Uneven wear on tires - 2012 ML350 BT
 

I noticed a slight uneven wear on my front tires...which means the front tires worn more than those in the back. I just put 2000 klos on those new tires.

I am not sure if it is normal. My understanding is that as a 4 wheels drive SUV the tires should wear all the same.

Could anyone explain this to me and suggest proper steps that I should take.

Thanks,

Ryan

Tyres do not wear at the same rate even on a 4x4. I find that my ML's wear the front tyres more hence why you should rotate the tyres.

Maintain the proper air pressure and rotate as recommended.

The alignment spec is out. I had to redo my alignment 2x because the front tires were wearing unevenly on my 2013 Ml350 bluetec. The tired were getting choppy and noisy in the front despite being perfectly road force balanced. I had to dump my Michelins and Pirellis because of this. I went to an independent mechanic and got 4 new michelin latitude tour hp tires and got proper alignment for even wear and at this moment i have done 18k miles with even front and rear wear. I never rotate my tires. It causes the cars to handle and feel funny with vibration. Even when I redo the road force balance the tires act funny in their new position so I rotate them back and just keep them there. I havent had any issue with this for years. BMW and AUDI don't recommend rotation due to this reason. As long as my alignment is in good spec all of the cars have even wear front and rears given I do majority highway driving and get great mileage out of my tires 35k plus average.

Ryan_Z,

What do you mean by uneven wear? You should post some pictures to ensure we can give you the correct answers.

No matter if the vehicle is a 4x4 or 4x2 the front tires will wear more on the edges while turning so you should ensure that you rotate your tires when recommended and also check the tire pressures regularly :y

Hi Jack, thanks for your post. The wear is very minor so that the picture can hardly show the difference.

However you answered my question perfectly. My concern was just the front tires wear more than those in the back.

Thanks again. BTW, how do you guys monitor the tire pressure?

Ryan_Z,

You are welcome :y

Not sure what year your ML350 is but mine has the tire pressure monitoring system that shows the pressure of each individual tire. Your owner's manual will show you how to access the proper menu :)

Tire pressure? 4matic is computer controlled, power distribution is not the same all the time. It is also difference between 4 wheel drive and All wheel drive.