Looking for some opinions. 2018 Honda Civic hatchback with 152,000 miles.







Tires have 30,000 miles on them. They were changed maybe 2,000 miles apart from one another, they were changed in pairs. Rear shocks were replaced 25,000 miles ago and an alignment was done.

The tire with the increased wear is on the left. The outside of the tires are to the far left and far right. Both tires in the rear looked like this with extremely uneven wear on the inside of the tires.

The eyeball test isn't always accurate but it would appear the camber is quite negative.

Last oil change and tire rotation were done about 5,300 miles ago and the tires were not worn like this as you can see.

Car did see a 4,000 mile road trip with maybe 150 pounds loaded between the rear seats and the rear hatch area along with a hitch rack and 5 gallon can of fuel.

What should I be looking at before bringing it into the shop?

Alignment issue probably. Likely toe is off. Might be some other suspension issue contributing.

Take it to Tuffy on SR 436 in Apopka. The local Discount Tire store refers all their alignment work to them.

An alignment/inspection at a different shop is in order. Also you don't state the brand/model of tire? Are these decent tires or some chinese made garbage?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigarms229,

^^^Why would a different alignment shop be in order? According to the OP, he’s got 30,000 miles on the tires and there were no problems at the last rotation 5,300 miles ago.

Looking at the pictures and judging by the tread wear indicator bars in the grooves, you seem to have even wear everywhere else but the last inch of the inside edge. You said that edge wear was the same on the other rear tire as well. Obviously, the rear suspension is the first place to look. I’d look for worn bushings on any parts that keep the tires pointed straight ahead. Really, I’d look at all the bushings in the rear suspension; there can’t be that many.

Then I’d take it to the alignment shop and see what they find and say.

As the tire shows fairly even wear (BUT, into the secondary rubber on the inside edge!) and no cupping, it appears camber related to me. Often wear on the inside edge of the tire is overlooked as it's kinda hard to see when the tires/wheels are on the vehicle. An oil change technician might not notice it when they were rotating the tires if they weren't specifically looking for it either. If that wear truly happened within 5K Miles, I'd look for a broken spring, or springs, as you indicate BOTH rear tires were worn similarly. While toe can tear up a tire fast, it doesn't usually change in a 'significant' way all of the sudden.

I’m not saying it’s all ‘normal wear’, but doesn’t seem to get to the ‘red alert’ level.

I’d like to ask the make & model of the tire, not all are equal. 30k is on the low end of tire life expectations. One has individual driving habits to factor in also.

Sounds like they were rotated periodically, a biggie with longevity.

Back in my college days I went to a cheapie tire store & bought the lowest cost tires they sold. They were very much an ‘off brand’, they lasted one year on a light car.

I'll 3rd needing a bit more info.
Tire make/model/treadwear would be helpful

But, that left tire does seem excessively worn on the inside tread block.
Agree with above, seems camber related since no other wear patterns visible.
Maybe worn bushings allowing some variation in geometry?

Need to check control arm bushings. They don't last forever. Mine are coming due and I'm holding off on new tires and an alignment until that's done.

Also look at the tire pressures.
The worn tire looks pretty good in the center area and more worn on both outside edges. Extreme negative camber would cause the wear just on the inside.
Lower tire pressures could contribute to this.

The left one is underinflated.

If the inside wear was on the front tires I would agree with the need for an alignment, but most basic cars don’t have much if any adjustment in the rear.
Therefore, I’m of the opinion that the bushings or other suspension components be looked at by a competent mechanic.

My daughter bought a 1999 Honda Accord about 2006. It came with Bridgestone tires with good tread. I got wear on the inside of the front left tire with every rotation, so I assumed it was out of alignment. Put new Michelin on it and headed straight to the alignment shop. The alignment shop owner said the alignment was on and charged me a reduced price for the check. He said Hondas were rarely out of alignment (don't know if that still applies or how long it did)

I have to conclude that some kind of tire design issue or defect looked like an alignment issue.

This thread on another forum: Link, starting about a third of the way down, the guy goes through all of the bushings in the rear suspension of a late model Civic. He finds a worn bushing where the trailing arm attaches to the body.

Edited to add:

I'm sorry. I just realized I already posted most of this earlier. I thought I had, but when I just glanced through the thread, I missed it and assumed I wrote something but forgot to hit the Post Now button. I’ve deleted the redundant info and left the link.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: trapper189,

Brand is Arroyo, made in Turkey. Bought from a local Florida chain. They were fine up to 25k miles then this happened. This happened to a previous set of tires as well but I replaced those due to mileage & wear and had an alignment done. Something happened in the past 5k miles for this to happen again. I’m pretty good at 5k oil changes and rotations, that’s an easy interval to remember.

Dropped the car off at a reputable shop. Living in an apartment, I just don’t have the means to deal with it on my own.

Those tires are worn "slap out" in 30,000 miles? I get 40-45 out of mine. The edge wear is a gray area between under-inflation and alignment.

As for the camber and the tires appearing to lean in, that car is set up with a little bit of negative camber. If it is in fact too negative it can be adjusted slightly if there is enough slack in the strut bolts/holes. If severe you've got something bent. Sometimes an aftermarket camber adjustment cam bolt can be installed, but I dislike this. Toe is a bigger wearer of tires.

Toe (but not camber) can also be adjusted on the rear.

It's an out-of-spec Finigan Pin.

Shop said it was about 10 degrees out of alignment. Quite expensive for a 4 wheel alignment these days at $230. I remember many years ago I think it was Firestone offering lifetime alignments for $150 or a one time for $89.

They checked the suspension and didn't see any issues with the suspension.

Tires were cheap, I admit that, but I also expected even wear.

Like everything alignments have gone up, labor cost and price of equipment.
This time spend a little more for a quality name brand tire with a higher treadwear rating.
And stop drifting it