



In looking at your pictures you can tell that the outside left front got most of the wear. This is typical since most circuits are clockwise and have more right hand turns than left. You can see that the inside of the right front also got a lot of wear. This is because in a right hand turn the right tire is unloaded with the inside of the tire more in contact with the pavement. Swapping and flipping evens all of this out. If you looked at the front Toyos that I just wore out, you'd see that the wear is almost perfectly even inside and outside and left to right. The tires finally corded on the insides, both during the same session! Another session and both the outsides would have been showing cord.



You asked about alignment, and you might want to try running more negative camber up front, as that will cut down on the outside wear somewhat. However, that's not a substitute for swapping and flipping if you really want to maximize the life of your tires. Your pressures are exactly what I'm running, and I'm getting good results, so I wouldn't change anything there.



BTW, these wear patterns are not peculiar to Toyos. I've experienced the exact same patterns with Hoosiers, MPSC's, Kumhos, and the old BFG R1's.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[Eric_K]

I totally agree with what Jim said. Definitely more camber on the front. How much are you running? The outside edge on both tires looks like it is getting a lot of abuse. More camber won't help your street tires though.



Eric

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.