Golf Cart tire lifespan
 

I am starting this post in the hope that we can all benefit from sharing data about golf cart tire lifespan.

I am inviting Villagers to share their data about golf cart tire lifespan, either in miles or hours and cart type so we may all better understand tire lifespan. Perhaps together we can determine what is average for the various carts. Perhaps there will even be a standout.

I have worn out my OEM Yamaha tires at 182.5 hours. This equates to about 3700 miles of Village driving. They are/were LoadStars.

Have over 300 hours(mostly golf driving and MMP) and about 1/2 worn out. Tough to quantify your question as too many factors including type of road mostly driven on, maintenance, tire pressure, driving habits.

I have LoadStars on both our 2014 Yamaha EFI and 2022 Quiet Tech. The 2014 has 1,050 hours on it and the original tires still have about half their tread. The 2022 has only 110 hours on it and the front tires are showing significant pre-mature wear. The newer Quiet Techs front wheels come from the factory set with noticeable negative camber, which cannot be easily corrected without changing out the front shocks to a different brand of adjustable shocks. The negative camber definitely prematurely wears the front tires, but the trade off is better stability and handling. After much consideration, I have decided to leave the factory set negative camber as is and enjoy the better handling. Saving the cost of replacing the front shocks will allow me to replace the front tires about 2 1/2 times and rotating the tires will buy more time between needing to replace them.

Tire pressure has lot to do with life of tires. On my cart 25 psi is the sweet spot, even wear 15K miles which in my case about 6 years. With 1/2 or less of tread left now my concern is dry rot. So I replace them at 8 year mark regardless of miles/hours. Cart tires aren’t important as vehicle aged tires, But that me. I have never had blowout or tire shredded from dry rot on any vehicle I’ve owned.

I have a 2013 4 seat Yamaha. +16,000 miles and still tread on the tires. I maintain air pressure weekly.

I would watch for dry rot cracking, not that important on golf cart but may turn into reliability problem as time passes. I have never worn all tread off tires.

Hey Topsipnmo-----Never say Never

Compared to some I seen out and about it looks pretty good.


I would have changed that tire long before it got that bald. I see bald tires on golf carts every time I’m out at function where carts are parked. IMO those bald tires could fail anytime due to way less rubber over the ply’s which makes it easier to puncture when run over shape solid objects.

Tires
 

Anyone know where new tires can be bought reasonably?

I would get quotes tire choice or what ever name is on 466 in Oxford by Walmart. They quoted me same price on internet which was 110.00 For two 205x65x10s about year ago?

Proper tire pressure and alignment and you will get 20k plus miles out of your tires NO MATTER what year cart you have.

Its easy to see some have been listening to those that dont really know and fall for what they are told. Do any of you really believe yamaha would make a cart where the tires wear out fast?

Those of you with a yamaha, look at your passenger front tire, if it is wearing faster than the driver side, and this is sometimes very hard to tell, your front end is out of alignment. It may only be a 1/4 of an inch, but will knock out 5k miles of wear. I see a lot of repair shops not align the fronts at all, or incorrectly.

Dry rotting tires is a thing of the past....I havent seen that in 20 years.

Tire pressures are a whole different story. Ive seen that asked here before and suggestions were all over the place. The tire manufacturer knows what the tire pressure needs to be so that the tread is flat on the pavement. Granted, everyone is a tire expert so put in whatever you think is right. But in the long run, the tire wear tells you what the tire wants.

Hmmm, I agree that tire pressures and alignment both influence tire wear, but the second statement is false. Yamaha does in fact make their newer Quiet Tech carts such that the tires wear out faster (when primarily driven on pavement). Alignment consists of caster, camber, and toe alignment. Yamaha purposely makes carts factory set with negative camber, which improves handling/stability. I suspect they do this to make their fleet carts more stable on the uneven grassy terrain of most golf courses, which is the biggest market for their carts. In my opinion, they should make their personal transportation vehicle line of carts, which are primarily driven on pavement, with a different factory camber alignment more appropriate for road use than on grass. Most likely to keep costs low, Yamaha has chosen to make both lines of carts with the same front end components. Unfortunately, there is no easy camber adjustment without replacing the front shocks with aftermarket shocks specifically designed for camber adjustment.

On another note, my BMW sports car also came from the factory with noticeable negative camber and the manufacturer’s suggested alignment is to not change it. It wears the tires faster, but it adds to handling/performance which is what the car is designed for. It also has wider rear tires than front tires, another performance feature for a rear wheel drive car, which shortens tire life because you can’t rotate them.

I disagree, manufacturer know what max tire pressure should be on what the tire made for. 10” trailer tires which say 35 psi max on side is tire. 35 psi too high pressure IMO for golf cart. It will wear out middle of tire. Cause only the middle supporting the weight.

So, you’re the expert what do you recommend tire pressure on golf car with 10” trailer tires installed on golf cart.

IMO difference in 8” tires vs 10” tires.

all I will say is that tire wear on a late model yamaha where it looks like it has serious negative camber can wear the tires out in 20k plus miles with no aftermarket or modifications, you will disagree.? Thats fine, we will agree to disagree on that.

I raced cars for 20 years and own performance cars now. I understand suspension and tires.