40PSI is kind of high... Should be about 35.

 

I'll play.

My first guess is prolonged or repeated exposure to a solvent. Here's an article about that.

Might be as simple as what you're using to keep your garage floor clean, a fluid leak from the Pilot, or even a tire cleaner gone rogue. It's not normal for puddles of hyrocarbons to just be lying around, but since you've eliminated the easy answers, driving through something destructive seems like it fits the available information.

 

I like how you're thinking. Parking on an outdoor concrete pad though in the PNW (lots of rain). No solvent use on it since we've been here. Also have had other vehicles on the same pad and driveway with no issues. No other consistent parking or driving spots (as in it's not going to a job site or anything.)

I've read consistent or high speed gravel road driving might do this...can also cross that one off.

 

Another thing I'll add, is this is our first large vehicle, so we've no basis for comparison in driving it. We came from budget compact cars.

As in it could be driving weird and we might not know.

I presume the dealer's tech's test drive would have been able to tell if something was amiss, but it's hard to say how they drove it, what they were feeling for, or how subtle an issue might be to cause this.

I've always found it to be a bit wallowy cornering (ie in a long 50mph non-interstate highway curve you kind of have to keep sterring through it...if that makes sense). But I've no comparison and always thought it was just a big car. When I asked the techs if there was a way to test the suspension the answer seemed to be no...you'd basically have ot start spending money swapping stuff out.

 

It's not my area of expertise, but tires have their own warranty for manufacturer defects separate from the Honda new vehicle warranty. It's not a Honda issue. I would look through your owners manual for further information. Most of my new Acura's have had a tire brochure in the owners manual package. I would start there because your tires are tore up.

 

Yeah it's not a Honda issue and the manufacturer has to replace them. However, I had 2 separate sets of tires wear like that. Basically the thread pealing off, one time after 4k miles, the new set which they replaced for free...10k miles...if there is something wrong with the tire...stop putting it on a vehicle. At the same time, if I buy a vehicle from Honda I expect them to deal with it...if I picked those tires as an option I can kinda I'm underst but even like that, I didn't buy the wheels on my own, I didn't install them. I'm Honda's customer and Honda is Continental's customer....I didn't buy the wheel from Continental

 

I agree with most others in thinking this is not an alignment problem, or a problem with the car...it looks to me like a defect in the tires. I had a similar thing with a set of Michelins once...at about half depth, some areas of the tread just started chunking out. All paved roads, no gravel, etc. I was on an automotive forum where a tire engineer participated regularly, and he said that this is usually caused by contaminants or other irregularities getting into the tire mold or the rubber formulation as the tire's formed and cured. He said if any contaminants or air bubbles or anything like that get trapped in the rubber, the rubber can chunk or flake off as the tire wears, as the structural integrity of the tread blocks isn't what it should be.

The problems with your OEM Continental tires and the third-party winter tires may look the same or similar, but it could be separate problems. The siping on your winter tires is very aggressive (lots of sipes), meaning the tread blocks are generally not supported very well (and the rubber compound on winter tires is much softer and less durable in general). There will be a lot of tread block squirm and movement as you drive, and especially under longitudinal forces like accelerating and braking. Even easy acceleration puts a LOT of torque on the contact patch -- you're getting nearly 4,500 pounds moving in a few ticks of the second hand on a clock -- that's a lot of force!

The problem on your winter tires seems to be limited to just the very edge of the contact patch, suggesting that it could be related to forces imparted right at the edge of the patch, right at the transition between "high torque" (contacting the road) and "no torque" (not contacting the road). The problem on your OEM Continentals seems to extend further inboard and appears more of a mechanical problem with the tires than "tearing" or "flaking" observed on the winter tires.

 

To add to the above...and this is probably a long shot...there is a recall on the OEM Continental tires on some 2021 Pilots...more information and DOT codes here: Honda Pilot Recall: Continental Tires Installed From The Factory May Be Defective (repairpal.com)

 

As mentioned above by @Karl2020, 40 psi is high. Why not run at the recommended pressure and see if that helps.

 

To respond to some of these.

@hokiefyd Good thoughts. The OEM continetals aren't the ones that were recalled. I checked. The Snow tires (coopers) are actually wearing across the face also, for the sake of the picture I focused on that edge. Thye also exhbit that chunking, but are breaking off where they are siphed. Long story short, it's not normal wear, especially given the mileage. I've enough friends with big SUVs and w/ snow tires I've asked (heck, I look at other pilots tires in the parking lots at this point!), and none of them see anything akin to this. So yeah it might be a tire issue, but it sure is strange to have two set of different tires with same issues, and seems like a long shot. Maybe it's not the vehicle...but I'm not convinced on faulty tires. Unfortunately, it becomes a $$ experiment buying new sets of tires just to see, sigh.

