Front struts and tire wear pattern

My general mechanic, while doing other work, said he noticed my front tires' wear pattern suggest I need new front struts. However the Bilsteins I installed are only about 12 years (and ~60k miles) old. The truck handles great both on the highway and offroad. I do see some cupping on the inboard edge of the front tire treads, but don't feel any pulsation on the road.

How can I tell my front struts are bad, and in particular what clues may be gleaned from tread wear? I'd like to have more knowledge when I take this up again with the mechanic.

Vehicle: 2003 Xtra Cab 4x4 2.7L manual trans
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12 years old? Yeah they're old and due.

What'd your mechanic say about your cam tabs, maybe they were knocked off over time? And your lower control arm bushings? Those would be more detrimental to holding alignment than your coilovers (not struts) would.

 

Right off the bat- There is a difference to what your truck has (coilovers) to struts. Struts are locating members of the suspension- without them, suspension geometry is affected, whereas coilovers can be removed, and even though vehicle weight wouldn't be supported, the geometry of the suspension remains the same. It's a small detail in the scheme of things, but important to know, especially considering the implications for tire wear.

Because struts (remember, you don't have these) are location members of the suspension, as they wear (coil springs settling, bushings or other rubber isolators, etc...) they alter the alignment and contact patch of the tire. This is what mechanics can notice.

In coilover land (which you do have) ride height can affect your alignment, but worn coil springs will have much less of an effect on tire wear. As @Kwikvette suggested, the bigger ticket items which affect alignment are going to be your upper and lower control arm bushings, and the alignment cams and tabs.

It could well be that your lower control arm bushings and alignment cams need to be replaced. They're 20 years old.

12 years is a long time for coilovers. It's time for new shocks at least. If the coil and leaf springs are stock, they are likely toast too. 50k is the generally accepted life span of a shock. Way less if you beat on them.

 

^^^ what they said.

To dazzle your top wrench, tell him your research indicates you have a double-wishbone-coil-over-shock-independent front suspension.

Not struts.

 

He didn't mention them, but I will ask him. He knows an alignment shop he trusts and sends work to. Good to know struts wear out that fast. The Bilsteins were just an opportunity buy at the time. I looked on RockAuto and find Monroes and Gabriels only for loaded struts, the most expensive a bit more than $80 each. Any recommendation for standard duty struts?
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Hey....what the hell.....i'm 5 lug.....i've got struts.....
and proud of it.........


Not 'struts'.....its either bad bushings, bad balls, bad tie's, or combination there of.....
worn swaybar bushings cause over steer that creaps in over time......

the really good news is that this is causing pre-mature wear on your steering rack.....

All new bushings give you that new truck feel........but kinda PIA to do.....

 

FWIW About 10 years ago I did have Toyota replace certain recalled front suspension parts, I think ball joints (can't get their recall search page to work).
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I'm sure you're right. Possibly you could tell RockAuto they're not "struts" as well.
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I'm 5 lug too.

We have coil-over-shock as well.

Strut vehicles do not have UCAs.

 

These are garbage. And yes- we are aware that Monroe and others mislabel some of their coilover products as struts. It's more important that you know what the difference is.

If you think 12 years a short time for the shocks you have now- those pre loaded assemblies are going be toast in much less of the time. The only reason you've gotten 12 years out of the Bilstiens is that they are a good product. I would highly suggest going that route again. I think you can pair the 4600 or 5100 with the 2880 OME springs, or look to General Springs for an aftermarket equivalent stock spec spring.

I think if you get all the components from wheelers, they have a service to assemble the coilover for you and ship you units you can just swap in.

 

I'm obliged to you, sir. I'm here to learn, if it seems like only to parade my ignorance. ;-)

And, to the point, I'm not aware of "wheelers" but I can search for them.

Now: Suppose (just suppose) the bushings and adjustment cams/tabs all happened to be fine. Could sagging coil-overs alone disrupt geometry enough to induce abnormal tread wear (among other effects)? Or might it just as likely simply need a proper alignment?

(It occurs to me that possibly the only reason it goes out of alignment is from wear of adjustment parts. See how little I know?)
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I went with KYB monomax's.....got on Amazon special buy for $75/pair

KYB MonoMax Toyota Pickup, T100, Tacoma Front 565030 - Shockwarehouse.com

the Blitsteins are $81 ea....


I consider em struts because they are drop in place....no spring compressor needed....
other than the weight of the vehicle......

This older LCA single bushing design (5lug) has couple plus's ........
to off set the many minus's......cheap fast to wear out struts is one of em.....

 

In your case, you can tell your shocks are worn out by how old they are.

"only" 12 years old... Bro, those are shot. get new ones.

3 main things effect tire wear:
1) Alignment - if you're seeing wear on the inside or outside of the tire, that's more than likely alignment issues.
2) Tire pressure - if you're seeing wear in the middle or (both) edges, that's either too much or not enough air pressure
3) shocks - severely worn out shocks can cause uneven wear as the tire is allowed to "bounce" down the road, though that's also likely to cause tire balance issues too.

Depending on the service history of this truck, I'd say your due for all sorts of new parts. Control arm bushings, ball joints, and tie rods to name a few.

 

Thanks for great info pouring in.

Question: What does "5-lug" refer to in the context of shocks and alignment?

Edit: I see now it is LCA design. What's the significance?
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The 5 lug trucks have the same fundamental design, (other than rear axle placement with springs) but suspension components are not interchangeable with the 6 lug models.

Not sure what you mean by 'LCA design'.

If your were referring to my previous post indicating the 5 lug did not have struts either, my point there was that strut vehicles do not have UCAs.

 

Sorry, got confused there, yep. Mine is a 6-lug truck, were all Gen-1 Tacomas?
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No.

4wd and prerunners were 6 lugs. Same with 2nd gen. No 5 lug 3rd gens.

 

Yeah you have the 6 lug 4x4.....which is much more robust design....
larger pieces .......taller stands...... more money.....

but hey, none of you complain about gas milage either......


So your gonna have to put out money for your honey.......

 

I only put < 2000 miles per year on it now, so there's no great urgency, just like to understand where the money's headed, and why.

I can get 25 mpg from it on certain highway stretches (e.g. Winnemucca to Payette, 260 miles) but see 21 mpg most fill-ups.

My daily beater is a '92 Civic VX which, even with 250K miles on the engine, still gets 36-40 mpg around town. It'll get 50 mpg on the highway. Today I paid $4.999 for regular gas.
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I called Wheeler's and the Bilstein 5100 will pair with the OME 2880 coil spring. (The Bilstein 4600 is too small, in diameter if I understood him.) And, yes, they will assemble the combo, a checkbox option on the checkout page.

Thanks very much, Andy. That seems like the combo I want, a reasonably-priced upgrade OEM geometry if I select 0" height adjustment.

Brian