I have a 2006 STX regular cab, short bed and 2wd. It has about 11,000 miles on it. I put 275/55/R20 tires and wheels on it when it had only 1,000 miles on it. I rotated them very frequently because of a vibration that was suspected. Since finding out it is just the trucks ways and not the wheels I left it alone since. I noticed that there has always been a pull to the right when I let go of the wheel. I never payed any real attention to it because I figured it was the slope of the roads for water run off. Its been about 5,000 miles since the last rotation and I was checking the wear of the tires and all of the tires still look brand new except for one. The front passenger tire. It is missing about 1/8 of an inch more than the rest. The tires are directional so there are right side tires and left side. The tire that is on the passanger rear right now only has a few thousand miles on it because the previous tire had a slash and it was replaced with a new free tire, and the new tire still looks new. I don't burnout. Sometimes I will mess around when it rains and the streets are wet, but thats it.

Is this common wear? Does it sound like my front end is out of allignment and it wearing this one tire more?

 

alignment would be the first thing i'd have checked out

 

Me too.
My truck came from the dealership with tow in.It drove fine but after a few thousand miles the tire wear indicated it was towed in.FWIW,my friend owns an alignment shop and he noticed my tire wear one day while he was looking at my truck.

 

would that cause the one tire to wear and not the other?

 

You can have the toe off on one side and only effect that one tire. But what I wonder about is the amount of wear you refer to. Plus when the toe setting is off you get a feathering effect typically on the inner or outer edges of the tire (depends on if it's toe in or toe out).

Regardless of the actual cause of the problem. You need to get your front end checked out. Not just an alignment. A good alignment guy will do a check prior to an alignment, but these days there's not enough of these good guys out there any longer. They'll just put the truck on the rack and half way thru the alignment they'll tell you we can't do it because .... is worn or damaged.

Is your tire wear even across the tire or do you have other characteristics that can be seen? But go get this checked out.

 

It seems to be straight across the tire. I measured the differences in the middle. There isn't any extra wear on the edges.

 

My 06 is doing exactly what you speak of. The outside edge of the front passenger tire, feathers after about 3k miles. Ford told me that this is "normal" and I have to rotate them (Bull*****). They told me they checked my alignment and its within spec. GuessI will have to take it in to a good alignment guy.
Rich

 

At this stage, I would say it is important to 'read' the tire...notice just how it is wearing. I don't believe the OP ever said? But is the wear even across the tread or mainly on the inboard, center, outside edge...is it only on one edge of the tire or both, does it look like normal wear and the tread is just gone, or is the tread actually 'feathered'. You also mention balancing issues - a good tire shop should be able to balance wheels...maybe if you are running 44" super swampers or something, but any normal wheel / tire combo shouldn't vibrate, unless you have something wrong somewhere...bent or broken suspension components, bad tire, bent wheel, bad wheel bearings, etc.

 

You need an alignment.

 

I just checked again and didn't see any feathering, and the wear seems to be normal patterns, but it is wearing to fast. I do remember that my last oil change they marked on the paper that three of the brake pad sets had more than 5mm left on them and this same wheel had 3mm-5mm. So the brake pads are wearing quicker, but I don't know the difference in the pad wear. Could the one caliper be grabbing harder some how? IDK. Im going over to Ford tommorow.

 

The alignment checked out alright and the suspected cause was over inflation of the tires. The tires were inflated to specs for heavier trucks. They lowered the psi down to like 30, fronts were 38 and rears were like 33-35, and it rides a lot better. Its much smoother, the vibration in the steering wheel is about half of what it used to be, and it doesn't track the road nearly as much. Since they are directional tires also it was causeing all of them to feather a little and were starting to cup.

So It seems to be working out, and feels alot better on the road. Just hope over inflation is the cause of this.

 

I thought overinflation caussed the tire to wear in the middle of the tread?

 

I hope that solves it, but it still sounds like something else is the issue. Why do you have vibration in your steering wheel? I have none. and vibration isn't normal. does it appear at all speeds or just certain speeds?

I always run all my tires at 42-45 psi. Not just this truck, but the last 3 or 4. The ride is rougher, but the tires hold up better IMO. they wear evenly and don't cup or bow. granted my truck right now is heavier than yours, but I've been doing it for years without issues.

are your tires P or LT rated? It almost sounds like you have P tires from your post about the lower tire PSI.

 

Take a look at this TSB.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/full...hp?tsb=05-26-7

 

Heres another TSB

https://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/full...p?tsb=05-26-24