@STMech 40psi is well within spec and wouldn't cause this. 35psi to 40psi for this vehicle is a matter of preference. Furthermore, I'd three seperated techs and tire folks recommend 40psi for handling and better tire wear, so I'm going to go with them. As in when this wear first became really evidentit was suggested to go to 40psi.

When I go to the dealer again, I can ask them about the continental warranty, or how that all works. They've been good sports about it so far. They agree something is wrong, but just don't know what. They submitted the info to Honda. I'll keep working with them and hopefully we can figure out what's up. Sure is weird though.

 

@hokiefyd I'll add, after further reflection, I guess I'd not be that surprised to find out there were two sets of defective or anomaly tires! - these days that stuff doesnt' really surprise me any more!

It just seems strange watching it happen, especially when it is happening so severely to one of the front tires, only a bit to the other front, and not at all to the rears.

 

I immediately thought gravel damage from the pictures. You say you don't have consistent driving spots but do many of the roads you use ever have gravel on top of the pavement? Even just a little bit at an intersection with a gravel road or exit from a gravel lot? Do the rains ever was rocks onto the roads? I'm only asking because rocks on top of pavement cause more tire damage than rocks on top of dirt so even if it doesn't happen all the time, it may be frequent enough to be causing your problem. The damage being worst on the front driver tire has me puzzled though.

It is a real long shot that you got two sets of different types of tires with the same defect at the same time but unfortunately not as hard to believe these days. I would not spend money on a set of quality new tires until this is solved. I would get a set of retreads and see what happens. If the retreads hold up the problem is probably with the first two sets of tires. If a 3rd set of tires gets the same damage I think it's safe to assume it's the car or where it's being driven.

Damage looks like it's from more than being out of alignment but maybe not. This is gonna sound weird, but have you thought about asking a body shop? I recently got new tires, then was in an accident. Got an alignment right away, but the car does seem to be riding rougher and not handling as well. I mentioned when I dropped it off at the body shop that I had two shops look at it and they said everything was fine but I know something isn’t. The body shop guy said sometimes there can be an underlying issue throwing the alignment off while still measuring within specifications during a standard alignment. He said his shop was better equipped to determine that than a standard mechanic. I didn't ask specifically how and he could be full of crap but if all else fails, it may be worth looking into.

 

Some goods thoughts. There is some occasional bits of gravel on roads here, but not consistently. And again, the strange part is it's really primarily happening to the one tire. There's a bit of odd wear on the passenger side, but it's mostly driver front, like that one tire is really getting torn at. And again, there are a lot of vehicles in my area, and none of them are doing this. We've neighbors with tacomas and highlanders and big trucks and small cars...when I've asked them none of them have seen anything like it (and a few of them are old car guy hot rodders.). Our user case is extremely normal.

I've been asking around and trouble shooting this for almost a year now. Once it was apparent it was happening on both tire sets, I started by asking car folks around me, then to a tire shop (2 actually), then the alignement suspension shop...all thinking it was something simple. Once it became apparent it maybe wasn't something so simple, I started in with the dealer.

The dealer didn't seem to think it was tires. They checked the frame and it was straight (I'd not have even have thought of that.) The dealer did note a "slight steering wheel offset" in their test drive, and put it on their alignment rack before and after the drive...but they made no futher comment on that. There was some toe in on the passenger side, front and rear that was corrected. Not severe though, normal stuff...I didnt' even notice the drive of it changed. But we'll see, maybe that wlll fix it...visually inspecting after this last few hundred miles though it doesn't really seem to be, you can vsiaully see the tire wearing week to week. But at this point, I may be going a bit cross eyed looking at them.

This summer with the up until now Rear OEMS up front will be the test I guess.

 

You don't list location for you. Update profile so it shows when you hover over the flag. Temperatures may affect some of that but since you use winter tires I presume not crazy heat areas. Too cold might do that though as the rubber gets too hard like brittle plastic. The 40 psi my be high enough to reduce that contact patch so that transition portion is odd enough. What is the date code on the tires?

I saw one that had similar things and it was that the owner turned the wheel often when not moving (like a parallel parking thing). I know you said you don't have any 5 point turns version. Not multipoint turns but just tight space into their garage and parking pad (concrete but rougher). Think old school, no power steering effort. Maybe just one 1-2 turns daily when not moving? Another was weight of occupants. The weight came in to factor when they checked the alignment while the owners were in the car. These were very large owners though not your typical range overweight/obese group, much higher.

