Front pass side tire is sawtoothing....why?

[Brad]

My front passenger tire is developing sawtoothed treads and wearing quicker than the other 3 (35" MTR by the way). Alignment is good, caster is a couple of degrees negative from factory but otherwise everything is in spec. The driver's side tire wears perfectly and the tires get rotated every oil change (3000 miles). I don't have bushing play in the suspension or trackbar up front. Any ideas?

 

[Herzog]

I've seen this exact same thing happen on a 33" MTR... Some of the tread is repetetively taller and sloped right? We figured it was from a bent wheel... but not exactly sure.

 

[Meat_]

You turn left more than you turn right.

 

[Brad]

I've seen this exact same thing happen on a 33" MTR... Some of the tread is repetetively taller and sloped right? We figured it was from a bent wheel... but not exactly sure.

Exactly, when viewed from the side a lug starts out tall and slopes shorter.

 

[Caleb]

your shock may be shot on that side. My brother's were doing the same thing (cupping is what they call it I believe), we changed his shocks and it fixed the problem.

 

[Herzog]

Quick google search brought this up: http://www.kaltire.com/commercial/medium_truck_tires/cupping.php

and a similar thread on Colorado4x4: http://colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=8709

 

[Tacoma]

kingpin/balljoint? wheel bearings ok?

My driver's side tire is f****d, but so's the kingpin bushing on that side.

 

[Brad]

kingpin/balljoint? wheel bearings ok?

No vertical slop in the wheel, so I'm thinking that's not it. The shocks could possibly be the problem, they have over 50K miles on them and the Jeeps starting to feel pretty rough over asphalt patches and bridge expansion joints.

 

[forotacobra]

i'm with supergper change the shocks and it will be ok.

 

[mr_blove]

No vertical slop in the wheel, so I'm thinking that's not it. The shocks could possibly be the problem, they have over 50K miles on them and the Jeeps starting to feel pretty rough over asphalt patches and bridge expansion joints.

my jeep is feeling pretty rough over asphalt patches and joints/cracks in the road too. I just replaced the shocks(thanks wayne) and a few months ago I replaced the bushings in the rear control arms, but everything is still the same. let me know what you find.

 

[Brad]

my jeep is feeling pretty rough over asphalt patches and joints/cracks in the road too. I just replaced the shocks(thanks wayne) and a few months ago I replaced the bushings in the rear control arms, but everything is still the same. let me know what you find.

Your ride depends a lot on your suspension. Anything more than a couple of inches on short arms will ride horrible no matter what. My Jeep is longarmed and I remember a Cadillac-smooth ride when they were first installed. That was 3 years and 20-something thousand miles ago. Guess I'll be ordering some Bilstein 5150s tomorrow.

 

[mr_blove]

no it rode smooth(or smoother) last year when I bought it, it was already lifted and then I wheeled it and broke stuff and fixed stuff and now it rides like sh*t. It is going to six states on wed to get a rear end rebuild.

 

[1993yj]

I have seen many MTRs do this. I personally think it also has something to do with the design.

 

[Tacoma]

well, on any of my work trucks, it's darn hard to keep tires from doing that, due to the enormous push they give through turns. Pretty much anything with lugs gets jacked just like that.

Try new shocks and report back. Might do the trick.

 

[Caleb]

and FWIW, my brother's were 33" MTRs. Any large oversized tire (such as a 33" or 35" MTR ) will exagerate a bad shock quite severly.

 

[Cherokeester]

I have seen many MTRs do this. I personally think it also has something to do with the design.

We have many jeeps in our groop with mtr's and I have never seen it happen because of the tire. Bad shocks, alignment, and bad bearings are almost always the problem, not the tire.