Is it possible for rear tyres to wear at different rates?

[EGBM]

Sorry in advance for the potentially stupid question.

I ask because I inspected the rear tyres and noticed that the offsise rear tread is almost down to the legal minimum whereas the nearside rear has plenty of meat left on it.

Now I need to qualify the question in that these tyres were on when we got the car in July, so it may be possible the previous owner only changed one instead of a pair, I don't know. My best guess is the offside tyre had to be replaced as it was damaged/punctured perhaps.

What I'm trying to get to the bottom of is is this differential rate of wear possible and if so does it point to some setup issue?

Oh, the fronts have even wear, and the wear on each rear is even over the surface of the tyre.

Thanks

 

[hairyg]

I suspect you are right in that the previous owner changed a single tyre.

I have seen uneven wear on Caterham/Westfield type cars with a heavy driver sitting almost on top of the back axle. Use of the perforamce means that the nearside rear spins up before the offside. It is difficult to see this happening on a Merc.

 

[EGBM]

Thanks for that. I'll be proceeding to replace them both anyway, I just wondered if I had bigger issues than expense!

 

[television]

If the worn tyre is flat across the whole width of the tread, and no feathering has taken place (upstanding edge on one side of the tread pattern) then everything OK

 

[jberks]

Aside from what Malcolm says with regard to setup, the only other causes for one tyre to wear sooner than another would be a slow puncture (underinflated tyres wear faster) or a brake fault, where one wheel is not braking at all. Both are unlikely so most likely (as you would have seen on my car up to last Saturday) is that one rear tyre was less worn simply because it had been prematurely replaced. Simple as that.

 

[popuptoaster]

either that or someone has a lead right boot and no LSD.

 

[television]

One rear wheel will spin more on starting from a left hand turn than on a right hand turn, could it just be that