 

Pacific Northwest. Portland OR. No extreme temps, the opposite in fact. No extreme weight - my family in total weigths about 350lb between the 4 of us.. No towing. No rallying or stabbing at it, No hard cornering. I mean we do an occassional parallel parking turn, but like nothing at all where you'd say it'd wear a tire out. We're not in and out of tight spots daily.

And being a broken record, it's really just the one tire doing it. All the environmental and tire problems, I'd guess it'd be showing it more consistenyly across at least the front two tires.

We do have a short old dirt entry alley road to our paved driveway. A road that was gravel a long time ago but now is just kind of a compacted dirt. There is some old gravel bits on it, but it's not aggressive, and we just kind of roll down it to our driveway. And we've had two other car here and we've neighbors that come and come on it daily too without problems

Anyway I'll stick with troubleshooting it and I'll let you all know if I get any answers!

Cheers.

 

Try running the recommended psi. 32 psi. I get it, you don’t want to hear this. Of course, do as you please.

 

Thanks, like I said earlier, I was at the rec psi last year when I noticed all of this starting Both the tire shop and alignment shop separately suggested going to 40psi, (or higher for the OEM). I just had it in at the dealers and they went through everything, checked psi and didn't change it either.

But yes, I'll give it a shot! When I put the summer tires on next week, I'll go to the manufacturer rec psi just to bring everyhting back to baseline.

I don't have a dog in the psi fight. Just going off what service folks had told me. I'm clearly not an expert

 

40psi would wear the center of the tires, not the outside as much, too much psi - like way too much can cause tread separation but 40 is okay. Not alignment problems since this wear is not consistent with alignment wear.

What are the brand and model of tires you are using which are causing these problems? Also post or take picture of the date code of the tires - usually last 4 numbers and kinda circled. It's not an alignment problem but maybe road conditions/debris, and since it's only the front it's prob due to the "added stress" the tires go thru from engine weight + accelerating/braking + turning. Winter tires look like tread separation.

 

I get it, the edge of the tires are chunking off. So you try to ease off the pressure on the tire edges by inflating to 40 psi. And shift the pressure more towards the center of the tire.
Your tires are chunking and I feel your making your situation worst by running higher than than the normal 32 tire psi. I would stay below a certain mph just in case a large chunk lets go.
Although expensive these days, I would just change out the tires for piece of mind while driving.

 

All season tires are the OEM Continentals. They're not the one's that were recalled. I checked. Those were a year before, Snow tires are Cooper Discover True North. I'll post the date codes later today or tomorrow.

Again, for the nth time the damage happened at 35psi PSI also! It began there. it didn't make a difference. I drove them at 35psi for the first 2 years when this began. I moved to 40psi about a year and a half ago as was recommended by two techs. It's still happening. (FWIW the two techs and a seperate dealer service person I know (at asudi) all said manufacture PSI is set for ride comfort and noise, but at the possible expense of wear and performance, take it or leave it!).

But yes, for sure, to rule it out I'll ask the dealer what they prefer I run them at over this summer for another test of the remaining tires I've not run in the front yet. No worries.

Overall though, after all of these replies, it sounds like everyone thinks it's either defective tires, PSI, environment or driving practice, or a mix of all of these things. I'd buy that it's a mix of things with a sprinke of bad luck. Gosh, I'd love to note spend the $ on new tires just test that theory blindly, but mayble I will not have a choice. Still bizarre, I've been driving here for 30 odd years, and never seen anything like this, like nothing has changed aside from I drive way slower and easier now!

I wasn't sure if there was the off chance someone here had seen this exact thing before one one front tire wearing and was like oh yeah, bad strut, or bent tie rod end, or front differential torque out of wack or etc etc.

Good data regardless. Thank you everyone. Don't want to keep beating the dead horse on it, so we can end the conversation unless there are any other thoughts of different possibilites.

 

The problem jumps out at me: 40psi is high, there are no two ways about it.

I wouldn’t diagnose further until you go back to specs - anywhere between 32-35 PSI on your door jamb.

 

I feel like a broken record. This began at the initial manufacture 35psi. Full stop, period.

So I copy on the PSI, and like I said I'll go to whatever the dealership techs want to set it at next week when I switch back to the all seasons to continue to diagnose.

Also if it helps to repeat this is %99 happening to only one tire on the vehicle. And all of the tires are at the same psi,

So let's just for the sake of the conversation say that we've ticked the PSI box.

Here are pics of the data from the OEM sidewalls.

