Rudy97
New member
Back story: I've been noticing excessive tire wear up front for about a month an a half now. I've taken it to get the alignment done twice since then. First time they said they couldn't get it within specs due to the LCA's adjustments being seized. Ok got it, 16 year old truck from Maryland. Took it to a family friend who is a certified Toyota tech. He replaced the LCAs with OEM and said that he had to do an insane amount of "fabrication" to get it to light up with the existing mounts. (Red flag?). He aligned it and it aligned fine.
I drove it from MD to North Carolina and within 3 weeks noticed it was acting a little sluggish steering. I would steer and there seemed to be a hesitation and even an over correction. I noticed it began to look like my front tires were worn a little more at this point but associated that with the issue I was having before. I have a lifetime alignment package through the Firestone maintenance shop here on base. They worked for 2 hours because "it just wouldn't align". Finally they aligned it (it was past closing) and I drove it to confirm that the sluggish feeling was gone. And it was. Well over the past three weeks I have been noticing my tires wear little by little. I've crawled under the truck to confirm everything was ok, nothing loose.
I tried researching possible causes for excessive front tire wear, called Maxxis to see if the tire was bad. No response. I've been way to busy with no way to take it to a shop or have alternate means of transportation so I've been keeping an eye on it while I save money and research good shops in my area.
This past weekend I had to head back to Maryland to pick up household goods in preparation for my upcoming marriage and trying to furnish my first house. And upon returning a inspected the tires again. And found this.
This is my front passenger side. This is much worse compared to the drivers side (seen below)
And the fronts are MUCH MUCH worse than either back tire. Seen below.
My father has been circulating the pictures around his dealership and they came up with a couple ideas.
1: the alignment shop couldn't align the truck properly and maxed out all the settings.
2: the cant is off, one tire is behind the other.
3: something severely damaged on the front end, they recommended completely rebuilding the front end.
4: bent steering rack.
5: excessive weight in the rear of the truck is ever-so-slightly taking the weight of the front end off the tires causing them to skid.
Now for what I feel and hear:
When parked, if I back out and turn the wheel. There is a pop from under the front. (I found that this symptom has been associated with a worn steering rack bushing)
When accelerating, the FRONT tires squeal when accelerating all the way through 3rd gear, but only occasionally.
When turning (over 30mph) the front tires squeal occasionally.
When hitting a dip in the road, the front tires only will chirp loudly.
When gradually braking to a stop, front tires will again squeal.
What I've replaced thus far:
LCAs , both upper and lower ball joints on both sides, and both inner and outer tie rods on both sides.
Does anyone have any ideas? Or at the least know of a good shop in the eastern North Carolina area?
I drove it from MD to North Carolina and within 3 weeks noticed it was acting a little sluggish steering. I would steer and there seemed to be a hesitation and even an over correction. I noticed it began to look like my front tires were worn a little more at this point but associated that with the issue I was having before. I have a lifetime alignment package through the Firestone maintenance shop here on base. They worked for 2 hours because "it just wouldn't align". Finally they aligned it (it was past closing) and I drove it to confirm that the sluggish feeling was gone. And it was. Well over the past three weeks I have been noticing my tires wear little by little. I've crawled under the truck to confirm everything was ok, nothing loose.
I tried researching possible causes for excessive front tire wear, called Maxxis to see if the tire was bad. No response. I've been way to busy with no way to take it to a shop or have alternate means of transportation so I've been keeping an eye on it while I save money and research good shops in my area.
This past weekend I had to head back to Maryland to pick up household goods in preparation for my upcoming marriage and trying to furnish my first house. And upon returning a inspected the tires again. And found this.
This is my front passenger side. This is much worse compared to the drivers side (seen below)
And the fronts are MUCH MUCH worse than either back tire. Seen below.
My father has been circulating the pictures around his dealership and they came up with a couple ideas.
1: the alignment shop couldn't align the truck properly and maxed out all the settings.
2: the cant is off, one tire is behind the other.
3: something severely damaged on the front end, they recommended completely rebuilding the front end.
4: bent steering rack.
5: excessive weight in the rear of the truck is ever-so-slightly taking the weight of the front end off the tires causing them to skid.
Now for what I feel and hear:
When parked, if I back out and turn the wheel. There is a pop from under the front. (I found that this symptom has been associated with a worn steering rack bushing)
When accelerating, the FRONT tires squeal when accelerating all the way through 3rd gear, but only occasionally.
When turning (over 30mph) the front tires squeal occasionally.
When hitting a dip in the road, the front tires only will chirp loudly.
When gradually braking to a stop, front tires will again squeal.
What I've replaced thus far:
LCAs , both upper and lower ball joints on both sides, and both inner and outer tie rods on both sides.
Does anyone have any ideas? Or at the least know of a good shop in the eastern North Carolina area?
