Front end alignment question

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Mark K 2

Mark K 2

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Location
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I have a set of four Michelin X Radial LT's that I bought at Sam's Club 60,000 miles ago. They've been great tires here in Wisconsin. The wet, snow, and ice traction have been better than any tire I've had in the past 37 years of driving. I replaced the inner tie rod ends about 10,000 miles ago and got a the first front end alignment since the truck was new. The truck has driven straight and true it's whole life and I've never hit anything... not even a curb bump. Below is a pic of the left front tire. I notice a bit of a negative camber issue. What I'm wondering is is this normal wear for 60,000 miles (considering I never had an alignment done until a few months ago) or should I have the alignment rechecked?



[Broken External Image]:
 
At 60k those look pretty good but there is a bit much inner wear for my liking. How often do you rotate your tires and do you cross them when you rotate? To me, and it is hard to judge by looking at a picture head on, but it seems as if you have a bit too much toe out which causes inner edge wear like that. Also is the outer edge of your tire cupped...kind of looks like it in the pic. If so you may want to have your ball joints and shocks checked.
 
Not sure if they cross rotate. I think they do same-side rotation. The Ford dealership does it every other oil change. Ball joints are 18,000 miles old. Shocks are new. I don't notice cupping when I look at the tires. It's been 8,000 miles since the last rotation and the left rear tire looks good.
 
10,000 miles in "a few months"? This seems like a lot. Regardless, 8,000 or 10,000 miles is plenty of time to have that wear occur, I would not consider it "normal". "Normal" (correct) wear would be equal wear, which is not what I see.



From what you provide, I assume that you did not get an alignment when the tires were replaced. If this is the case, then this wear may have occurred during the first 50,000 miles (as a result of a slightly off alignment and partially from the old ball joints and or shocks) and they may now be wearing more normally (as the result of alignment and replaced ball joints), but that previous wear shows and will until the rest of the tire wears to the level of the inner side. However, you also state that it's been 8.000 miles since the last rotation and the left rear tire looks good indicating that the wear occurred in the last 8,000 miles. If the last rotation was a rear cross pattern, then the tire that was at the left front should be at the right rear, so check that tire.



To answer your question directly - yes (the wear could be considered "normal" with that many miles without an alignment, and you should get an alignment).



FYI - RWD and 4WD non-unidirectional uniform size tire rotations should be cross (a reputable shop would do this). I do the "rearward cross". I inspect each oil change, or sometimes while walking from a store to the car, and rotate as needed.
 
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10,000 miles in a few months is a lot? I've driven an average of 2,500 miles a month for the last 10 years. I don't think most of y'all drive much at all!



As for the tire wear, it looks to me like ball joints need replacing. The wear could have been building up for some time, and just now is becoming obvious since the grooves are getting shorter.
 
Got the truck back from the shop. Front end within specs. They suspect the wear occurred prior to my front end alignment and is more noticeable now that the tires are wearing out from mileage. At least they didn't charge me and gave me a free loaner vehicle.
 
I love getting a printout of the readings. The "before" and the "after" are powerful tools to build customer trust and loyalty.



I actually know what they mean- all five dimensions of front wheel alignment!



The shop that did the alignment last month of wife's Pilot gave me the printout, and the tech walked me through what he did. He also explained why he did not totally dial one of the rear wheels in perfect. I was less than thrilled that he was unable to obtain the part that would have allowed him to correct that one wheel, but I appreciated that he told me about it so that I could keep an eye on the tire wear, etc. So far, he has been correct in that the car tracks perfectly and the tire wear is not a problem.
 

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