Gani

my front wheels are wearing out on the sides. one wheel is more worn out than the other. Could this be a problem with my alignment? also, the back wheels still look almost new ..... i heard that with 4 wheel drive cars, you have to change all 4 wheels. is this really necessary?

Mesquite77

On AWD cars, I believe all 4 tire's tread depth should be within 1/32 of each other. So, keep an eye on the wear and rotate front to back as needed. If they are over 2/32 different already, you can order tires from Tire Rack that they will cut down to a smaller size, or just save the backs for later while getting 4 new ones, lot of choices.

Sounds like you may be low on air pressure on front (I run 35psi all around, have very good even wear on the Goodyear 20 RFs), maybe alignment problems, wait for new tires before doing any alignment, I think it gets blamed more than it should, unless you are in pothole hell...

charliehereforyou

That is exactly what happened to my now replaced GY Run Flats at 10K with obsessive tire pressure monitored daily. (2017 Q7,4MB5A1, 20" wheels)
Replaced with Conti-Crosscontact LX Sport (non-RF's) and very happy with them.

Regards,

Charlie

Gani

How stupid of me. It totally didn't cross my mind that I can keep the good tires for later. There I was about to throw away all 4 tires. :-D Duh!

With that said, How long can one keep tires before they can be considered too old for use?

I mean, if i keep tires gathering dust in my Garage for 4 years, after having used them for 2 years, can i then just pop them onto the car and drive as normal?

Mesquite77

10 years is shelf life for tires, on or off vehicle

Audirings4

There are a lot of variables when it comes to tires so a blanket statement can't be used for all.
Tires can be susceptible to breaking down even when they're not used if not stored properly.