Tire wear on outside of front driver's side and bounce/wobble question

Hey all,

I've recently had a vibration/bouncing emerge in my truck. I identified some wear on the outside edge of one of my front driver's side tire. I started by rotating and balancing tires. That didn't do it as I ended up with a pretty good wobble at highway speeds. Had the tires rebalanced and that helped a ton. I went and had it aligned and it was a little out, but not bad. But I still have a little bounce I can feel sometimes at low speed, but definitely at high speeds. And now the tire in question is starting to wear (cupping/feathering) on the outside edge. I replaced my front struts and rear shocks before the alignment. No noticeable difference.

So my question is this: Do I have a suspension part that's slowly failing? A ball joint? Control arm bushing?

I don't see anything grossly out of whack, so I need some pointers to check for worn ball joints, etc. This is the same wheel where I had to replace the wheel bearing due to hitting a curb at an odd angle. I wonder if I screwed up something else due to the impact and it's only now starting to emerge. This was like 30k miles ago - the wheel bearing starting chirping fairly quickly after the curb incident.

Thanks y'all.

T
2006 4cyl 4x4 170,000miles

 

Is it the same tire giving you problems that hit the curb? Could be a broken belt in the tire. Only way to know for sure is to take it off the wheel though. I was getting my tires balanced once and the tech said it looked like I might have a broken belt, because the inside tread blocks were wearing sort of diagonally across the tread. I thought my alignment was just out of spec or something, but it turned out to be a broken belt.

 

At least that would be fairly cheap to check versus replacing suspension parts.

 

I'm not sure which tire it was, but I can say that the wear is happening in the same location (front driver's side) no matter which tire is there. It's not terrible, but will shorten the life of my tires and I'm getting annoyed that I can't fix the bounce/wobble I have at highway speeds. One technician indicated that my "inferior" tires may be to blame, but I didn't have this issue for 35,000 miles and there's pretty good tread left. Yes, cheaper tires, but have lasted fairly well. I'm assuming the bounce/wobble is coming from this wheel because of the tire wear. I suppose it could be a separate issue with a different wheel... I'd be surprised, tho.

 

Here's a pic of the tire wear. Sorta hard to see but you can see light and dark along the outside rib.

 

I had the same problem. A simple rotation and balance fixed mine

 

That's where I started- a balance and rotation. I suppose I'll just live with it, after all, it won't get any better before it gets worse! Just hate to wear out my (cheap) tires sooner than they need be.

 

I would bet quite a bit of money that something in your suspension is bent or worn out. That's almost always why cupping like that occurs at only one corner.

 

Now, the trick: identifying WHICH suspension part is to blame. Guess I'll start by attempted to rock the tire, from the top 12 o'clock position, in and out. Then jack up the truck and try to rock it back and forth from the 12 and 6 o'clock position and from the 9 and 3 o'clock. I'd be hard pressed to identify a minor control arm bend or tie rod bend. Hmmmm. Gotta start somewhere. I'll post results as I go along. (Can't be my struts b/c I just put new ones on (spring and shock complete assemblies with new bushing etc)

 

some cars and trucks will wear the opposite tire.
so be sure to check both sides.

 

Well, here's what I found. While on the ground I was able to slightly rock the wheel from the top. I mean I had to really put a lot of elbow grease into it to get a tiny movement, BUT it made a metallic clicking sound. Ok, then. Next I tried to rock the wheel side to side and got the wheel to move much easier (obviously, I wasn't fighting the weight of the truck). And the metallic click was MUCH louder and I could easily replicate it. SOOO...off came the wheel. I immediately identified the potential issue...the freaking nut on the tie rod was not tightened against the end. The sound I was hearing was the slop from the threaded rod end in the tie rod end link. I wonder how long that has been loose! I know the alignment shop straightened my steering wheel, so he either didn't tighten it enough or forgot to tighten it all all.

I'll check back in after I drive it tomorrow to work. I expect some vibration from the cupping, but hopefully it's better. Sheesh!

 

Back for another alignment?

 

Ugh. I hope not but I guess there's no way to tell if my alignment is okay now without someone checking it. It wasn't tracking either way, but I know there's more to an alignment than just it driving straight.

 

Well the drive in to work was uneventful. Exactly as I wanted. My steering wheel vibration is gone. I still have the slight bouncing feel at about 70mph. I guess it could be due to the tire having cupping damage. I'll run it for a thousand miles and see if it evens out.

As a funny side note - I had my 8 year old daughter help me torque the lug nuts on the wheel I removed last night. When we went inside I told her to tell mommy what she'd learned to do. She said "Mom, dad taught me to twerk". The look my wife gave me was priceless.

 

Over the years, before I have a shop rotate my tires. I've learn to use a cayron to number the tires, on how I want them to be rotated. Since that time I've never really had any more cupping issues. If you want to be even more detailed in what you track. Each tire has a serial number you can keep track of.

 

I have fought issues like this for years on various vehicles. It's almost always a suspension part that is allowing for movement in an area that shouldn't move, BUT rarely is it something that stands out. Glad to hear that you were able to both cause the unwanted suspension movement and locate the offender. My initial guess just off your first post was worn control arm bushings due to the mileage on the truck. If this doesn't completely resolve your issue, you may want to start there and work your way out.

 

I hope I don't end up with a control arm issue as the final result of my investigation. I priced those online and man-oh-man that's a stinger! And just replacing the bushing isn't really an option unless you have a mechanic's shop! Lol

 

move the wheel to the back. I am surprised the alignment sop did not catch the loose nut. Those places make a ton of money on suspension parts. I guarantee NTB would have and also told you the tie rods were bad along with a few other things. I hope you got a warranty with the alignment.

 

Don't let that process scare you too much. If you or any person you know has a press, any type of press, it's more monkey work than precision work. You're biggest issue will be getting those control arm bolts lose, but you can always cut them off and replace. As many are hinting at here, don't throw too much money at shops as they rarely have your best interest in mind.

 

I guess I need to do a little research on diagnosing ball joints and CA bushing issues. Unless they're completely distorted or split, I'm not sure I'd be able to ID a problem. I looked and poked at the ones on the driver's side last night when I pulled off the wheel, but didn't see anything catastrophic. The truck has 170k on it, so I assume I'm getting to the phase of its life where rubber parts start to crack. Already have a couple vacuum lines/secondary air lines that are looking a little long in the tooth!