I have a 1989 e350 with dual rear wheels. It is an old U-Haul truck. All four rear tires wear excessively on the inside edge. The front tires wear evenly.

My first thought was that I was running it with too much weight. So I had it weighed. It is supposed to weigh 7600 empty and I am running 10100, which I find hard to believe but that's what the weight ticket read.

Then I went to a fellow at a local alignment shop and told me that the rear axle tube is bent backward. He didn't do any measuring he just looked at it.

I just can't bring myself to believe that the axle housing bent the same amount on both sides. The tires wear pretty much the same on both sides. He says I need a new rear axle.

Anybody ever hear of this before?

Since it is a work truck I really can't remove too much weight. No tools, no work, but that's where I am gonna start.

Also, any chance the wheel bearings could be the problem? They don't make noise that I can hear but the truck does have almost 200k miles on it.

Any comments / suggestions would be appreciated

 

Generally if the wheel bearings your wheelseals would be looking, but it wouldn,t be hard to jack up one side at a time and eliminate the bearings.
What size and load range tires are you running, What air pressure are you running.

 

I am running 215-85R16 tires at 80psi - the max. 235's won't fit in the fender well and they rub together. I also have an 88 Motorhome on the same chassis (e-350) that runs the same tires with no problem. It weighs more than the truck.

I did jack up one side and got a bar underneath the tire. When I put upward pressure on the bar I think the wheel moved (not just the tire, but the rim)

 

With it having been an old U-Haul truck - anything's possible regarding the axle. I'd get under there with a straight edge and a tape measure and check the axle tubes. I would think that if the axle tubes were bent, you might have trouble pulling the axles.

David

 

> All four rear tires wear excessively on the inside edge

Before I read all of your message, when I saw this, I thought "axle bent". Reason being the inner tire does wear more then all the others, that is why you rotate it to the front. But, if all four wear on the inside edge, your axle is most likely bowed from being overloaded.

Other thing to check is how the axle is aligned, it might be cocked to one side, you may have broken springs. If they are, you are basically dragging the axle sideways down the road, this would wear all four tires on the outside or inside at a very fast weight.

Assuming the axle is bad, I would say go to a junkyard and get a Dana 70/80 from a E-350 pass. bus. The bus chassis is usually rated at 12-14,400 and do not see an overload, ever.

U-Haul type vans are usually too low to the ground and chassis to fit a two speed rear end from a F-450 series, so you might want to skip that.

 

i would also check the suspension for a broken leaf...ive had the same problems with vans/trucks and the suspension was always the problem

 

Update on my severe tire wear.

I had to buy a new tire so I went to a place that also does alignment, ball joints, wheel bearings, etc.. I also noticed that the passenger side rear axle cap showed signs of leaking.

I asked them for their opinion on the tire wear problem and they said it could be a bent axle but they also put a bar under the rear tire and pulled up. They confirmed what I thought I saw; movement in the wheel. He said the wheel was a little loose but not bad. I asked if that was like being a little bit pregnant. That is, loose is loose and probably not desireable.

I think I'll change the wheel bearings before I do anything else. Then check the suspension, then worry about the axle.

 

On a full floater rear end, the axle seals don't leak when the bearing go bad. You can check the bearings without replacing them. They are standard tapered wheel bearings.

I too think the axle is bent. That was my first thought. And the "two sides bent the same amount" doesn't matter. The rear end will track slightly offset to correct for one side being bent.