Indigo Tyres worn out in the corners!?

[HSV]

Guys,

At the outset I'd like to inform y'all that I am not a very cluey guy when it comes to diagnosing problems with cars. My Tata Indigo LX Oct 2004 model has done me great service. It has completed a little over 42000 kms on the odo.

From the past 2-3 months (not exactly sure when) I noticed that all the tyres have worn out in the corners (both innner and outer). The middle part of the tread seems quite good infact. I have tried to maintain 30 psi tyre pressure whenever I can remember! Oh BTW, my stock tyres (which came with the car) are JK Tyres 175x65x14.

Now a month back just a few days after my regular service I got my workshop to do the wheel alignment and wheel balancing. During the wheel alignment I had noticed that it was slightly out and even the wheel balancing was slightly out too. So go that done and even asked him to do a tyre rotation - front to back (though I must admit that the rotation I got done after a substantially long period of say 20000kms ). Now after this whenever I drive the car it bounces and bubbles a little and the steering even wobbles a little around 80kmph. This was certainly not the case earlier. I could take the car to 120kmph and not feel anything. Now I dont have the confidence to go beyond 80kmph as it doesnt feel that sure footed.

I took it back to my workshop for some minor work and told the supervisor to check the wheel alignment and balancing as I suspected that the guy hadnt done it properly. When I went to pick my car he told me that he had checked and the problem was in my tyres! he said that the surface (which connects to the road) was slightly uneven which is why my car was bubbling. He said that the tyres needed to be replaced!

BTW, On casual interations during puncture repairs, with the local tyre-wala I was severly told by one and all that JK Tyres suck big time. However he exclaimed that it can still run ok for another 5-8000 kms. I asked him if its safe and if I can take the car out of town etc. He said it should be ok.

Now, my questions are:
1) Is the wearing out of the tyres normal - since I neglected the wheel alignment/balancing for a little too long?

2) Are JK Tyres really that bad?

3) Having driven 42000 kms in nearly 3 years is it normal for me to change the tyres now? Sorry I dont have pictures of my tyres - however I'll upload them soon to give you guys an idea of what the wear looks like. I dont mind changing the tyres now as I give lot of weightage to safety, however since the tread in the middle doesnt look too worn out (except for the corners) which makes me unsure.

4) I hope my workshop guy is not trying to take me for a ride by saying what he said so that they dont have to do the alignment/balancing job again. Further I hope there isnt anything wrong in my suspension which has caused this kind of wearing in the corners! If so then my car is still under extended warranty for another month - and I should take it back straight away.

5) Frankly I plan to keep the car for another year before I sell it. Is a tyre change recommended?

I plan to go for a little hill-station trip with the family early next month. So it would appreciated if someone can give me a little feedback/advice as to whether I should change the tyres now or hold on for another 5-10000 kms?

Best regards,

[speedmiester]

You should look at changing your tyres soon, since you haven't rotated the tyres at proper intervals.
The Tyres will wear out unevenly and this will be reflected in the handling characteristics.

Go for new tyres even if you are thinking about keeping the car for an year. It is not worth the risk of using the same tyres.

[HSV]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Go for new tyres even if you are thinking about keeping the car for an year. It is not worth the risk of using the same tyres.

Could you recommend some good tyre brands for the Indigo? Goodyear, MRF, Bridgestone etc? Further should I go for w/tubes or tubeless? Someone did mention that the Indigo's stock steel rims are a little soft so are the tubeless recommended?

I am not looking at any high performance stuff, as an Indigo is not high performance . Anything durable and safe should be pretty ok, considering I plan to keep the car only for another year (may sell it sooner if I get a good deal).

[dadu]

with sm, but inthe meantime you can rotate them back (if you remember how you did it in first place itself) or place the better ones in the front, your wobbling will be gone.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

You should look at changing your tyres soon, since you haven't rotated the tyres at proper intervals.
The Tyres will wear out unevenly and this will be reflected in the handling characteristics.

Go for new tyres even if you are thinking about keeping the car for an year. It is not worth the risk of using the same tyres.

[speedmiester]

Check out the tyres and alloys section, you will find the perfect tyres for your car.
I personally prefer bridgestone or michelin. They are the best.

[ad75]

indigo being on the heavier side 42-50k is very much the life of a tyre.would suggest you to go for bridgestone/mrf since you plan to sell the car in a years time.hill station trip with family surely calls for a tyre change.

[HSV]

thanks sm, dadu and ad75. How about point number 4? I hope there is nothing wrong with my suspension - although it doesnt seem so. But just thinking aloud?!

[rohan_fonseca]

The issue looks like because of a long gap in the wheel allighnment/bancing schedule. 42k is high time for a tyre change anyways. My dads got stock bridgestones on his indigo(tubed) and are pretty adequate. You could go for them.

[condor]

Originally Posted by ad75

indigo being on the heavier side 42-50k is very much the life of a tyre..

Shouldn't be so. Have done almost 60K on stock Bridgestone's, and hoping to stretch these another 10K.

[HSV]

Thanks guys, for all your advice. I changed all four tyres to brand new Bridgestones 185x65x14 Tubeless. I kept one old tyre as a stepney. It cost me 13000/- for four tyres (i.e., Rs 3250 per tyre). The dealer even gave me a tubeless tyre puncture kit for Rs 150, which he said he normally retails for 250/-.

The dealer told me that my JK Tyres 175x65x14 were no good as there had appeared a slight unevenness due to which I could feel the slight bouncing - I got this point double checked by another tyre dealer. He said JK's normally dont last that much on an Indigo as its a heavy car.

Anyways, the car handles like a dream now! Took it for a long drive of over 600kms this weekend to Jaipur and the car handled great! So much so that it feels like new. I had been seriously contemplating selling my Indigo as it wasnt feeling very great to drive.

However after the tyres change I think I want to keep the car for another year. I am just loving the new tyres!

BTW got a milage of 18.15 kmpl with my new tyres! So thats great.

Mods, you're most welcome to close this thread.

regards,