Bad Tire Wear

[curt4x4]

My 2000 4runner is experiencing bad front tire wear and has been ever since we bought it 2yrs ago. the inside tread blocks dissappeared on a new set after 1.5 yrs while the outside still looks new. and that was with regular 3000 mi rotation, and a few alignments all of which, according to the shop that did them & sold the tires, were not really out of alignment.
my rack bushings were very worn and i just replaced them last week. I don't know if that would have had much effect on the tires. but it sure helped with the loud clunks during deceleration and sharp turning.

Any help, insight or general ideas about this issue would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks

Curt

 

[LINY4Runner]

post pics of the tread so we can get a visual

 

[Stick Figure]

steering rack bushings can no doubt cause the problem, it did on my truck. its basically the same as having the toe setting off. The shop that did the alignment should have caught that a long time ago.

 

[curt4x4]

Here is a Pic of the wear

 

[curt4x4]

here is a pic of the wear

 

[LINY4Runner]

i agree with Stick Figure, steering rack bushings are a known problem.

another thing to check is the inner tie rod...lift the front of the truck and shimmy the wheel back and fourth (like you're steering the truck from the tire), there should be NO excessive play and if there is, look into swapping out those inner tie rods as well.

 

[jjlemus1]

would a tie rod end cause toe problems?

 

[BrianSD_42]

Warning


/*** HEY ****/

Although steering rack issues are well known on 3rd gens, your problem sounds like a Lower ball joint issue. I am not a mechanic but the exact same thing happened to my truck last year & it was the lower ball joints that caused it, they were starting to fail and the tires are the first sign.

If not replaced yours will likely go all the way. There are several threads on this forum of 3rd Gen. 4Runner's that crashed out on the highway when the car's front wheel fell off at 80 mph due to LBJs.
:gun6:

Apparently this thread is OLD. If this happens to you .... DO NOT put off getting this looked at! A lower ball joint failure can cost you your life or the life of whoever you hit.

Search the forums for horror stories.

Also, take your truck to someone who knows about Toyota trucks, not midas or some foreign cars shop. A lot of metro areas have Toyota only shops, find one of those.

Brian