Tire Tread Problem

[4x4Fink]

Hey guys,

After selling my old BFG's the guy that bought them from me noticed that the outer lugs of the tires were worn really unevenly.

Every other lug is shorter than the one in front of it. It would go...thick, not as thick, thick, not as thick over the entire tread.

Would that be an alignment issue or something else? I'm going tomorrow to get my alignment checked but I was wondering if there was anything else I should think about when trying to figure out what is causing it.

I really wanna get this checked out A.S.A.P. so that it doesn't any uneven wear on my new meats. I've only had em on for about 100 miles so nothing bad could have happened yet.

If you guys know of anything else that might cause that let me know so I cna get it taken care of as soon as possible.

Thanks guys,

Fink

[randver]

does your steering wheel shake when you drive it? if it does and it gets worse the faster you go then it could be alignment or tire balance.

[4x4Fink]

Not at all...the car tracks perfectly straight and rides smooth as glass.

Shocks only have about 25-30k on em.

Fink

[ADH8796]

I talked to Cory he doesn't work tomorrow but he will be there saturday and said he would love to help you out.

[ADH8796]

Well Cory wont be in until saturday he has Friday off but anyhow the other guy up there does a great job so if you want to take it to him he will set you up. $64 I think for everything.

[4x4Fink]

Well I got it aligned and we're back in business.

A while back I came down hard on a rock or something (I really don't remember) and punched a hole through my skidplate. Just past that hole is the adjustment for my toe. Well...it was WAY out of whack.

Here are the numbers...

BEFORE

Left Front:
Camber = 0.3
Caster = 2.5
Toe = -0.28

Right Front:
Camber = -0.3
Caster = 2.6
Toe = -0.41

Total Toe = -0.69
Steer Ahead = 0.07

AFTER

Left Front:
Camber = 0.3
Caster = 2.5
Toe = 0.11

Right Front:
Camber = 0.2
Caster = 2.5
Toe = 0.10

Total Toe = 0.20
Steer Ahead = 0.00

So now I'm tracking perfectly straight and my tires should wear just fine. A huge relief. I asked the tire guy and he said I've only put about 96 miles on the new tires before the alignment so it wouldn't even have affected them yet, whew.

So...moral of this story, 4x4Fink needs to get an alignment more often!

Fink

[MTL_4runner]

I missed this before but as soon as I saw you talking about the sawtooth on the outside edge of the tires, to me that immedaitely says your toe is off (so it was nice to read at the end that my hunch was correct). I had the same thing happen on mine when I waited too long to get an alignment after my lift was done. To get rid of it (if you still had the tires), you need to rotate them front to back and they'll wear normally again over time.

[jimbo74]

its feathering, bad toe, and or lack of rotations

[MTL_4runner]

its feathering, bad toe, and or lack of rotations


The sawtooth wear pattern on the edge of the fronts is a toe problem. The front outside edge evenly worn (slightly rounded off) more than the rest of the tire is usually a lack of rotation. If the inside or outside edge is very heavily worn (ie more than just the outside edge rounding off), you could have a camber issue.

The one on the left is a toe issue, the right is a camber issue:
http://www.automedia.com/article/images/ccr/ccr20021201ay/ccr20021201ay_s01.jpg

Tire with 25K miles with a bad alignment (camber problem)
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_wear_toe.jpg

[jimbo74]

it could be both, ever see what 3 degrees of toe out can do to a set of tires in a week?


his problem mentioned above is eitehr feathering, bad toe, and/or lack of rotations

[MTL_4runner]

it could be both, ever see what 3 degrees of toe out can do to a set of tires in a week?

I have and it ain't pretty.

It's possible the tires were cupping or scalloping the outside edge as well, but since he's lifted the most common problem is an improper toe setting. Any worn component that connects the wheel to the car (ball joint, wheel bearing, shock absorber, springs, bushings, etc.) can cause scalloping, but in this case it seems like toe was the culprit given the before/after alignment specs.

[4x4Fink]

Jamie is exactly right.

It was without a doubt my toe. The guy showed me where I hit it on the rock and it was pretty far off, it went straight threw the skidplate.

Thanks for all the help guys, although...something that's stuck in my head keeps thinking maybe the tires are already messed up since I drove them with the bad alignment...yeah, I'm paranoid.

Fink

[MTL_4runner]

Thanks for all the help guys, although...something that's stuck in my head keeps thinking maybe the tires are already messed up since I drove them with the bad alignment...yeah, I'm paranoid.


If you're worried, do like I said and rotate them front to back and they'll wear perfect again within a few weeks of driving. Are your current tires feathered or have the sawtooth wear pattern on them too?

[4x4Fink]

They're brand new so it's hard to tell...just from looking at it I can't tell and I guess I'm not THAT worried since I only drove it for 96 miles with the messed up alignment. If I just go out there and switch the front tires to the back and the back to the front then that would eliminate all possibility of a problem caused by the bad alignment.

Thanks Jamie,

Fink