 

Also if it helps to repeat this is %99 happening to only one tire on the vehicle.

Is it possibe that you have a bad shock absorber?

 

This thread reminds me of the BMW forum thread from many years back of someone wrecking and blaming it on being 0.3 psi off on the recommended tire pressure. That was a hoot. It became quite a meme but it was just a typical young BMW driver.


Anyways, when I had the OEM tires, Continental Cross Contact LX sport, I always had them at 38-40 cold and they wore even and better than any tire I've ever had.

I found the lower psi 32-36 to not be responsive enough and overall too squishy.

Even my Michelin CC2, they are always filled to 38 cold. Wear has been perfect and even.

OP...
I was distracted by all the garbage posts about tire pressure but if you purchased these tires from a retailer, I would be discussing warrantying this and the opposite side tire so they are even.

I had a slight issue with a tire at costco once and the tech looked at me and basically said, it's not an issue BUT we can find a way to warranty it. 👍

I'd reach out to the tire manufacturer and get there feedback. This sounds and looks like a manufacturing issue.

Regardless you may get better feedback from the AskMechanics subreddit. Bottle of Bourbon says no one there comments on the psi.

Good luck!

 

I'd reach out to the tire manufacturer and get there feedback. This sounds and looks like a manufacturing issue.

Regardless you may get better feedback from the AskMechanics subreddit. Bottle of Bourbon says no one there comments on the psi.

Backwards on the replies for me. I'd say many Reddit will discuss or at least question/suggest the PSI.

Definitely reach out to Continental (and Cooper). They might want the tires back to check them. Strange things happen. Worst they can do is say SOL.

I had my Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady that was separating on the sidewall. They prorated them but wanted the old ones back. They were on my Accord when I bought it used and I had no receipts. They went by date code and tread depth.

 

This happened on my 06 Si at around the 300,000 mile mark. The car was in perfect condition and I had gone through tons and tons of tires. It was the first time I had used Bridgestone tires instead of Michelin. I didn’t want to deal with it and the tires were done because of it. I swapped to Michelins and did an alignment (which wasn’t too off) and the issue was resolved and never returned. Sold the car at 318,000 miles.

I don’t know if it was the alignment that fixed it or the tires themselves had an issue. I truly suspect it was the tires. Because rhe alignment was hardly off.

Also important to note, the car never had an alignment in its entire life (I owned it since new so I know). Not even when swapping from OEM suspension to the HFP suspension. Nor during any tire swap

I truly think it was a manufacturing issue with the tires. But I’ll never know.

 

For me, I would lower the pressure to 35 psi unless very loaded. Otherwise I’d buy some new tires that will corner better. Rubber compound in these didn’t hold up and the higher psi is making it worse.
I didn’t see what kind of tires these were?

 

Thanks everyone.

I checked my cold PSI, it was 38-39. But I'll bring it down 3-4 psi. I never knew 3-4 psi over vehicle manufacturer's suggested could chew up a tire. Fascinating.

I will contact continental and cooper to see if they've suggestions.

Sounds lie we've checked off all the boxers here. In this case it doesn't sound like there are any, even if unlikely, theories of how a vehicle may have a mechanical issue might wear a tire severely.

Thanks again for all of the ideas everyone. Cheers!

 

I checked my cold PSI, it was 38-39. But I'll bring it down 3-4 psi. I never knew 3-4 psi over vehicle manufacturer's suggested could chew up a tire. Fascinating.

Normally it wouldn’t. In this case the tire is not flexing very well, and is likely making the situation worse.
Quite frankly, these tires are 💩.

 

Change the location of the one tire and see if it happens to a different tire in that same corner.

 

Your tire pressure is too high sorry I just had to say it because everyone is saying it

Anyways... it seems to be a problem on the Ridgeline from google searching and there was no answer, 40PSI wont do this to the tires and one of the tires I saw is from 2021 (year of your vehicle), so it's not an "old" tire... I wonder if it has to do with it being a "comfort" tire, look at the load rating (1874lb)...

'23 Pilot with 20s load rating is 2039lbs... Quick search on America's Tire for the '21 on 18s and tire load of 105 comes up a lot which equates to 2,039lbs...

 

The reviews aren’t great and the 20in rims certainly don’t help.

 

Did you get printouts for alignment parameters? Tie rods of equal length (i.e. alignment appears correct but the one tire will scrub terribly on turns)?

Did they sweep the steering full left and right to check steering axis symmetry?

Did anyone check struts for leaking or physical damage (bent rod, binding movement)? How about inspection of ball joints and bushing for trauma?