Bad Tires




Just for info about tires.
Bought Nexen Platinum N5000 tires for my car last summer. Almost fishtailed of the road driving in light rain a couple weeks ago and was wondering what the heck is wrong. It could not be the tires as they are 50000 miles thread warranty tires...right?
Turns out my rear tires completely wore out in just about 12000 miles and my driving is 85% non-abusive highway driving, see pictures of the used rear and front tires.
The rear tires have a slant with slightly more wear on the inside, which is due to the camber of the rear wheels. This is NOT a toe issue. The tires, that came out from my car before these Nexens, wore severely on the inside edge due to the toe being way too open, but those tires ran 45000 miles. When these Nexens went on I had the toe problem corrected as I did not want to wear them out like the tires before them. If I had not fixed the toe these Nexens would probably have been gone in just 6000 miles.
The front tires were about half done and probably could have gone another 12000 miles.
I cannot rotate tires front-to-read due to staggered setup, but I can side-to-side, which I did once after about 6000 miles.
Just a warning, Nexen Platinum N5000 is not the tire for the W221.
I don't know what magic you have regarding tyres in the USA but its not normal to get 15k miles out of tyres on a big car in Europe - in 40 years of driving, no car I have had ever managed 25k miles and that was old world tyres 40 years back - we went through a phase of more grip in the 1990s and most people struggled to see 20k on anything - If you drive a Ford Focus with premium brand tyres today I'd expect 22k - the only person I know in my life that sometimes got up to 32 k miles was my father and he drove so slow he might have well left it parked
Its looking like I've done a set of Michelin Primacy 3s and these days I drive pathetically slow as the traffic is so bad I might as well have a bicycle (where I'd complete the journey faster), in less then 8k miles there's not much left at either end - 12 k miles on a lesser brand sports tyre wouldn't surprise me
.
Last edited by BOTUS; Feb 21, 2025 at 07:18 AM.




I don't know what magic you have regarding tyres in the USA but its not normal to get 15k miles out of tyres on a big car in Europe - in 40 years of driving, no car I have had ever managed 25k miles and that was old world tyres 40 years back - we went through a phase of more grip in the 1990s and most people struggled to see 20k on anything - If you drive a Ford Focus with premium brand tyres today I'd expect 22k - the only person I know in my life that sometimes got up to 32 k miles was my father and he drove so slow he might have well left it parked
Its looking like I've done a set of Michelin Primacy 3s and these days I drive pathetically slow as the traffic is so bad I might as well have a bicycle (where I'd complete the journey faster), in less then 8k miles there's not much left at either end - 12 k miles on a lesser brand sports tyre wouldn't surprise me
.
Anyway, these tires last very long time and the ones that came off for these Nexens were Nokian zLine A/S that wore really badly in the inside edge in rear because my toe was way off. They went 45000 miles though and would have easily past 50000 if the bad toe didn’t destroy them.
I had Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 Plus tires put on now and I expect these to last a bit longer than just 12000 miles. Time will tell..
Dry Grip 54%
Wet Grip 46%
Road Feedback 50%
Handling 46%
Wear 44%
Comfort 60%
Buy again 22%




We were lucky they did not explode..we found the issue when i had to take the truck in for balance issue on the fronts. Replaced all 6 tires ( dually ) with Michelins and they have been perfect.
One of the rear NEXEN's also was showing a small bubble.
Truck now has 22K miles on it and no tracking issues, and have only rebalanced the michelins once in 4 years.Morale of story NEVER EVER get Nexens on anything if you value your life and your ride.
BTW Ram refused to warranty as so did Nexen ...not even a discount. So i spread the word on both Ram forums about Nexen and also opened a case on the NHTSA website. Apparently Nexen has been reported before for issues with construction of their tires..
Last edited by WRC-LVR; Feb 21, 2025 at 04:38 PM.




Just for info about tires.
Bought Nexen Platinum N5000 tires for my car last summer. Almost fishtailed of the road driving in light rain a couple weeks ago and was wondering what the heck is wrong. It could not be the tires as they are 50000 miles thread warranty tires...right?
Turns out my rear tires completely wore out in just about 12000 miles and my driving is 85% non-abusive highway driving, see pictures of the used rear and front tires.
The rear tires have a slant with slightly more wear on the inside, which is due to the camber of the rear wheels. This is NOT a toe issue. The tires, that came out from my car before these Nexens, wore severely on the inside edge due to the toe being way too open, but those tires ran 45000 miles. When these Nexens went on I had the toe problem corrected as I did not want to wear them out like the tires before them. If I had not fixed the toe these Nexens would probably have been gone in just 6000 miles.
The front tires were about half done and probably could have gone another 12000 miles.
I cannot rotate tires front-to-read due to staggered setup, but I can side-to-side, which I did once after about 6000 miles.
Just a warning, Nexen Platinum N5000 is not the tire for the W221.
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These should be banned from selling as 50000 mile tires as like for me it came as a big surprise the tires were gone so fast when they sell them with 50000 miles thread wear warranty. I could have gone off road in fast speed and it is pure luck I did not as wet road came on straight section of road.
I guess tires can be sold with any wear warranty that is not controlled in any way. There should be some sort of regulation that wear rating somewhat tells the truth how the tires wear.
Mileage warranty is a selling tool. If Nexen would advertise they are only 20000 miles thread wear tire I would not have bought them.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
I have that tire on one of my rears due t wear issue of previous tire and it works well for me




