The outsides of the front tires that were on my LATE '99 F350 Dually when I got it were wearing kind of weird-(NOT FROM over or under inflation, I don't think) they were wearing so you could see a rough edge kind of forming, if you rubbed your hand towards the rear (counter-clock wise) you could feel a sharpness, uneven-ness, when you rubbed CLOCK-Wise they felt smooth, I have had other Ford trucks do this before and it was corrected by a good alignment.
The first tires were Michelins, and I admiditly put on a cheaper Cooper H/T 23580R16E, (Its a 2wd)
The truck drives well steers well and brakes well with no pulling, shaking or anything......I'm thinking about taking it to a BIG RIG shop such as International and have then allign it......anyone done this?? I'm thinking that the kids at my local hometown tire dealer just don't know how to allign the Ford Twin I-Beam suspension correctly, I want to catch this before I reuin my current front tires.
I am wondering if Ford changed the specs from EARLY 1999s to say the 2003s and may be my LATE 1999 has been aligned all along using specs for an EARLY truck??? comments/suggestions?? Thanks!

 

Giving myself a bump here and a correction:BOTH the inside and outside edges have this "sharp" wear when rubbing towards the back of the truck: the passengers side would be counter-clock wise, and the drivers side would be clock-wise......my truck has has new Monroe HD gas shocks installed since I've had it-(before the alignment)(at the same time the new tires were installed) and I invited these guys to check my front end 9 ways to Sunday to see if anything were loose and to fix it or replace it before the alignment, they said all was well.......

 

Jack up the truck and check for worn ball joints.

Under/overinflation will cause either the center or the outside to wear unevenly - but underinflation will not be typically just 1 side.

Ball joints can cause the symptom you speak of, as can a failing tie rod end. If you had spots that were worn (Not evenly around the tire), that can be cause by worn out shocks.

To check balljoints, raise the wheel, grab at 6 and 12 (points on the clock) and try to move up and down & in and out. It is most helpful to have someone pull on the wheel while you watch the joints for movement.

To check tie rod ends, raise the wheel, and grab at 3 and 9 - trying to turn the wheel either direction. Any movement warrants a tie rod end changing. Also, reach under and grab the tierod end - try to move it up and down. Again, any slop warrants replacement.

I had the ball joint issue on my 2wd SD causing cupping on the inside of the tread and general uneven wear. I had them replaced nearly 3 years ago at 48,000 miles. Sadly enough, I just had an alignment done today (I replaced a tie rod end, myself of course) and the shop found (and showed me) that the lower joints are due again. As cheap as the joints themselves are, it makes since to do upper and lower at the same time.

I will be doing my own this time.

As far as not trusting a local shop, I am becoming less and less impressed with some area shops. I had one (last weekend) that only inflated my Load range E tires that I had them install to 40PSI on my 3/4 ton truck! The tires say 80PSI and the door sticker says 55PSI F,65PSI R. C'mon now! At least the lug nuts were tight I guess. I am doing everything that I can do on my own from here on out.

 

Thanks for the great reply!!! I'm going to check it out!!

 

Did you have the problem with the Michelins? My opinion is it the Cooper tires.. My Factory Generals did the same thing for 25K on my dually until I switched to Michelin.. No problem since... It's the way the mfg designs the inter belts which causes the uneven wear..
But, yes check out your front end for wear, etc..

 

I had the stock Bridgestone Steeltex tires that cupped.

 

Hi Supercab,

Did you solve your front end problem ? I got a '02 CC 4x4 DRW and have the same problem on my new, 3,000 miles old, Michelins. Both front tires, inside and outsides, are wearing exactly like you described. At the time of switching to new tires I also got new ball joints and alignment. The rest of the suspension was ok, the shocks are Rancho 9000's. I'm getting ready to send the truck back to the alignment shop for rotation and alignment check but I got a feeling something else is going on.........

Marek

 

How much air pressure are you running? I keep 70 lbs in the front on my michelins and they are wearing even after 20 K mile on them..

 

clintbonnie,

Right now i'm at 63# all the way around. I tried more, but my kids don't like the ride. My shocks are set at 4 front, 3 back.......... The allignment was checked twice...Left camber -.03 deg., Right -.04 deg; Total Toe .14 deg (left -.08, right +.06) The tires are Michelins LTX2 235/85/16........

Thanks for feedback...........

Marek