Tire Cupping? Yep, It’s a Thing—Here’s What to Know
Noticing a bumpy ride or unusual tire wear? You might be dealing with tire cupping. In this post, we break down what tire cupping is, what causes it, and how to prevent it—so you can stay safe and smooth on the road.
What exactly is tire cupping anyways?
Tire cupping is when there is uneven wear along the tread area and different spots on the tire tread wear out before its time. Unlike the uneven wear you would see when your tires aren’t aligned, with cupping, the wear pattern is irregular and the tire tread looks like some areas are cut out and shaved off.
This happens when the tire can’t constantly keep contact with the road. If tires are cupping, it can cause uneven tread wear, rough driving, weak driving traction and irregular steering.
The irregular wear causes the tire to bounce while driving. This ruins the shocks and you’ll feel every single bump in the road and the car will sound noisy.
Tires not consistently touching the road also ruins the tire's weather traction because they can’t provide the traction needed. This will cause the tire to improve the performing safety and strength, in the tire's intended weather conditions.
Cupped tires also caused the vehicle's steering to suffer which makes it hard to the control the steering wheel. The tires will move to the right or left on their own. This makes the vehicle harder to steer.
WHAT CAUSES TIRE CUPPING?
Tire cupping could be caused by different issues. However, it is of the utmost importance for you to get your vehicle and tires checked out as soon as you notice the aforementioned signs.
So you now know the signs of tire cupping, but what actually causes them? Well, the main culprits are:
Misalignment of the tires
Worn suspension and driving shock
Unbalanced tires
Damaged, but functional rims
Bad quality tires
MISALIGNMENT OF THE TIRES
Misaligned tires have an uneven surface contact, which will disturb the balance of the driving pressure across the tire tread. Instead of the tires optimizing their road contact to the tread center and ensuring the pressure circulation, they allow the driving pressure to cause uneven wear on one side of the tread. Therefore, the misalignment of the tires easily leads to tire cupping.
WORN SUSPENSION PARTS
The vehicle's suspension ensures the tires' constant surface contact. However, if the suspension parts, like the shock absorbers, bushing, struts, and other parts are worn out, they will lead to the tires bouncing during their performance. These vehicle parts need to be changed before the tires develop an uneven wear due to the constant bouncing.
UNBALANCED TIRES
Tire cupping also occurs when the four tires are not correctly balanced. In such instances, the imbalance of the tires will cause the driving pressure to not be evenly distributed throughout the tread pattern. If the issue is severe enough, the incorrect balance will place more weight on some areas of the tread, which will cause cupping and premature wear to appear.
DAMAGED RIMS
Potholes and other road issues can damage the rims in a blink of an eye. When the issue happens on the rim's outer flange, it is easier to notice. However, when the damage causes the problem to appear on the inner flange, it is only visible on a lift. A damaged or bent rim will place excess weight on one side of the tire, which will lead to tire cupping.
BAD QUALITY TIRES
Another issue that needs to be considered when trying to prevent tire cupping is the quality of the four tires mounted on the vehicle. Not all tires are equal, and tire scalloping can easily ruin a new set of tires, if they are manufactured for weaker materials. Therefore, it is important to purchase good quality tires, even if they are on the cheaper side. Check out our tire selection, here at Priority Tire to find your next set of tires at the best prices available online.
REAR TIRES CUPPING
When it comes to the cupping of rear tires on a vehicle, the process and causes are generally the same. Shock absorbers, suspension parts, the imbalance of the tires, the misalignment of the vehicle, the quality of the tires, and bent rims are to blame.
Everything which applies to the front tires could be the cause of tire cupping on the rear wheels. Therefore, if you wish to prevent the rear tires from cupping, the problems mentioned above should be diagnosed and corrected.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
IS TIRE CUPPING COVERED UNDER WARRANTY?
No, tire cupping is not covered by the tire manufacturer's warranty. As tire cupping is the result of the bad suspension, alignment issues, imbalance of the tires, and other non-tire-related causes, cupped tires will not fall under the tire wear warranty.
CAN YOU FIX CUPPED TIRES?
While the vehicle issues resulting in tire cupping could be corrected, cupped tires cannot be fixed. Tires with cupping need to be replaced in order for the vehicle to correctly function. To diagnose and fix the issue is unfortunately not enough, as cupped tires will continue to create problems if they are not replaced.
DO CUPPED TIRES NEED TO BE REPLACED?
Yes, sadly tire cupping renders the tire unsafe to be used. Whether the issue is the result of the vehicle's suspension or the wheel alignment does not matter. Tire cupping ruins the tire's traction and controllability, which will leads to bigger and more dangerous issues down the road.