Signs of a underinflated tire?

• A. Underinflated tire will wear rapidly and unevenly at the outer edges of the tread
• B. It will wear evenly across the tread
• C. It will wear on the inner edges of the tread
• D. It will show no wear at all

Answer: (A)

Low tire pressure changes the shape of the contact patch, causing more load to be carried by the outer edges (the shoulders) of the tread. That leads to rapid, uneven wear at the outer edges. So the described wear pattern naturally points to underinflation. Wear across the tread evenly would suggest proper inflation, wear on the inner edge often indicates alignment or camber issues, and no wear at all isn’t realistic for a tire in service.