The microstructure and sequence distribution of isoprene rubber obtained via homogeneous neodymium-based catalyst were determined by means of FTIR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the content of cis-1,4 configuration in neodymium isoprene rubber (Nd-IR) was above 98% and no trans-1,4 configuration was observed. All monomer units of N d-IR presented ffhead-tail" structure, the same microstructure as nature rubber (NR). The mechanical properties of Nd-IR and NR were tested according to ASTM D3403. The results showed that no significant differences in mechanical properties between Nd-IR and NR, suggesting that N d-IR had equally excellent properties with NR. This can be primarily attributed to high cis-1,4 content in N d-IR macromolecular chain and relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. Nd-IR was used to produce tread of whole-steel heavy-load meridian tires, in which 60 wt % of NR in formulation was substituted by Nd-IR. The processibility of the new tread formulation paraelled with that of NR formulation. And the tread made of 60% Nd-IR exhibited equally good performance with that made of 100% NR. What should be noted is that the endurance of tires with 60% N d-IR was 122.3h, which was almost twice of that of tires with 100% NR.