Do you rotate your tires every oil change?

Towing shouldn’t cause any issues with respect to the tire wear issues you’re having.

Our stock tires have 24k miles on them and they’re all wearing evenly. In the warmer months we tow between 2200-3500lbs.

I suspect your alignment was out from the factory (which is common for Subaru) and over the course of time and miles the wear is now critical. Changes are good the tire wear could have been picked up sooner.

 

Your TW is 420 but how loaded is the cabin? Are you heavily loaded the rest of the 27k miles?

 

Tires get rotated every oil change, but that rotation was done at the dealership since I got suckered into buying the service package when I bought the car.

When we pull the trailer, we put almost everything in the trailer to keep the cabin weight low. Usually just the 3 of us plus some backpacks and road snacks in the car. I don't think we had much of anything except for some folding chairs in the back for the long trip. It's basically impossible to get into the back of the car with the trailer hitched up because of the hitch jack, so for both weight distribution and convenience I don't put anything back there.

 

Tires get rotated every oil change, but that rotation was done at the dealership since I got suckered into buying the service package when I bought the car.

Hmmm...I wonder if they were actually rotating them...wink, wink, nod, nod...

 

Very interesting. Am currently experiencing the same wear on the two front Falkens on our MY23 with just 46k miles. Cords showing on driver side, and passenger is almost completely bare. I don’t know how I didn’t catch this from the last oil change I performed just a week before.

Wanted to call out this video from a mechanic in Canada on rotating tires:

I wondering…. could Subaru be held liable for the premature wear on the tires?

 

it's middle of the night and I may not communicate well.
BUT
late last year we had if not exactly a recall on our 2021 Ascent a offer to inspect and replace front brakes etc
I forget what the exact name of it was ? "complementary inspection "?
HOWEVER
Subaru did a complete front brake replacement
rotors, pads AND right and left (not axles) sway??? bars
all paid for by Subaru. sorry it's late i usually can recall all technical terms but not today . anyhoo the research I did regarding this indicated vehicles were showing premature uneven tire tread wear!
I had noticed softer braking as well as a bit too much of wallowing .The front brake work fixed these issues but I'm going to need to follow up w my mechanic (independent) when we switch off the winter tires to check for unusual tire wear. We did have full brakes done December 2023 and then Subaru issued the complementary bulletin and brakes were redone December 2024.(front)
This might be worth looking into.. perhaps the Ascent DOES have a brake issue w uneven premature tire wear?
certainly worth monitoring and having ongoing discussions w Subaru AND your mechanic.
I'm hoping this problem will not be a lifetime ongoing Ascent issue!

 

it's middle of the night and I may not communicate well.
BUT
late last year we had if not exactly a recall on our 2021 Ascent a offer to inspect and replace front brakes etc
I forget what the exact name of it was ? "complementary inspection "?
HOWEVER
Subaru did a complete front brake replacement
rotors, pads AND right and left (not axles) sway??? bars
all paid for by Subaru. sorry it's late i usually can recall all technical terms but not today . anyhoo the research I did regarding this indicated vehicles were showing premature uneven tire tread wear!
I had noticed softer braking as well as a bit too much of wallowing .The front brake work fixed these issues but I'm going to need to follow up w my mechanic (independent) when we switch off the winter tires to check for unusual tire wear. We did have full brakes done December 2023 and then Subaru issued the complementary bulletin and brakes were redone December 2024.(front)
This might be worth looking into.. perhaps the Ascent DOES have a brake issue w uneven premature tire wear?
certainly worth monitoring and having ongoing discussions w Subaru AND your mechanic.
I'm hoping this problem will not be a lifetime ongoing Ascent issue!

The brake TSB is well known. However, it wasn’t issued because of uneven tire wear - it was issued primarily due to brake pulsation.

The number one cause of poor tire wear is lack of tire rotations and a vehicle being out of alignment. Not everybody experiences extreme tire wear as reported by the OP.

I’m wondering if a worn suspension is a significant contributing factor.

 

right and left (not axles) sway??? bars

Nope. Caliper bars.

numbered each of my wheels inconspicuously

I mark them very conspicuously with yellow tire crayon. I sign and date the oil filter too .

 

The Ascent has been known to come from the factory with negative camber, front and rear. Meaning the top of the tire is tilted in at the top so it would be riding on the inside edge of the tires. My 20my had an enormous amount of negative camber in all wheels. They say negative camber makes them handle better, I sure couldn't feel it handle any better after having all camber in all four wheels set to '0' or close to it. I also had the toe front and rear set to '0'. The car drives excellent now and I got close to 40k out of the factory Falkens and that's after they were wearing slightly and I took it in to have the alignment reset. Toe out in all four wheels would also wear the inside edge but it would be more of a feathered edge from inside to out. Either way it sounds like alignment. If it is set to these specs they drive excellent and tire wear is minimal. Also make sure you run air pressure at close to, or at maximum. Makes for good mileage and good tire wear. Hope this helps. Nick

 

We have to put four new tires on our new ascent with only 25K miles. I asked the dealership if they put used tires on the brand new ascent because I was expecting them to last to 50K. The dealership said they are seeing this with ascents specifically. Not ideal!

 

Tires installed at the factory typically have a lower tread wear rating than aftermarket tires. The Ascent uses a tire with one of the lowest tread wear ratings (I believe it’s somewhere in the 300-350 range). This is done to reduce cost to the automaker. Often times you can buy the exact make and model tire as an aftermarket and it will have a much higher tread wear rating than the tires installed at the factory.

25k miles seems about normal for what most owners are getting out of the factory tires.

The link below provides an explanation of how treadwear ratings are given and what they mean:

How Tires Are Rated: Tire Treadwear Rating Guide

Guide to treadwear ratings: Free tire treadwear rating comparison chart, what qualifies as a good treadwear rating, how tires are rated, mileage vs. treadwear

www.tireagent.com

 

Agreed that 20-30k in the OEM tires is pretty typical. Some don’t last nearly as long, others manage to eke out 40k+.

The ones on my 2019 got replaced at around 23K when I bought a set of used 18” wheels and nearly new Viking Contact winters for its 2nd winter. The set on my 2021 lasted 15 miles which was how much I drove the car in the 2 days before I took it back to get the wheels and hitch receiver swapped between the ‘19 Limited I traded in and the ‘21 Touring I traded it for.