Need Help. Scalloping tires after major front end overhaul.

[econhonda]

Need a little help with potential causes for some strange tire wear occurring. Let me give some background.

OME 881 with Tacoma bilstein 5100's. No spacer.
New LBJ, OTRE, ITRE, CV's
New steering rack bushings and steering rack guide.

Prior to replacing some front end parts, my tires experienced very mild scalloping on the inner and out lugs, but 5,000 mile rotation kept the problem completely at bay. Now that I've replaced everything and had it aligned (twice) the scalloping is happening much worse.

Could it b
Thoughts?

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[econhonda]

Sorry, this is a mobile post. Thinking it could be bad wheel balancing maybe? Wear is similar on both front tires.

Maybe wheel bearings gone bad?

Maybe Tacoma bilsteins (less than 7,000 miles) are undervavled for my truck?

Maybe upper ball joints?

Other ideas?

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[LittleCaesar]

It sounds like a camber/caster issue. When was the last time you had an alignment?

 

[econhonda]

Twice within the last week. Caster is 2.5% on both sides. Is that bad?

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[econhonda]

Camber is -0.4 and -0.5

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[techno]

what's your toe measurements?

 

[econhonda]

.09 driver .11 passenger

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[Qyota]

Typically, cupping is a symptom of poor damping, so I'd say the shocks aren't quite right. Which is a bit hard to imagine, assuming they are indeed for a Taco. Hmmmmm

 

[econhonda]

Yeah, totally at a loss. Anyone with good knowledge of alignment specs know if I'm fine based on the above numbers?

I guess I'll throw it up on stands and check if the wheel bearings have play. Other than that my next thought is to try yet another suspension combo up front. So far I've had stock, OME/OME, OME/Rancho, OME Bilstein. Yuck. Rent coil compressors a 5th time??? (had to put the OME trim spacer in after I initially put them together) Somebody rule that out for me!

 

[techno]

Your alignment specs are within tolerance, but perhaps the toe could be brought closer to 0.00. That might help. I'm currently experiencing the same excessive tire wear, but it's because my suspension/steering has something really screwed up, causing my wheels to toe-in under braking. I'm talking about probably 5° of toe in, so over the past 1000 miles i've lost about 2mm of rubber on the trailing edge of the outside tread blocks.

Stick your head out the drivers window and watch the front wheel when you brake from about 30-40 mph in a straight line. Does the wheel turn in?

 

[J-money$$$]

i would have them zero the toe completely. Too much toe in or out usually causes cupping

 

[econhonda]

Thanks guys for the responses. One thought though... Lower control arm bushings? Not really sure how to tell if these are bad though. Any tips? So tired of front end suspension/steering work...

 

[Singtoe]

What tires are you running now? What are the load ratings for those tires

 

[econhonda]

Treadwright Guard Dogs. They've got about 25,000 miles on them now. Theyre d rated.


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[Singtoe]

The retread with a d rating on the side way is probably a really stiff tire.

To keep them from scalloping, you will need to run more than 65 psi.

Run more air and see if it fixes it.

 

[econhonda]

ouch. 65 psi sounds harsh. Thx for the tip. Question though, wouldn't they have been cupping all along if the pressure was the cause. Been running them at about 40 for 25,000 miles.

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[Singtoe]

You said they were cupping a little. It just progressed more. Like snow ball rolling down a hill.

 

[4R99JB]

Typically, cupping is a symptom of poor damping, so I'd say the shocks aren't quite right. Which is a bit hard to imagine, assuming they are indeed for a Taco. Hmmmmm

X2...

Scalloping is typically caused by subtle bouncing of the tire (s) due to poor road contact from worn shocks. Vibration which may not be felt due to all of the creature comforts that isolate us from the road.:rant:

 

[nevada]

X2...

Scalloping is typically caused by subtle bouncing of the tire (s) due to poor road contact from worn shocks. Vibration which may not be felt due to all of the creature comforts that isolate us from the road.:rant:

tyically its from having them on the front too long.
or on wheels with too much offset, so they scrub when you turn.



unless im mistaken on what you're calling scalloping. every other tread is low, and worn at an angle? cupped, or cupping.

im guessing these are mud treads? theres almost nothing you can do to prevent it once its starts. rotate more often, and cross rotate to the rear can help. but if they're too far gone, it wont matter. they'll have to be on the back for so long to straighten out, by then, the fronts will be cupped again.

obviously, that is assuming the front end is tight, and aligned correctly.

 

[econhonda]

Thanks. Failed to mention that I run 1.25" hub centric wheel spacers too, but have had them for quite a while. Just rotated them, and rebalanced using haweka adapter. Hopefully it helps.

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