Tire cupping - DuraTracs!

[jksmyers]

Bought the tires about 8k miles ago. They did an alignment check at the time, and said it was fine. Have had pretty bad vibrations, so had them rotated. Of course a little too late since the cupping is pretty bad. Anyone else have this problem with DuraTracs? If alignment is OK, what else could cause it?

 

[Singtoe]

What size tire do you have? and what ply rating do you have?

 

[DC runner]

Cupping? Vibrations?
Shocks/Suspension. Excessive bounce.

Your tires are literally bouncing themselves to death. I say time to replace your suspension.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Also check tie rod ends... I've got one on the passenger side of my '97 that's got a little play in it and it's already cupping my new tires @ 3k miles, and that's with a brand new suspension.

 

[jksmyers]

Singtoe - 265/75 E-rated on stock 5 stars

DC Runner - gives me the perfect excuse to buy that 880/906 OME lift kit I've been dreaming about. 'Course with Christmas right around the corner and two kids, it will still be a hard sale with the wife.

BigFish - thanks for the additional tip. I'll have to research that one. Not sure about the labor component. PITA?

 

[IanB]

What tire pressure were you running?

 

[Singtoe]

Singtoe - 265/75 E-rated on stock 5 stars

DC Runner - gives me the perfect excuse to buy that 880/906 OME lift kit I've been dreaming about. 'Course with Christmas right around the corner and two kids, it will still be a hard sale with the wife.

BigFish - thanks for the additional tip. I'll have to research that one. Not sure about the labor component. PITA?

If you are not running 60 to 75 psi, then the E rated tires are causing your problems.

If you want to run lower pressures, you will need to add about 1000 pounds of ballast to your ride.

 

[jksmyers]

If you are not running 60 to 75 psi, then the E rated tires are causing your problems.

If you want to run lower pressures, you will need to add about 1000 pounds of ballast to your ride.

WOW! Really? I've been running between 35 and 40. And the cupping was on the fronts only. That matter?

 

[02SE]

Here are Goodyear's inflation tables: hmcclub.homestead.com/Goodyear_Tire_Inflation___Load_Charts.pdf

That should give you an idea of what your inflation pressures should be.

At 35 PSI, your tires can support 1910 lbs. each.

At 40 PSI, your tires can support 2100 lbs. each.

You can scroll down the tables and compare your current LT rated tires load capacity at various pressures, with the P rated tires at various pressures that your 4Runner was originally equipped with.

 

[98_4runnerSR5]

If you are not running 60 to 75 psi, then the E rated tires are causing your problems.

If you want to run lower pressures, you will need to add about 1000 pounds of ballast to your ride.

60-75 psi is TOO MUCH pressure for our rigs. Yes, he's running E rated tires that are meant for heavier vehicles but still. I, along with PLENTY of other guys on here are running 285/75/16 Duratrac's E rated tires with no problems with cupping or uneven wear. There are a lot of other factors that play into that so I wouldn't say that the problem is his tire pressure is too low. If you raise the pressure to 60-75psi say bye bye to the tread on them fast! They're wear real quick.

 

[ALBPM]

60-75 psi is TOO MUCH pressure for our rigs. Yes, he's running E rated tires that are meant for heavier vehicles but still. I, along with PLENTY of other guys on here are running 285/75/16 Duratrac's E rated tires with no problems with cupping or uneven wear. There are a lot of other factors that play into that so I wouldn't say that the problem is his tire pressure is too low. If you raise the pressure to 60-75psi say bye bye to the tread on them fast! They're wear real quick.

I agree most of us don't run over 40 psi in E weighted tires whether they are 265/75 or 285/75.

I would look at Shocks and what BFAD said regarding the Tie Rod Ends.

 

[Singtoe]

I agree most of us don't run over 40 psi in E weighted tires whether they are 265/75 or 285/75.

I would look at Shocks and what BFAD said regarding the Tie Rod Ends.

It is what it is.

The dude said that he had an alignment check 8000 miles ago and everything was ok. If he had bad tie rods or other suspension components, they surely would have told him to get the extra sale. (Plus, I would assume that the OP had normal wearing tires before replacing with the E-rated tires. Suspension issues usually don't develop within 8k miles)

The 4runner is too light for E-rated tires.