Onus now back on owners - to fund costly, premature tire purchase because of excess edge wear !
Today it is all about speed of assembly lines, cost / efficiency and therefore - now only one Camber and Caster setting - “to suit showroom height conditions”.
No more ongoing adjustment for curb knock damage or to counter excess passengers side edge tire wear through high cambered roads.
Excess “inner edge” wear / Camber change both sides - caused by altered height - load carrying / lowering or spirited driving and excess “outer edge” wear.
New car industry’s best kept secret. Still re assuringly quoting to carry out a “Full Front & Rear ‘4’ Wheel Alignment” But the reality it is now only basic Front and Rear TOE “directional” adjustment !
At K-MAC 60 years experience - resolving OEM suspension shortcomings. Including manufacturing “Bolt-On” adjustment kits - requiring “no special tools” or time consuming control arm removal to install.
Also specially designed so easily accessible to adjust. Unique Patented single wrench adjustment system - Ultimate direct on alignment rack UNDER LOAD.
SEE SPOILER
AUDI to VOLVO - Experience Resolving OEM Suspension Shortcomings (and costs) Since 1964 !



Does that mean my 2013 S500 can't get its rear end aligned? It can't get a thrust alignment?
Time to go back to the tire dealer perhaps and ask what did I pay for and what did I get ??
I don't know what magic you have regarding tyres in the USA but its not normal to get 15k miles out of tyres on a big car in Europe - in 40 years of driving, no car I have had ever managed 25k miles and that was old world tyres 40 years back - we went through a phase of more grip in the 1990s and most people struggled to see 20k on anything - If you drive a Ford Focus with premium brand tyres today I'd expect 22k - the only person I know in my life that sometimes got up to 32 k miles was my father and he drove so slow he might have well left it parked
Its looking like I've done a set of Michelin Primacy 3s and these days I drive pathetically slow as the traffic is so bad I might as well have a bicycle (where I'd complete the journey faster), in less then 8k miles there's not much left at either end - 12 k miles on a lesser brand sports tyre wouldn't surprise me
.

I'm surprised at how few miles you get on a set of tyres. I bought my 2011 S550 4matic CPO with 15k miles and a new set of Continentals that lasted 40k miles. Next set were Michelin Premiers that lasted 65k miles and currently on a set of Michelin Cross Climate that have 43k miles on them and less than 1/2 worn. Most tires sold in the Northern States are "All Season" tires because of the snow that we get. I have noticed that what we call summer tires here have a shorter tread life warranty. I had a Lincoln Continental at one time with a set of Michelins that had 120k miles on them that still had decent tread but replaced them because they were cracking.
I'd be very upset if I didn't get at least 50k miles on a set. Sorry but I've no answers to why they last longer over here. It's certainly not because of Donald Trump, although he most certainly would take credit for it!!
when the steel is showing through ?
UK min depth is 1.6mm over 2/3rd of the width of the tyre and pattern must be visible everywhere - but they recognise that dangerous if its raining and 3mm is safer
Germany was 3mm but they have had a recent melt down over it as it's bad for the environment - but that point is already ingrained in their psyche




Does that mean my 2013 S500 can't get its rear end aligned? It can't get a thrust alignment?
Time to go back to the tire dealer perhaps and ask what did I pay for and what did I get ??
Yeah, dealer ask $200+ for toe adjustments. They show you all normal values of the measurements that a tire shop would show but adjustments can only be done for toe.
25.4 millimeter = 1 inch [international, U.S.]
0.5 mm 0.6 / 32"
1.0 mm 1.3 / 32"
1.6 mm 2.0 / 32"
3.0 mm 3.8 / 32"
4.0 mm 5.0 / 32"
5.0 mm 6.3 / 32"
6.0 mm 7.6 / 32"
7.0 mm 8.8 / 32"
8.0 mm 10.1 / 32"




Onus now back on owners - to fund costly, premature tire purchase because of excess edge wear !
Today it is all about speed of assembly lines, cost / efficiency and therefore - now only one Camber and Caster setting - “to suit showroom height conditions”.
No more ongoing adjustment for curb knock damage or to counter excess passengers side edge tire wear through high cambered roads.
Excess “inner edge” wear / Camber change both sides - caused by altered height - load carrying / lowering or spirited driving and excess “outer edge” wear.
New car industry’s best kept secret. Still re assuringly quoting to carry out a “Full Front & Rear ‘4’ Wheel Alignment” But the reality it is now only basic Front and Rear TOE “directional” adjustment !
At K-MAC 60 years experience - resolving OEM suspension shortcomings. Including manufacturing “Bolt-On” adjustment kits - requiring “no special tools” or time consuming control arm removal to install.
Also specially designed so easily accessible to adjust. Unique Patented single wrench adjustment system - Ultimate direct on alignment rack UNDER LOAD.
SEE SPOILER
AUDI to VOLVO - Experience Resolving OEM Suspension Shortcomings (and costs) Since 1964 !
Camber (Only) #502316-1i $345 (Both Sides)
(Less cost then 1 Quality tire)
Camber & Caster #502316M $595 (Both Sides)
CHECKLIST:
1) Both kits designed so no special tools or time consuming need to remove control arms to install.
2) Also replacing the 2 (or 4) highest wearing bushings. Caster bushes are Mono ball / Self aligning replacing the OEM soft rubber bushings but still allowing arms to travel through their required suspension arcs. Result is significant improvement to Brake and Steering response.
3) Unique K-MAC patented design allows precise easily accessible / single wrench adjustment. Ultimate - direct on alignment rack UNDER LOAD.
REAR SUSPENSION:
Camber & Extra Toe #502626-1K $480
Same features as above front kits.
SEE SPOILER RE Front & Rear instruction sheets.
AUDI to VOLVO - Experience Resolving OEM Suspension Shortcomings (and costs) Since 1964 !






