Hi
I got an 02 F150. I noticed today that both of my front tires have inside tire wear. The inside edge of each tire is nearly bald yet the middle and the outside edge is fine. The driverside tire is a little worse than the passenger side. I just had the tires rotated 8000 miles ago and they did not say anything about the wear.

Is this likely a problem with the ball joints...top or bottom or something else. I cannot get any wobble (north and south) on the wheel when I have the truck in the air. This is how I used to be able to tell a ball joint is bad.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hartwa

 

i know when a wheel is leaning one way or another its called camber. allot of times if any aftermarket work is done to the suspension or anything like lowering or different rims it can throw the camber off. camber kits are available if thats what you need but i could be wrong

 

Thanks for the feedback...

Is there away to tell that the camber kit is needed for sure? If the ball joints are bad should I be able to feel some play when I have the truck off the ground?

 

I've noticed on these when you have inside edge wear like that, it's almost ALWAYS bad ball joints.

Jack the front wheel up from under the lower control arm, as close to the knuckle as possible. Get the tire about an inch off the ground. Have someone take a prybar under the tire, and pry upwards while you lay on the ground. Look closely for movement between the control arm and the knuckle. If you see movement, that lower ball joint is bad. (Ford actually allows for up to .030" of play.. that's THREE HUNDREDTHS of an inch... but if you can visually see movement I can almost guarantee you've got more play than that).

Next with the tire still off the ground, have someone grab the top of the tire and push in and pull out, while you look for play between the upper control arm and the knuckle. Again Ford allows for up to .030" of play. I recommend if you see ANY play then it should be replaced.

Repeat this for the other front wheel. Also keep in mind if you jack it up under the frame instead of under the control arm, the ball joint will stay loaded and will not show any play so make sure it's jacked up from under the control arm.

Good luck!

 

thanks...when you say knuckle do you mean between the ball joint and the lower control arm?

 

The knuckle is what the tire is mounted to. The ball joints connect to the knuckle as well.

 

Gotcha...thanks