Now, do to road conditions, driver styles, and shock types some people can run E-rated tires at the 35 psi and have no issues. (not the norm though)


You have 3 options here, to prevent cupping.

1: Run more air pressure (cheapest solution)

2: Sell your tires and buy some C-rated tires. (best solution)

3: Get stiffer struts or add another shock to each wheel. (crazy solution)

 

[Singtoe]

60-75 psi is TOO MUCH pressure for our rigs. Yes, he's running E rated tires that are meant for heavier vehicles but still. I, along with PLENTY of other guys on here are running 285/75/16 Duratrac's E rated tires with no problems with cupping or uneven wear. There are a lot of other factors that play into that so I wouldn't say that the problem is his tire pressure is too low. If you raise the pressure to 60-75psi say bye bye to the tread on them fast! They're wear real quick.

Running high pressure won't cause the treads to wear more quickly. Look at Semi's, they run 115 psi and they up to 200k on set of their tires.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

Running too high of tire pressure WILL cause uneven wear which will occur in the middle of the tire vs too low and you'll wear the edges and you can't compare semi tires to LT tires,apples to oranges. 200k on a semi tire? Seriously? I don't think so.

 

[Singtoe]

Running too high of tire pressure WILL cause uneven wear which will occur in the middle of the tire vs too low and you'll wear the edges and you can't compare semi tires to LT tires,apples to oranges. 200k on a semi tire? Seriously? I don't think so.

You are absolutely right. If you run too high of pressure it will wear unevenly but with e-rated tires, 75 psi is the norm. If you ran over 100 psi, you would get the wear in the middle.

Semi 's get anywhere from 125 to 225k on a tire easily. Look it up.


Take it for what it is worth, (I am assuming) but they OP didn't have a cupping problem before switching tires and within 8k miles he has a cupping problem.


Unless he ditched his 4runner at high speed, hit curb or someone stole the lead from his front wheels for the precious metals value, he has an air pressure issue.

 

[DC runner]

Well... You usually really notice cupping on newish tires. 1. You are paying attention and 2. more tread to "cup". I honestly think it is suspension wear. Tread design also plays in this, in terms of how much you notice.

Nobby tires with aggressive tread will pronounce the cupping much more visually. You can simply tell easier something is up.

 

[ALBPM]

Bought the tires about 8k miles ago. They did an alignment check at the time, and said it was fine. Have had pretty bad vibrations, so had them rotated. Of course a little too late since the cupping is pretty bad. Anyone else have this problem with DuraTracs? If alignment is OK, what else could cause it?

Ok, let's get some more info...

What brand shocks do you have right now????

 

[RonMAIDEN]

I've had my Duratracs (C rated) for just over 2 years and about 16k miles and they are wearing fine but you do have the inevitable slight more wear on the outside edges due to the tire supporting the extra weight shift during hard cornering but otherwise I'm satisfied how they are wearing.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

The dude said that he had an alignment check 8000 miles ago and everything was ok. If he had bad tie rods or other suspension components, they surely would have told him to get the extra sale.

You know what they say about ASSumptions, right?

I had my '97 aligned twice, and specifically asked them to check the balljoints, which would have given them a chance to check for tie rod play, and they never indicated to me that they had identified the play in the TRE or tried to sell me on fixing it.

ALSO...

(Plus, I would assume that the OP had normal wearing tires before replacing with the E-rated tires. Suspension issues usually don't develop within 8k miles)

Here you go assuming again. I'll bet the issues were already there before the new tires, and that it simply took 8k for the problem to reveal itself via cupping of the tires.


I'm calling BS. I know you think you're dead right on this one, but I do not. As ALBPM said, more details are in order, and less assumptions.

BTW, I'm running E rated duratracs on my '01 and they are wearing evenly @ 40 psi.

 

[dirtbike250x]

Im running 285's E-rated at 33psi with about a year and half of driving with a daily commmute,not sure of exact mileage, but they look great.