Funky Tire Wear

What suspension and/or steering problem would create this tire wear pattern? The tread blocks in the outer most row have a "ramp" to them. Pardon my crappy drawing but this might help explain.

I cannot get the picture link to work so here is the web address for the drawing:

http://www.geocities.com/ggidzinski/BlazerPics.html

Thanks,

George

Many things can cause tire wear.
Bab tire,low or high air pressure,bad shocks,lose front end parts,alignment,tire balance,bent wheels ans exc.
I would suggest you have alignment checked by a good alignment repair shop.
Most good alignment shops will check front parts end and tires before alignment for any problems before they align it.
Some repair manuals show different tire wear patterns and describe what causes it.

On posting pictures go to S-10 forum How to.
Table of contents has it at the top.
Good Luck

What you're describing, if the wear pattern is symetrical all the way around the tire, the most common cause is excessive toe in, (leading edge of tires pointed toward each other). As MT mentioned, it could be caused by any number of things from a worn steering linkage part to something as simple as the toe needs to be adjusted. If the adjustment is off by as little as 1/16", it can cause excessive tire wear. Best to have an alignment shop take a look at it.

Here is the link to my picture generated in George Draw 1.0:

I cannot get the picture link to work so here is the web address for the drawing:

http://www.geocities.com/ggidzinski/BlazerPics.html

Thanks,

George

Here is the link to my picture generated in George Draw 1.0:

I cannot get the picture link to work so here is the web address for the drawing:

http://www.geocities.com/ggidzinski/BlazerPics.html

Thanks,

George


If tires are cupping out like that you have lose/bad front end parts.
Get the front end checked for worn parts.
Good luck

Is this type of wear most likely steering (idler/pitman arm, center link, tie rod ends) or suspension (ball joints, control arm bushings, etc)?

I have replaced the idler arm and center link which removed a considerable amount of play. The lower ball joints are close to needing replacement. Just trying to figure out if I need to keep going.

Btw, if anyone is looking for a front end puller set for pitman/idler arms, ball joints, etc. this set was a very good value and the components are built like a tank. One of these pullers alone was $110 locally.:


http://www.tooltopia.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=41952

Not affiliated, just a customer.

Thanks,

George

The tire wear pattern only points to worn out front parts.

You need to replace anything that is or worn out beyond specs.
If you are not sure what is worn out or to lose.
A good front end alignment shop will check for worn out parts before alignment.

Thanks. I'll recheck the ball joints and control arm bushings and replace as needed.

Anyone have some guidelines for excessive tire hop and/or lateral runnout. The rims are very true (less than 0.002"). The rotors are true (less than 0.002"). These new BFG Radial T/A's are a mess (look good and handle very well). The hop and lateral runout was so bad on 3 of them that I could see the tires wobbling fractions of an inch from the parking lot of the garage during balancing, which took forever. They sent 2 replacements for the worse 2 tires and one of them was worse than any of the other 4. After I straighten this mess out I am going back to proven tire brands that have better quality control. They tempted me away from quality with an amazing $59 price. In the meantime, I am going to measure the variation but have never seen a spec for tire "trueness".

Thanks,

Thanks. I'll recheck the ball joints and control arm bushings and replace as needed.

Anyone have some guidelines for excessive tire hop and/or lateral runnout. The rims are very true (less than 0.002"). The rotors are true (less than 0.002"). These new BFG Radial T/A's are a mess (look good and handle very well). The hop and lateral runout was so bad on 3 of them that I could see the tires wobbling fractions of an inch from the parking lot of the garage during balancing, which took forever. They sent 2 replacements for the worse 2 tires and one of them was worse than any of the other 4. After I straighten this mess out I am going back to proven tire brands that have better quality control. They tempted me away from quality with an amazing $59 price. In the meantime, I am going to measure the variation but have never seen a spec for tire "trueness".

Thanks,

Are they one you have the bad wear pattern on?
Best guide line I know of is to pitch them and get a good set of tires.
Good Luck

that chopping usually means shocks or way to much toe in also could be bent spindle causing to much toe in or bad outer tierod end.. like they say take it to alignment shop that is good and well known they can do a sterring axis inclanation to see if spindle is bent...good luck...

Actually the tires with the worst dimensional problems were put in the back. The odd wear is on the front.

How long are shocks usually good for? I see that these are Bilstein gas shocks (OE). All easy highway miles with infrequent heavy loading.

Thanks,

Actually the tires with the worst dimensional problems were put in the back. The odd wear is on the front.

You should have told us about them tires to start with.
If they will not balance up good they will shake and wear out front parts.
Shocks should alway be tested before front end aligment.
Have your front end aligment man check things out.
Good Luck

What is a good test for shocks?

Thanks,

George

What is a good test for shocks?

Thanks,

George

Old school test is to grab a hold of each corner of car and bounce it up and down 3-4 times and let go of it.
If it keeps on bouncing 3-4 times shocks are bad.
Also look at them and watch for oil leakage.
If leaking oil they are on the road out.
Good Luck

Update:

It was in fact the loose steering system components that caused the cupping in the outer tire blocks. Even though these Radial TA's have mnfg tolerance problems and were hard to balance, they are getting good service life and the removal of steering play has eliminated the cupping. BTW I did a crude toe in with tape on the tires and a ruler but thats all it needed.

Dang reefergeorge....this thread is over 2 years old!!! Thanks for the update though. The type of tire wear you had is typically refered to as 'feather edged' tire wear....well where I live thats what we refer to it as.

I would've suspected that the culprit would've been worn out struts.