Lots of flat spots on rear tyres

wheelsinmotion said:

"Heel & Toe" wear is due to the toe position, normally to much toe out, it would be wise to have this set as much toward positive as the tolerance allows.

Click to expand...

I recently experienced something similar:









This is the inside edge of the front offside wheel.
These were my 3 year old (approximately 12k driven) all-season tyres that seemed to get progressively less pleasant to drive on throughout this summer.
They were fine when last checked in April when I had the lower suspension arms replaced and the tracking and alignment checked. A month after the work was completed, I had the tracking and alignment re-checked by a German Ford dealer and the local TuV-Nord (German MoT depratment that does annual checks) in case the new components had 'settled'.

The wear shown here has occurred during about 5,000 miles of mostly motorway driving.

My first thought was that the suspension was bottoming out and that the tyre was hitting something inside the wheel arch, though i'd neither heard nor felt anything amiss.

None of the mechanics at either the local Ford dealer, the TuV-Nord or the tyre specialist where I bought the replacements had seen anything like this.
The major wear is confined to about 1/3 of the circumference of the tyre.

These tyres were on the car when it was parked-up on the parade-square at my old barracks in Aldershot while I was away in Afghanistan last year, including through the winter months when all that snow fell...
Could the prolonged period of being frozen to the ground (the car was buried in snow for a month or so as it was in a shady corner, so that even on a clear day the snow would have not melted) have altered the composition of the 'rubber' to such an extent that in the place where the tyre made contact with the ground it stayed sufficiently 'petrified' that additional wear occurred due to the normal amount of flexibility not occurring when driven after I returned in March?

Most people wouold move their cars at least weekly during the winter, so the tyres would warm-up somewhat, but these tyres were stationary for the whole six month period. I was surprised that there were no flat-spots when I examined them upon my return, but maybe they had just become completely solid instead?
Being away for six months (and not driving at all during that period) meant that I was unaware that the driving characteristics were entiely different until I replaced these tyres last month - it was like getting back into a new car - road-noise was reduced by about 50% and the comfort-level was significantly increased...the car felt more bouyant and compliant over even quite uneven roads that I habitually drive on.

Anyone else ever hear of tyres being 'petrified' by prolonged non-use in cold weather?