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what is causing this tire wear?

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Old 10-04-2009, 10:11 PM
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what is causing this tire wear?

Well I've notice my front tires wearing on the inside. I've just noticed this a couple weeks ago and the my left front tire is the worst. It has worn the inside of the tire down and the lugs are kind of ramped now. The lugs are higher in the front then the back of the lug and they are worn down more than the outside lugs. The drivers side tire is worse than the passenger side but they are both wearing like this. So i checked my alignment and my ball joints and my ball joints seemed tight and good and my alignment was fine, and both of my tie rod ends are now. I put 50 lbs of pressure in the tires to get it to wear in the middle more but that didn't seem to help too much. I've heard that sometimes the spindles will bend, could this be the problem or what do you think it is? I just recently rotated my tires after i took this pic so these tires are on the back now, but i don't wanna wear out my other tires too.
here is some pics of what i mean:
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any help is appreciated! thanks
Old 10-04-2009, 10:14 PM
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When was the last time you had the front end aligned??
Old 10-04-2009, 10:15 PM
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I had that on my last set, rebuilt my kingpins, top and bottom and it went away. I think its the spring and white plastic cone thing around the actual kingpin that gets squished to the side causing the tire to lean in. Or I have no idea what Im talking about and am full of crap.
Old 10-04-2009, 10:15 PM
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my work truck does the same thing, was gonna get it looked at but had to take me vacation unexpected this week.
Old 10-04-2009, 10:29 PM
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u.s. mma your exactly right that plastic bushing in the top will go bad and the tires lean in its a very common problem on the dana 60 axle iv delt with it several times on my chevy's and on my dodge as well...very easy to fix only take you a couple minutes if you only do the top, just take the four bolts out and replace the cone and bolt it back together, if you do this make sure you check the bottom for wear!!! MOST of the time i find that the plastic cone doesn't look that bad but if you replace it your tire problem will disappear, and MOST of the time i find that the bottoms are still as tight as they were brand new....not saying that you won't find different problems but it should be a simple fix...good luck
Old 10-04-2009, 10:33 PM
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Check your toe-in with a tape measure on your lugs. Any more than 1/4 inch is out to lunch...
Old 10-04-2009, 11:09 PM
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Bad shocks will also cause bad inner tire wear...
Old 10-04-2009, 11:48 PM
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My tires do the same thing which is part of the reason why I took my good tires off the truck. My tires lean in a bit and the allignment is off a bit too. I plan to rebuild the kingpins and then get it alligned. I expect it to fix the problem.
Old 10-05-2009, 04:13 PM
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Another vote for kingpins. I also have similar wear on my truck, the kingpin bushungs were so worn that just looking at the front of the truck from a bit of a distance you could see the negative camber. I replaced the kingpin bushings/springs and lower bearings. Now just eyeballing it the tires are nice and vertical, haven`t had a chance to get it on the alignment rack yet as the rear brakes are currently in about 1000 pieces, but I plan on ck`ing the alignment soon, I even did a real crude driveway toe adjustment and even though I know it`s far off the truck drives and steers a whole lot better,and the loud pop noises are gone. A very serious toe-out condition could also cause that wear (to a degree) but you would have other issues such as HORRID straight line stability, excessive squeeling on turns. FWIW on my truck the drivers side kingpin bushing was so wasted that the metal support that goes between the bushing and the spring had a huge imprint where the spring was mushing the nylon bushing apart at its seam (most likely the cause of the loud popping noise).
Old 10-05-2009, 04:24 PM
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Don't tear your king pins apart just yet... put new king bushings in. They're nylon, not plastic, and they just wear out after a while. They're kindof hard to find. 4X4 shops usually have them, or i spose you can get them online.
Old 10-05-2009, 06:22 PM
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Do you drive a lot of ruff un-even roads? If you do do I would say bad shocks. I had similar wear and my shocks were toast. Check them and if not then look at the kingpins like already stated. I was told by a elmer if it is smooth on the inside that kingpins and if it un even on the inside shocks.
Old 10-05-2009, 06:36 PM
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King pin knuckle bushing

Randys Ring and Pinion

part number DS41886

Old 10-05-2009, 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by 92smokin blacky
Well I've notice my front tires wearing on the inside. I've just noticed this a couple weeks ago and the my left front tire is the worst. It has worn the inside of the tire down and the lugs are kind of ramped now. The lugs are higher in the front then the back of the lug and they are worn down more than the outside lugs. The drivers side tire is worse than the passenger side but they are both wearing like this. So i checked my alignment and my ball joints and my ball joints seemed tight and good and my alignment was fine, and both of my tie rod ends are now. I put 50 lbs of pressure in the tires to get it to wear in the middle more but that didn't seem to help too much. I've heard that sometimes the spindles will bend, could this be the problem or what do you think it is? I just recently rotated my tires after i took this pic so these tires are on the back now, but i don't wanna wear out my other tires too.
here is some pics of what i mean:


any help is appreciated! thanks
Bent spindle should show up during alignment
Old 10-05-2009, 09:31 PM
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my does the same thing here is a rebuild kit for the king pin
https://www.4wdfactory.com/store/pro...in-Rebuild-Kit
Old 10-05-2009, 09:35 PM
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Alright thanks for all the help guys. I will check my shocks first. I know my front shocks are not the original ones but i changed my rear ones when i first got my truck and they were shot but i haven't checked my fronts yet. But I will check those first, then if its not that, then i think you are right, it might be that nylon cone in the top part. But thanks for the help guys! i really appreciate it!


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