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Tire Guru need, wear problems

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Old 09-28-2005 | 07:37 PM
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kingofdodge7131's Avatar
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Tire Guru need, wear problems

Hey quick question for you tire peps out here. I have the 04 ram that i noticed this on, I believe my front tires are wearing unevenly, Its got kind of a heal to toe type deal going on, Like if you took one lug, the rear of the lug is wearing faster than the fronts. So if you run your hand from back to front it feels smooth, but front to back and you can feel all the feathering.

They were fine around the end of august, I checked them and aired them up for a camping trip. Which leads me to another question. Is running around empy at max psi gonna hurt them? I mean the rear tires are fine, its just the fronts. And theres no onther problems with the truck as far as steering goes, Goes straight, returns to center. no vibrations. Just this. Thanks for any input
Old 09-28-2005 | 08:56 PM
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Is it a possibility that they are seperating? Meaning the inner steel belt of the tire is starting to pull apart from it's self from the inside.

Have them rotated, stick the fronts to the rear an vice versa.

I run my tires at 35 empty and they are fine, just keep them rotated and it will be fine.
Old 09-28-2005 | 09:41 PM
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this is an unfortunate side effect of a solid front axle with coils. I've seen it on almost all the Dodges. The only fix is premature rotation, and keeping the PSI in check.
Old 09-28-2005 | 09:55 PM
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I have actually been quite amazed with how evenly my tires have been wearing. This applies to the BFGs that came as OEM, and the Pirrellis that are on there now. I tow some but run mostly empty. Mine is a 4X4 and I drive alot of twisty mtn. roads very aggressively. I rotate less frequently than recommended and see more wear on the rears......Gee, wonder what causes that...yukyuk.
Old 09-28-2005 | 10:23 PM
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Try cross rotating the front to the rear and that should help. They may never get completely quiet but it should help even them out a bit. I would rotate every 5-6k. What tire pressures are you running?
Old 09-28-2005 | 10:57 PM
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Yeah, I still have the stock OEM bf goodwrench rugged terrain thingers. Heard people getting exelent mileage out of them and mine was great until this. I usually rotate every 2nd service or 6-8k miles. right now they are still at the max psi cold which i believe is 80 on this particular tire. the few mpg increase is nice, but not at the cost of these things!
Old 09-28-2005 | 11:04 PM
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Throw the fronts on the back and do a quick burnout. That should round them back out.
Old 09-28-2005 | 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by BigBlue
Throw the fronts on the back and do a quick burnout. That should round them back out.

Shhhhhh the tought crossed my mind, dont tempt me haha
Old 09-29-2005 | 02:25 AM
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I think you may be running overinflated. Mine seemed like they were wearing faster when they were new and I was running max air. Now, I run like 55-60 psi and they seem to be wearing great.

I have 26,000 on them now and should prob get 2 to 3 times that at current wear pace.
Old 09-29-2005 | 06:37 AM
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Its caused By the tread design. Quit normal, The lug shows wear at lug rear on top of tire, but when lug is on bottom against road, the lug is wearing on front side. Because when you apply brakes lug rolles to rear lieveing front of lug bitting road and rear of lug being lifted away from road. FIX-- Rotate to rear wheels, They will eaven out there again. Always reballance the 2 wheels you put on front. If you rotate often enough all 4 wheels will get ballanced enough, and you will controle the unusual lug wear. Dont let it get out of hand as it will take longer to correct on rear then. As the tire wears down this wear will eventually stop ,as the lug gets shorter it will roll less.
Old 09-29-2005 | 01:35 PM
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Tire feathering

Having been in the business for a few years, I would suggest making sure these 4 things are good, 1) tire pressure 2) alignment 3) shocks 4) warn front end parts. Make sure you are running at least 45-50 pounds of air in the stock tires. I run mine at 65-70. I'm not sure that there is much that can be done about camber with the solid front axle, but tow can be off and cause wear on the inside or outside depending on whether the tow is in or out. Shocks that are not dampening properly can also cause tire wear problems because the tires are not contacting the road all the time. Check tie rod ends, ball joints, and idler arm for movement. Rotating more often will help minimize these stepping problems but not eliminate them. Just my 2 cents

P.S. All my solid front axle trucks have had much better tire wear than any independant front end truck.
Old 09-29-2005 | 06:34 PM
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Well I agree with all Toddbweaver states. But you have a unique rear pattern there thats caused from lugs rolling to the rear when brakes are applied. Wears the front side of lug ,when lug is on road . Wear will be on rear side of lug on top of tire. This type of wear is not caused from bad parts.
Old 09-29-2005 | 07:55 PM
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Originally Posted by gatf4
Try cross rotating the front to the rear and that should help. They may never get completely quiet but it should help even them out a bit. I would rotate every 5-6k. What tire pressures are you running?
I have rotated my tires in this exact pattern for years with the best results possible. An unevenly worn front tire crossed to the rear and going the opposite direction on the primary drive axle is the best way to eliminate most, if not all, of the everyday feathering / cupping that can occur on the front tires.

Greg
Old 09-29-2005 | 08:17 PM
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The stop and go theory is a sound one, within the month i moved into a city, before i was driving 100 miles a day with 3 stops, as now it is 10 miles a day with 13 diffrent stop lights i can hit, and 3 stop signs.
Old 09-29-2005 | 08:23 PM
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I might have missed it but what brand?

I had the same thing on the badyears on my truck and the alignment was blamed even though it all was within spec. Then the dangyear store said I needed to run them at 80 psi...uhh sure ok...I bounced all over the road.

I bought the Toyo's after putting up with this chattery ride and chewed up tires for almost 50K. The Toyos have nearly 15K on them now and no problem.
They are a ribbed tread so that would probably attribute to the more even wear compared to the terribleyears.


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