Chopped tires

[DVT873]

(08-25-2020 )Magard Wrote:  Looks like alignment to me. I just made my own laser alignment tool Kinda like md alignment. They say to set the rears a half inch out of straight to counter the road slope. ( half inch measured at the front tire) they also say no positive castor at front right tire. I have a different idea then most alignment shops that I know of so I made my own way. Laser alignment shops with there fancy “it’s in spec.” Print outs could create this wear. What does the front tires look like.

Have had MD's set up for years. I think it works well. Mike and Kevin are very helpful when needed. They preach from the same gospels of bearing adjustment and tire inflation. I no longer sell "alignments". Sell an inspection instead. Usually nobody calls until there is a problem. Tire wear, handling etc. So we go over the vehicle, king pins, suspension bushings, drag links, king pins, drive line. Take all the measurements. Look in the tire book if we need to. Then from there we talk to the customer. Have had to many trucks roll in with some or all of the above wrong.

They do talk about one other cause of inboard (nearest the frame) tire wear they have come across on some tractors and even trailers. In the never ending quest for lighter weight trucks axle housing wall thickness was reduced on some models. This let the axles bow or wear. I do know of one drive axle in particular where that occurred. All of a sudden we had springs wearing thru the top of the housing on single axle packers. Everything tight and torqued to spec. Never noticed much in the way of tire wear because the tires got beat to death in normal operation.

Some research revealed that the wall thickness had been reduced. No notification from the OE. Model #'s never changed. In the fine print the spec did change. Eventually an option code came out for a heavier wall than the original and included a torque arm from the top of the diff to a crossmember. Also came with 31K springs. No problems after that. These single axle rear loaders rarely grossed over 43K on their way to the landfill.