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Unusual front tire wear

CarMech1969

CarMech1969

Full Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Messages
499
Location
Scarborough, ON
G'day CAFCNA folks!  :wave:

Was out shovelling the driveway this morning, and when clearing snow from in front of my Avalanche, I looked down at the driver side tire and noticed that along the inside portion of the tire tread, it is wearing in a flat spotting/cupping sort of way. Some of the tread blocks have no wear, and some do. Passenger side tire is pretty much the same.
Seems to me this indicates that the shocks are bad, but probably also could be something else.
What is most typically causing this sort of thing is what I'd like to ask the more knowledgeable Avy gurus here.
My Av is a 2002 2500 by the way.
Thanks guys!  :B:

CarMech1969
 
Hey CarMech.. Unless you see a lot of negative camber in the wheels I would say it's from to much toe in which could be worn components like tie rods, ball joint etc. causing the front wheels to turn in a little and "plow".. Even if you have a little wear in each, it can add up to a lot overall and cause what your seeing.. Didn't you rebuild the front end a while back?
 
Hey Randy, thanks for your reply.
I had the steering box out and changed all the seals, I've changed the u-joints in both driveshafts, I have changed the front shocks not too long ago (but they are cheap junk lol)...however, I have not replaced any ball joints or tie rod ends. I think I have a little slop in the pitman or idler arms if I recall correctly, but maybe it has gotten worse lately - not sure on that. I do grease all the zerks periodically though.
Guess this means another project is coming my way, huh?  :eek: >:D

CarMech1969
 
Go to good alignment shop.
Have it checked and they should check front end parts for worn ones first.
 
ygmn said:
Go to good alignment shop.
Have it checked and they should check front end parts for worn ones first.
Click to expand...

Now that you mention that, ygmn...
When I was outside to fire up the BBQ for lunch, I went over to the Avy and eyeballed the front tires from the front of the vehicle, looking down the length of it to the back tires - and I could see that the driver side front wheel is toed out a bit (a bit more than a bit maybe lol). No wonder I noticed the tire wear. That said, around these parts - you have two seasons: Winter, and Construction. One of the main roads I travel on has a giant pothole in it just before the traffic lights. I hit that pothole a little faster than I liked a couple of weeks ago, so it's apparent that something got tweaked a little bit. If there is nothing badly worn in the front end, I may try to get the tie rod dialed in a bit so that the front tire points better, at least so it gets me through the winter. Don't really feel like changing front end parts in mid-winter. Anyhow, I'll see what I can come up with once the snow stops falling!

'Til next time...  (y)

CarMech1969
 
If you can see it, then it's probably out quite a bit and a lot of play it the parts. When your driving the toe in, toe out will change and cause the tire wear..
 
An update on the situation.
I dropped by the local alignment shop after work today, and asked if they could check out my truck - and they did.
Turns out that it had negative toe and negative camber. Caster was out a bit too, I forget whether positive or negative.
Anyway, he said the tie rods and ball joints are still good (so yeah guess that pothole I tagged must have jarred things up a bit....lotta rough roads around here in winter anyhow).
He got it dialed back in, and the drive home seemed good.
Now I just gotta work on staying out of potholes and offroading situations...Lmao...

CarMech1969
 
(y) (y)
 
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