Patent ID: 7124629

Claim:
A method for predicting the propensity for a RMT steer tire to have irregular tire tread wear, comprising the steps of: a) providing a RMT steer tire to be tested; b) placing measurement points upon the ground engaging surface of selected circumferential tread ribs of the tread of the RMT steer tire; c) progressively rolling the RMT steer tire across a first planar side of a transparent plate whereby the progressive movement of a footprint image of the RMT steer tire is imposed upon the first planar side of the transparent plate; d) recording the progressive movement of the marked measurement points in the footprint image of the RMT steer tire imposed upon the first planar side of the transparent plate; e) determining the amount of lateral movement of each of the marked measurement points in the footprint image; and f) if any measurement points exhibit lateral movement beyond 0.010 inches predicting that the RMT steer tire will have irregular tire tread wear.