What could cause tire-wear this uneven? -pics-

[mmessier2]

I bought my 80 a couple months back. These were the front tires that were on it. Ive since replaced them, but I obviously want to correct what is causing this. It rides straight and smooth, it doesnt pull either way. The axle looks good, not bent. Stock suspension.

One side is obviously worse.

Any ideas?

 

[LexissLX470]

When was the last time you had the rig aligned?

your tire ware looks like what you would expect from a lowered car. It seems like the toe is off... Id take it in for an alignment...

-Tommy

 

[mmessier2]

Ive only had for about 2K miles, so I think its headed in for an alignment. Hopefully that is all it needs.

 

[chibo]

Camber looks bad on the first one, are you 100% sure the axles are perfectly straight?

 

[ktmracer01]

has the vehicle ever been wrecked? i'd say it needs an alignment. i'd also suggest maybe having the wheel bearing replaced, and also inspecting the birfield to make sure that there are no bearings that are bad. try an alignment first, they'll be able to give you the specs and narrow it down to what might be the cause.
good luck

 

[Kalawang]

If those are your front tires, it's probably a toe in problem that was set that way to correct another problem, or done by a totally incompetent. I hope it's the latter. What worries me is that you report a "...straight and smooth..." ride.

Sit on the alignment guy's shoulders and arm yourself with the needed specs in advance. Take pictures.


Kalawang

 

[Grench]

Or it could just be that the PO never rotated the tires and liked to pile it into the corners. Getting the toe in checked to be safe is a good idea. When they do it they can also tell you if the frame is straight, if the axles are straight and if the camber is within tolerance. IIRC the only thing they will likely be able to change without parts is the toe in.

 

[CJF]

Or it could just be that the PO never rotated the tires and liked to pile it into the corners.

I agree with this. Who knows what the history is on those tires? I'd be much more concerned if the wear occurred while you owned the vehicle. To quote you:

"It rides straight and smooth, it doesn't pull either way."

That's 99% of the battle. Honestly, if it were me I'd let it be, but keep a close eye on the new tires.

Curtis

 

[IdahoDoug]

I can tell you this without hesitation. Nobody can tell you a thing about the tire wear until you identify which tire was where, and which edge (inner/outer) is worn.

Having said that much, I'll also add that you still cannot tell anything whatsoever because you have no idea whether these tires were recently rotated or if they've been where you found them for 80,000 miles, or 10,000 miles, etc. It's really best to simply get a new to you vehicle aligned and start from there. Sounds like that's the course you're taking.

DougM

 

[CJF]

I can tell you this without hesitation. Nobody can tell you a thing about the tire wear until you identify which tire was where, and which edge (inner/outer) is worn.

Having said that much, I'll also add that you still cannot tell anything whatsoever because you have no idea whether these tires were recently rotated or if they've been where you found them for 80,000 miles, or 10,000 miles, etc.

 

[KliersLC]

I can tell you this without hesitation. Nobody can tell you a thing about the tire wear until you identify which tire was where, and which edge (inner/outer) is worn.

Having said that much, I'll also add that you still cannot tell anything whatsoever because you have no idea whether these tires were recently rotated or if they've been where you found them for 80,000 miles, or 10,000 miles, etc. It's really best to simply get a new to you vehicle aligned and start from there. Sounds like that's the course you're taking.

DougM

He's not serious, he knows exactly what happened, but doesn't want the extra email traffic asking about his crystal ball......

 

[IdahoDoug]

Crystal ball keeps showing "low batt". I have no idea what this means, but will remind the kids to swing higher at batting practise.

DougM

 

[landtank]

there is a FAQ out there that details how to evaluate youor front end. Do that prior to sending out for an alignment! I'll stray from the rest and say you have a loose wheel bearing. Is that a front Passenger side tire?

 

[chibo]

there is a FAQ out there that details how to evaluate youor front end. Do that prior to sending out for an alignment! I'll stray from the rest and say you have a loose wheel bearing. Is that a front Passenger side tire?

Somewhat along the lines that I was thinking, however he should have noticed the noise. He can jack that side of the car up and see if he can move the wheel by grabbing it top and bottom then rocking it. It shouldn't move.

 

[mmessier2]

Both those tires were fronts, and the wear was on the outside. Unfortunately I dont remember which side. My mechanic said my axles looked good, so Im going to try to wiggle them and see if they move, read the FAQ on the front axle, then take them in to get an alignment- telling them to focus on the fronts.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[diesel junkie]

Roads over here are heavily cambered giving the front outer edge on the low side a tough time, bit of weight up front.

 

[landtank]

Don't discount an idiot POs. I recently bought two Camrys, one for me and one for my daughter. Both had wear issues on the tires and all four tires on both cars had to be replaced. I took a look at the before readings from the alignment and everything was fine. Who knows what the PO did to screw up those tires?

 

[Rookie2]

Would you not expect there to be "some" more wear on the outside of the tires even if everything is aligned properly? Seems like the outside of the front tire gets a disproportionate amount of load on it during turns. Maybe not very noticeable over the short term, but over the life of the tire I think you would normally see more wear on the outsides, particularly for these heavy rigs.


Rookie2

 

[IdahoDoug]

A PO can even want to keep the nice new tires they just put on the rig, and purchase 4 junkyard tires for $50. It's a total flyer - unknown.

DougM

 

[Nemo]

A quick way to check the toe in et cetera is the old fashioned way with a tape measure. Find a good spot on the front of the vehicle tire (ala knob) and measure the distance between the left and right front of the tire. Then go to the back of the front wheels and measure the same left and front (hopefully a good spot close to what you measured up front) and they should be approx. the same. This isn't rocket science method and does not mean you aren't off a little but this will tell you if it is completely wacked out of measurement. If it is pretty spot on then it could be the cornering and no rotation that was stated earlier.

BTW. I have done this over the years on race cars for SCCA trials where you want a little toe in perhaps and I do this on my rig now and my tires wear just fine. Never paid for an alignment since. There really is only one adjustment on these guys.