Noticed the front tyres on my Mercedes (GLC 4MATIC 2020) are flattening while the rear ones look fine. Is this normal, or should I get alignment/rotation done? Replace now or wait?
Miles: 51,863. Did a long West Coast road trip(OR to CA to Texas to OR) in 2024, so I assumed wear would be even.
Technician mentioned okay for now about the flattening stuff in last service, but I wanted to check with the forum.
Noticed the front tyres on my Mercedes (GLC 4MATIC 2020) are flattening while the rear ones look fine. Is this normal, or should I get alignment/rotation done? Replace now or wait?
Miles: 51,863. Did a long West Coast road trip(OR to CA to Texas to OR) in 2024, so I assumed wear would be even.
Technician mentioned okay for now about the flattening stuff in last service, but I wanted to check with the forum.
Front one,
Rear one,
Appreciate any advice!
The fronts are rooted , I’d replace them and get a 4 wheel alignment done immediately. How many miles on those tyres. Are they a staggered fitment.
I had to replace the all the tires with same configuration in my second year due to a nail puncture on rear tyre. I went with Discount tires. So roughly it got majority of the miles on it, ~40K from total 52K.
No staggered fitment
even MB 4 matic, still the rear wheels are the main driving power, so the wear at rear tire must be quicker, and it is normal.
However because your front tire worn faster, your front wheel alignment need to be checked if toe is bad or not.
if your outer tire worn than the inner side, then bad camber.
check all 4 wheels alignment, than just front wheels.
your front tires must be replaced. and rear tire can be used more.
And maybe put your rear tire to the front, and new tires to the rear, make sense.
This week My Mercedes Dealer had a tire special buy 3 get 1 for $. By far the best price for my replacement set go 255/45/20 than anywhere else.
Always check the dealer.
The warranty is standard, and includes labor and balancing.
Sometimes they have the best price. About a third of the time in my experience.
4/32" is basically worn/bald enough to justify all 4 replaced (ignore the 2/32" government standard, it's bull****). I won't link here to the TireRack video showing a new, full tread tire stopping in like half the distance of a 4/32" tread tire on test track covered by water, you can find that. Just know that tread depth lets tires channel water away to obtain wet surface traction.
Do not replace only two now, and try to match tires exactly not to add a new brand/model (the model matters, not just the brand).
TIP: IF you have a spare tire, or want to get one (posts here including by me tell you how easy that is), then by all means avoid buying the run-flat replacements and instead get a better ride/handling balance at lower cost overall by purchasing regular tires. Run-flat tires are inherently heavier than regular tires, and that extra unsprung weight works against both comfort and performance. Conti LX Sport comes in both forms. (BTW, avoid Conti's LX25 if you have grooved pavement, I tried a set and immediately needed warranty replacement reversion to a new set of LX Sport due to terrible groove wander with the LX25.)
Your tires aren't "flattening", they are wearing unevenly. Flat means loss of air pressure. Your tires are balding on the edge, wearing out the tread unevenly. Also, your different front to back wear patterns are due to both (a) bad or not maintained suspension alignment, and (b) failure to frequently enough rotate the tires to equalize wear.
PM me if you want more help, I'm good on this stuff.
Costco includes for free 5 years of prorated road hazard coverage, by the way.
Also, second on checking the dealer. But beware, many MB dealers think an alignment of even this relatively simple, steel-sprung GLC is akin to performing brain surgery and sometimes charge $400++ for work that's worth $135 to Les S.
Are these the second set of tires? How many miles are on them? If 25K or so, you can get a spare kit from Modern Spare then buy conventional tire. I have two GLC300. One with Michelin Crossclimate 2 in 19" and the other in 20“. Excellent wear, comfort and handling. On track to get 60K miles out of them. The spare tire kit will set you back $500 but do the breakeven math to figure out if say 50K miles tire life get you there which is entirely possible with conventional but not run flats. Run flats cost more and less choices.
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