Why are the rear tyres on my KIA Sportage wearing faster than the front?

I have a KIA Sportage (4WD) which is generally a very good vehicle but suffers from excessive rear tyre wear. Mine are worn out after 15,000 miles. They operate as front-wheel drive unless slip is detected, when power is sent to the back. Almost all of my driving has been motorway without 4WD engaged (it only will work up to 20mph anyhow) and I only use 4WD on the odd occasion to pull my (very light) boat out off the water. Checking on the owner's forum indicates that this is a very common problem. What I cannot understand is why the rear tyres wear the most when it is nominally front wheel drive? I cannot get any sense out of KIA dealers at all. Something doesn't seem right to me - have you any suggestions what might be wrong?

Asked on 24 June 2010 by Paul Savage

Answered by Honest John

Body roll due to the high centre of gravity. But still get a '4-way laser alignment' check at a branch of www.alignmycar.co.uk

Tags: wheel alignment 4wd tyres

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