Strange tire wear

[Mojave Jack]

I've gained a lot of information from this forum, but now I've run up against a problem that I can't seem to find an answer to.

I upgraded the tires on my 1990 Gen I from the 265s in the first pic to BFG A/T KO 31x10.5x15. I immediately started feeling vibration at highway speeds, and the tires started feathering on the inside very quickly.



So I swapped out the upper control control arms for the Gen II type, changed out all the bushings, and replaced the pitman and idler arms. I also replaced one of the tie rods, because one of the retaining nuts was missing! No idea when that happened, but it was before I bought it two years ago.

Got it realigned, took it out on the highway, and it is still happening. The two pics above are from the last time I had it out, and you can see the clean spots on the feathered tread.

The one thing I did not replace, which I probably should have, was the ball joints in the lower control arms. The tires are also balanced with the weights on the inside, which a friend suggested could be the issue. It has a 3" lift in the back with Old Man Emu coils, and the torsion bars cranked up in the front.

Any ideas on what's causing the wear?

 

[Mojave Jack]

Oh, and forgot to mention I did not replace the shocks, but I had my mechanic inspect them and they seem fine.

 

[off-roader]

Oh, and forgot to mention I did not replace the shocks, but I had my mechanic inspect them and they seem fine.

Now, I'm assuming your mechanic understands your rig's suspension/alignment setup so he should be able to advise if something is worn out.
Have you checked if the wheel is round?
Also, if all else fails, it could also be that the tire itself isn't round. I had that issue with one of my 35's albeit the symptoms weren't exactly the same as yours (mine was simply not running good sounding like it was out of balance). After America's Tire discovered the issue, BFG gladly replaced them for no charge.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Yeah, my mechanic is an off-roader himself, and specializes in off-road rigs. I think I can trust him pretty well, and he's very familiar with this rig, having done all of the front end work.

The tire wear is on both sides, and wearing exactly the same. It had absolutely no problem on the 265s, and when it first started I thought the tires hadn't been balanced properly. I took it back and they checked the balance, so I took it in for the alignment. After I noticed how badly it was wearing, I had him change out all the bushings, replace the tie rod and upper control arms, and then I had it aligned again. after the alignment, I rotated the tires, but they continued to wear. So I had him replace the idler and pitman arms, and kicked myself for not doing it at the same time as the upper control arms! Aligned it once more, and still they are wearing the same way. Unless all four tires are out of round, I'm reasonably certain it's not that. They did come off my Chevy Colorado, though, but everyone I've talked to doesn't think that should matter.

Also forgot to mention that he pulled the bearings and checked those, but they were also fine, so he repacked them and put 'em back in.

It's perplexing! I just can't figure out why the 265s were fine but the 31s have problems!

 

[dorton]

Hire many miles did it happen in? What tire pressure do you run? Rotation how often?

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[Garrett@Oscaro]

My hunch is that it is a combination of loose wheel bearings, toe out, and back shocks. (My trailer tires always look like that when the wheel bearing is loose)

Here is what I would do:

1. Check for loose steering parts: Have someone up in the truck, and turn the wheel back and forth. Then look under the truck for any loose steering parts (I doubt you'll find any).
2. Check the wheel bearing: Chances are your mechanic tightened the wheel bearings, but its always possible they are still loose. Jack up the front of the truck, and grab the tire at 12 & 6. Shake said tire. If its loose, fix the wheel bearings.
3. Check your alignment: To check the alignment, put the lower control arms on jack stands, pull off the tires, and measure the distance at the front of the rotors, and the back of the rotors. With new suspension parts, it should be ~1/16" toe in. With worn suspension parts, it should be 1/8-3/16" toe in.

My guess is that you will be all set with an alignment and set of front shocks.

For the price, KYB's are hard to beat: KG5603A | KYB KG5603A Shock Absorber

 

[Simons]

So your mechanic has performed and charged you for alignments with worn front end components on your vehicle? Assuming that your mechanic hasn't missed any other lose front end components, it looks like your alignment guy may need to have his machine re-calibrated. Wearing the inside edge of both front tires points to "toe out" if they were wearing on both outside edges it would be "toe in". If your shocks were worn out they would cause patchy wear across the whole tread.

 

[k9lestat]

i had the same wear pattern on my front tires on a gmc z71 long bed stock. the problem ended up being the wheel bearings.

 

[Simons]

i had the same wear pattern on my front tires on a gmc z71 long bed stock. the problem ended up being the wheel bearings.

That would qualify as "loose components", which should be checked and repaired/replaced before an alignment is attempted. Otherwise an alignment is pointless.

 

[off-roader]

That would qualify as "loose components", which should be checked and repaired/replaced before an alignment is attempted. Otherwise an alignment is pointless.

Wow, so your alignment shop did the alignment anyway without checking these things?

 

[Mojave Jack]

Morning, everyone! Thanks for the feedback!

This truck came to me about 210K miles, but it was (supposedly) towed for most of those. I knew it was going to require a lot of replacing worn parts, but I was hoping it wouldn't be all at once! I only have about 500 miles on the tires, but when they were on my Colorado I rotated tham about every 10,000 or so.

I'll do those check this weekend, G@O, and see how the bearings feel. That's a pretty cheap fix anyway, and probably wouldn't hurt to put in new bearings just for peace of mind. I'll check the steering, too, while I'm at it. There's a very slow leak in the power steering, so if I have to do any work there, at least that leak will get fixed! The shocks came on it, so I have no idea how many miles they have on them. None of them are leaking, and they pass the bounce test, but again, are probably worth to at least eliminate that as a possibility.

Lastly, I think I'll take it to a different alignment shop!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'll post an update after a bit more work.

A little update, too. I went out and checked it again, just to be sure, and it actually looks like it might only be the passenger side tire that is wearing, now. There was still some wear on the driver's side, but I don't think that is getting worse. If it is, it is not as noticable as the passenger side.