Hypothesis; There is a correlation between Haldex and rear diff failures and power distribution between front and rear axles.

While looking into the subject of tyre replacement for my Freely I noticed that different wear patterns are being reported by club members. Some people say that front and rear tyres wear at the same rate while others report more extensive wear on the front tyres (I am in this category). I don’t recall anybody mentioning rear tyres wearing quicker than the front tyres. If there’s anybody out there with more wear on the rear tyres by comparison to the front please ‘speak up’. I believe that it would be logical to conclude that those with more even tyre wear have a more “balanced” power distribution between front and rear axles. This could be for a number of reasons. For example;

1. Slight differences in programming of Haldex units
2. More time spent in start/stop traffic. Thus vehicle rarely gets to shift into the 90:10 power split range.
3. Driving habits etc

For the purpose of testing this hypothesis it doesn’t really matter why the tyre wear is different. What I thought would be neat to ascertain is whether there’s a possible link between power distribution, as evident from the tyre wear, and any history of problems with Haldex and/or rear diff.

So, I would like to propose the following poll options;

1. My front and rear tyre wear is even and I’ve NEVER had Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).
2. My front and rear tyre wear is even and I DID have Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).
3. My front tyres wear quicker than rear tyres and I’ve NEVER had Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).
4. My front tyres wear quicker than rear tyres and I DID have Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).
5. My rear tyres wear quicker than front tyres and I’ve NEVER had Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).
6. My rear tyres wear quicker than front tyres and I DID have Haldex and or rear diff problems (including bearings).

Thanks gang. MY10 TD4 SE Auto

I'm afraid tyre wear is not a reliable indicator of power distribution. The front wheels do the steering and most of the braking, so on a fwd or 4wd (and often on a rwd too) the front tyres will always wear more than the rears to some degree. The harder the car is driven the greater the front wear.

I'd answer the poll regardless, but since I don't record wheel positions when I switch between summer and winter tyres I have no real notion of front and rear tyres! All I can say is that there is no evidence of uneven wear and I have had no Haldex problems. (But I'm only on 32K miles.)

Hi Pab, yah I hear you, and I too thought that front tyres work harder and therfore should wear more. But majority of people are reporting even wear!

But now you got me started on this other thing I’ve been thinking about for a while; swapping from summer to winter tyres and back again. In Australia we don’t concern ourselves too much with winter tyres so I don’t know much about the process. The manual talks about not rotating tyres as it might affect handling characteristics etc…. In fact from what I understand the manufacturer would pretty much like us not to touch the wheels at all (not to change their position that is). You already mentioned that you don’t ‘label’ the wheels prior to taking them off, but is that the norm? And if so, how do you comply with the manufacturer recommendations if you don’t know which hub the wheel came off? Or does that fall under the category of other unrealistic recommendations such as ‘do a walk around the vehicle every morning before driving the vehicle. MY10 TD4 SE Auto

Tyre wear for me seems to be pretty even, so I don't really worry about it. If different tyres showed different wear patterns I'd take more notice, but so far they don't. As for complying with the manufacturer's recommendations, I guess technically I don't, but so far it hadn't been a problem.

Over about 32k miles the rear tyres have 1mm more wear than the fronts. This has been the same on two sets of tyres. Remember there are never problems, just new challenges

Ditto, perhaps 2 mm more wear on rear tyres over 32k miles.

I have been wondering if there is any link with driving styles and this problem? The FL2 is a heavy old beast and the power available quite high. Could it be that the forces involved in repeated heavy footed acceleration are creating the damage in components that aren't quite up to it?

Don't offer this thought with any confidence as not mechanically literate but just wondering.

The FR2 is basically a front-wheel-drive car in normal use. On such cars front tyre wear can be considerable - particularly shoulder wear. It depends very much on how you drive.

TonyJ wrote:

Over about 32k miles the rear tyres have 1mm more wear than the fronts. This has been the same on two sets of tyres.

Towing a caravan might account for the extra wear in my case

But your Hypothesis fails straight away on the basis that you have no control as to the conditions the cars operate under.

It's a very interesting question but unfortunately has too many variables.

Hi Heliosuk,

We're not trying to establish whether there is a 'cause and effect' relationship. We're trying to see if there's a possible link that would warrant further investigation. But you're right, there're certainly a lot of variables. Some of them I've already mentioned in my initial post. MY10 TD4 SE Auto