Slow inside tire wear????

[Coloty]

Ok......I have the Ty aligned and slowly but surely the inside tires start to wear over 4-6 months. I have new Bilsteins on all 4 corners, ball joints were dealer replaced under warranty at 33K (currently 83K) along with the idler arm which they said was bent. What gives??? Ball joints again??? Idler arm???? Tie rod ends?? Any help would be appreciated. Don't want to chew up two more front tires.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Coloty on 2002-03-21 12:46 ]</font>

 

[ronniejoe80]

Ive been through the same mess. Just did the idler arm and pitman arm this weekend. Each were within the allowable limit according to the service manual but together were allowing too much. Also, see what specs they are aligning it to. Use the ones from http://www.syty.org/old/clean.html#Maint I havent had mine back to the shop yet, but that is next week.

 

[TurboManiacal]

Talk to e-rue on this one. He completely fixed what was causing that on my old Ty. Of course he pretty much replaced the entire front suspension.

 

[AndrewB]

Inner tire wear is usually caused by loose ball joints, but the truck may also be out of alignment.

 

[G.D. Bryson]

Hey ronniejoe80. Do you use the stock specs or the enhanced specs recommended by Mr. Chase?

Gary & Ty1845.

 

[Coloty]

Well I was searching and found a post by Jas. It says to get the front end off the ground. Take each front tire and try to shake it at both 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and then again at the 9 and 3 positions. The 12 and 6 position would show ball joint wear if there is movement and the 9 and 3 movement would show tie rod ends, pitman, or idler arm wear. I did this tonight and 12 and 6 are tight on both while the 9 and 3 was quite loose on both. Time for another idler arm as it looked loose and inner and outer tie rods ends I suppose. Would this be the cause of the inside tire wear I have??

The manual makes this sound pretty straight forward. Are there any
catches/tips/tricks??? Front tires are already jacked so should I worry about getting everything perfect cuz she is gonna need an alignment after this anyways.

 

[ronniejoe80]

Gary,
I havent taken the truck back in yet. Going to try tomorrow but I am going to get them to use the "enhanced" specs. The big difference in the factory and those are the camber settings. It looks like the factory is set for a lighter truck and makes the tires lean in at the top. The new spec gives it a negative camber so it leans out at the top.
COLOTY,
You should try to get it set close as you can. Just to save wear and tear along with drivability to the shop. GO ahead and get the lifetime warranty on the alignment. Well worth it in the end.

 

[Coloty]

The Dealership I go to doesn't have a liftime alignment offer??? It's 59.99 each time. Should they be offering one?? Or are you talking about a tire chain store or something???

 

[Loeryder]

no shit..
who offers a lifetime alignment??

I'd be in there every other month with how bad our roads are here in StL.

Colo, yeah if you replace anything in the front end you'll need an alignment.
The 12 6 and 9-3 test only gives you some direction to wear(no pun intended) the problem lies, its hard to pinpoint the exact cause until you have replaced every single part and your wear problem is solved.

Bet ya it's less headache to do the entire front end all at once. PST sells the kit, or you can piece it together with MOOG and ES components.

_________________
Jas'
www.sytyauthority.net
93 wht/gry Ty #0492 - MRTY2U
2000 5.9RT blk CC
MY00 Impreza 2.5RS - herz

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Loeryder on 2002-03-29 16:31 ]</font>

 

[GM TURBO]

I saw a lifetime alignment here in Chicago at a Firestone shop - it was like 90 bones. I had another issue with them so I doubt it will happen for me. Something about a drainplug and seeing how fast the oil will come out with the car at highway speeds. Actually, not as fast as you'd think :smile:

 

[Loeryder]

WoW Dave same thing happened to a TY here in StL.
Firestone did the work, oil came out quicker once the turbo spooled up.
76k or so miles and they said the would prorate the cost of the engine because of the high mileage.
Oh yeah the manager was friends with this guy and still stuck it to him hardcore.

I won't ever buy into anything Firestone. Specially a damn tire or an oil change.

 

[7dhamper]

On 2002-03-28 21:39, ronniejoe80 wrote:
It looks like the factory is set for a lighter truck and makes the tires lean in at the top. The new spec gives it a negative camber so it leans out at the top.

Negative camber means leans in at the top, positive would be coming out at you. Your right about the factory and the weight issue though. GM wasn't really thinking everthing through when they designed the 4x4 S-10 platform. If they were, they would have built them with longer or more adjustable upper control arms, and 4 inch longer rear axles and came with 1 offset FWD rims on all 4 corners. The easy fix is to crank up your torsion bars, but that looks ugly! An aftermarket upper A arm with adjustable camber may be in order.