Uneven wear..front end alignment?

[rich67]

After doing the 5 tire rotation the other day on my KO2's (have about 2000 miles on them) I noticed the front tires are wearing excessively on the outside. In the pictures, the top shows a "scuffing" along the outer edge of the tire. For reference, the other pic is of the rear tire. There are numbers embossed on the outer and inner treads (seen in pic 2). The numbers are obliterated from the front tires on the outer treads, but are still on the inner treads. The rear tires still have both inner and outer numbers embossed. I am assuming that after doing my Teraflex level kit, I put them out of alignment. Seems like the passenger side is worse than the driver side. I'm guessing I need them to adjust the caster. Input? I've got 37000 miles on the Jeep.


The wear is about to the second set of outside tread, as far as I can see.

 

[MR.Ty]

Have you done the chalk test to verify an even footprint?

 

[Napalm]

Did you get an alignment after the level?

Same thing happened to me. After my EVO level, I took it in for a rotation and the same thing was happening. An alignment fixed it right up.

 

[rich67]

No sir..what is that?

 

[rich67]

I didn't get an alignment...I should have checked with the forums earlier. A lot of people are mixed on alignments after a leveling kit. I opted to listen to the ones who said it wasn't needed.

 

[Napalm]

I didn't get an alignment...I should have checked with the forums earlier. A lot of people are mixed on alignments after a leveling kit. I opted to listen to the ones who said it wasn't needed.

The alignment fixed the problem for me. So that might be your solution!

 

[MR.Ty]

No sir..what is that?

The chalk test is used to verify correct tire pressure. Find a flat, open stretch of road/driveway etc and draw a line across all four tires with chalk. Roll forward until the chalk starts to wear. If it fades on the outside your pressure is too low, inside it's too high. Even is what you want.

I didn't get an alignment...I should have checked with the forums earlier. A lot of people are mixed on alignments after a leveling kit. I opted to listen to the ones who said it wasn't needed.

Here is the write up that Eddie did on the alignment.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=3861

Really all that should have been needed is to recenter your steering wheel, at least that's all mine needed.

 

[rich67]

The chalk test is used to verify correct tire pressure. Find a flat, open stretch of road/driveway etc and draw a line across all four tires with chalk. Roll forward until the chalk starts to wear. If it fades on the outside your pressure is too low, inside it's too high. Even is what you want.



Here is the write up that Eddie did on the alignment.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=3861

Really all that should have been needed is to recenter your steering wheel, at least that's all mine needed.

I re-centered the wheel. I will give the chalk test a run. I keep my tires at 33-35 PSi. They are 33's on 16's.
Thanks for the help and input. I was worried that I had something going bad on the front end.

 

[WJCO]

Caster won't cause tire wear. Check your toe and tire pressure.

 

[rich67]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I took it in this morning and the toe in was off. They took care of the issue. Apparently camber is affected by the lift, but was negligible. I have not seen any issues with the inner tread wearing, so I am not worried about it for now. Hopefully this takes care of the outer tread wear. I have a 5000 mile trip out west coming up in a month, and I need to have some rubber left when I arrive! LOL

 

[cozdude]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I took it in this morning and the toe in was off. They took care of the issue. Apparently camber is affected by the lift, but was negligible. I have not seen any issues with the inner tread wearing, so I am not worried about it for now. Hopefully this takes care of the outer tread wear. I have a 5000 mile trip out west coming up in a month, and I need to have some rubber left when I arrive! LOL

On a solid axle camber will never be effected by the lift. On a independent suspension it will be but not solid. Caster on the other hand will be effected by lift but that is fixable by adjustable control arms

 

[rich67]

On a solid axle camber will never be effected by the lift. On a independent suspension it will be but not solid. Caster on the other hand will be effected by lift but that is fixable by adjustable control arms

They mentioned something about a camber correction kit, but didn't try to sell me on it. They said it was around $300 a wheel. That's good to know. I read the write-up and learned a little about caster just now. Thank you.

 

[WJCO]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I took it in this morning and the toe in was off. They took care of the issue. Apparently camber is affected by the lift, but was negligible. I have not seen any issues with the inner tread wearing, so I am not worried about it for now. Hopefully this takes care of the outer tread wear. I have a 5000 mile trip out west coming up in a month, and I need to have some rubber left when I arrive! LOL

On a solid axle camber will never be effected by the lift. On a independent suspension it will be but not solid. Caster on the other hand will be effected by lift but that is fixable by adjustable control arms

They mentioned something about a camber correction kit, but didn't try to sell me on it. They said it was around $300 a wheel. That's good to know. I read the write-up and learned a little about caster just now. Thank you.

If they gave you pictures of your alignment print out, post it here and we'll try to help you out. Cozdude is right, camber won't move with a lift.

 

[nmwranglerx]

Bent C's or bent axle housing could affect camber.