Hello,

I recently visited with a friend who showed me his 2004 Discovery II. He has been perplexed as to his rear tires (using Pirelli Scorpions) wearing out specifically in the rear, on the insides for both rear tires.

He has not rotated his tires yet (see point 2 below in the list) and the inside tread (from mid tire) on both rear tires has become bald, and yet, the outside still has tonnes of tread.

Now some key points:

1. This is his 3rd set or rear tires, and all of them wear exactly in the same spots and same way
2. He has only driven 10,000km / 6,213 miles
3. Air pressure is LR factory specs for front and rear
4. On-road only and a daily driver on paved roads

Doing some research it appears that the rear axle can not be corrected/aligned/adjusted (saw a few older posts with DiscoMike answering) for the tires.

What could be causing the extreme wear on the rears? It seems ridiculous, and concerning to say the least.

As always, thank you for your help and time.

Cheers

 

Shocks, bushings worn out?

 

Excessive camber or toe-out wear would cause inside shoulder wear.

 

From what I have read and found, the camber can not be adjusted on the rear tires.

Only the front tires can be adjusted.

Hence this being a puzzling one!

 

Worn rear hub bearings?

 

Can you provide a picture, from the sounds of it something is very wrong you have a solid axle in the rear those tires should not be wearing only on the inside.

The owner should be feeling some vibration or a lot of vibration in the rear.

The suggestions so far are unlikely thought possible

• Shocks
• Hubs
• Springs

If it was one side I would think warped rim but you would feel that, a picture would help. It is possible you have a bent axle housing

 

Included is the best picture I could get (bad lighting with sunlight).

Both rear tires have identical wear, with very little on the outside edge, and gradually gaining wear in to the inside which is almost bald.

It drives like a dream, smooth and firm.

Will double check suspension components first.

How does one go about checking a bent axle housing?

 

To check,
measure distance between wheels from inside,
once from top of rim to rim, then from bottom again rim to rim, it should be same distance, if bigger distance in bottom, that will explain the wear,
then from front to front & then from back to back, it should be same again, if bigger gap in front, again it explains the wear pattern,

if you see difference in measurements, then you have a bent in axel or hub,
do this with wheels on ground in a flat surface,
(assuming wheels are true with no bent)

 

@archaeology_student thanks for the picture that is bizzare for rear axle follow @Bom2oo2 suggestion. I would suggest doing the check, mark the tire with chalk or tape and then move enough to rotate 180 degrees and check again. That will eliminate the rims - not that I think it is the rims but never hurts to make sure.

I think someone dropped the back end on a big rock hard, really hard and bent the axle, It really should have damaged a lot more with that kind of wear.

 

Haven’t had a chance to do the measurements, but these are the state of the rear tires (remember, wear begins on inside edges) as they needed replacing ASAP.