Volkswagen Polo Service & Repair Manual: Diagonal Washouts

Volkswagen Polo Service & Repair Manual / Whels, Tires, Whel Alignment / Tire Wear / Diagonal Washouts

Diagonal wear spots on tires

Diagonal wear spots run at an angle of approximately 45° with respect to the plane of circumference.

They usually occur once, but may also occur several times along the tire circumference.

Wear spots appear almost exclusively on the non-tractive tires, especially the rear left tire. There are vehicle models where wear spots appear rounded, which are not a problem. The effect is increased by high toe values. Toe values at the lower tolerance limit of the specified value improve the wear pattern.

The tire component integration is often found in the area with the most pronounced diagonal wear spots.

Wheels with toe-in roll with a slip angle even when the vehicle is traveling straight ahead. This leads to diagonal tension in the contact zone between tires/road surface.

Driving with reduced tire pressure will improve the wear pattern. To prevent such wear patterns, the toe values of both rear wheels should be the same and the specified tire pressure should be maintained.

If wear spots are detected, mount the wheels on the tractive axle if the wear spots are still in the initial stage. Deeper wear spots are irreparable.

Faulty Adjustment

When a customer complains of “diagonal wear spots”, the toe adjustment must be checked. If it is OK, the cause for the diagonal wear spots is most likely in the tires.

Tires with diagonal wear spots which developed due to faulty adjustment of the axle geometry are excluded from the warranty.

Diagonal Washouts

Tire Wear, Outer Shoulder

Improper Use of Air Suspension Height Adjustment The use of off road levels is only recommended when driving off road. The permanent use of off road ...

Tire Wear, Center

This wear pattern is found on drive wheels on high-powered vehicles that often drive long stretches at high speed. At high speeds, the centrifugal fo ...

Other materials:

Using a child seat on the rear seats
First read and observe the introductory information and safety warnings When fitting a child seat to a rear seat, the position of the front seat must be adjusted to ensure that the child has sufficient space. Adjust the front seat according to the size of the child seat and child. Ensure that ...

Charging, replacing, disconnecting and connecting the vehicle battery
First read and observe the introductory information and safety warningsCharging the battery The vehicle battery should be charged by a qualified workshop, as the technology used in factory-fitted batteries requires voltage-limited charging . Volkswagen recommends using a Volkswagen dealership ...

Tires, Damage from Low Tire Pressure
The most common causes of failure are small external damage, a defective valve or a leaky rim due to corrosion or damage. Separation of Carcass and Rubber Strong heating due to driving w ...