Heel And Toe Wear

A heel-and-toe wear is step-like wear of individual tread blocks (see image), which can cause increased driving noises. The heel-and-toe wear is caused by the uneven distortion of the tread blocks in the contact patch. Heel-and-toe wear appears in more extreme forms on non-tractive wheels than on tractive wheels.

New tires have a stronger tendency to heel-and-toe wear, because the high tread blocks have greater elasticity. As tread depth decreases, the rigidity of the tread blocks increases and the tendency to heel-and-toe wear decreases.

What does heel-and-toe wear look like?

The tread lugs are seen in the running direction and are higher in the front than in the back; see image. Extreme heel-and-toe wear may lead to customer complaints about noise.

Increased heel-and-toe wear occurs with:

• Toe values too great
• Incorrect air pressure
• Deep, open treads
• Tires which are not mounted on the driven axle
• extreme driving style around curves
  Fig 1: Heel-And-Toe Wear

  Courtesy of AUDI OF AMERICA, LLC

1 -  Tread lug, heavy wear at start of tread lug

2 -  Running Direction

Non-directional tires:

When heel-and-toe wear occurs, the direction of travel of the tire must be reversed. If increased heel-and-toe wear and rolling noise develop, the tires should be rotated diagonally. This leads to a reduction of heel-and-toe wear. On vehicles with FWD, this effect is increased by increased wear on front axle. The tire noise is somewhat louder immediately after rotating the wheels, but the normal noise level will return after traveling approximately 500 to 1, 000 km.

Unidirectional tires: 

In the event of increased heel-and-toe wear of the tires on the rear axle - most common with FWD - rotate the wheels from back to front. In the event of increased heel-and-toe wear on the outer edges on one axle, reverse both tires on their rims. Then the left wheel must be mounted on the right side and the right wheel on the left side.

Heel-and-toe wear is a normal wear pattern and is reduced on non-directional tires by diagonal rotation of the tires after approximately 500 - 1, 000 km.

The preceding repair attempt is to be briefly described on the complaint report.

The modern tire construction is designed for the highest driving safety as well as when the roads are wet. Heel-and-toe wear is reduced due to the necessary, open tread design in the tire sidewalls and the smoother tread compound.

Heel-and-toe wear is not a fault in terms of warranty, but rather a completely normal wear pattern.