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Tire Wear

jdouthit

By jdouthit
in Ask A GM Technician

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jdouthit Enthusiast

jdouthit

Posted
Posted

I purchased a 2004 Yukon XL LTJ with 28000 miles that is have some tire wear problems. The wear is on the inside of the tire. I spoke with the dealer about it (non GM) and there shop guy explained that the previous owner did not rotate the tires often enough. I know that this "can" make the problem worst, but not like this. I told him I had an Honda van that I have not rotate the tires for 48000 miles and there is even wear on all tires. He tired to tell me that the Honda is ...hum....better.....Hum.... Anyway the Yukon is still under warranty and I went to a large GMC dealership and they checked the alignment and said it was out a little but not that bad. They corrected it. They also told me that this type of wear is normal. I just can't buy that. It has the factory Bridgestone's P265x70x17 tires. I have never had a vehicle with this kind of wear on the tires so I am concern that there could be other problems. Also tire pressure is 32/33.

 

Any thoughs...

 

Thanks

Jerry

drumset5994 Enthusiast

drumset5994

Posted
Posted

I've got the same thing...a small inch-wide strip down the middle of the tire thats almost bald. Shocks were bad on mine...dunno if that means anything.

mikez Enthusiast

mikez

Posted
Posted

I have those same tires on my 2005 GMC CC Z71 and was running about 35 psi in the tires and they were showing what I thought was abnormal wear. I figured that I would try running a little more air in them, so I'm running 38 psi in them now and they seem to be wearing alot better now. I would not run any more than that though because when the tires get hot they increase in pressure about 5-6 psi.

snoman Senior Enthusiast

snoman

Posted
Posted
I purchased a 2004 Yukon XL LTJ with 28000 miles that is have some tire wear problems.  The wear is on the inside of the tire.  I spoke with the dealer about it (non GM) and there shop guy explained that the previous owner did not rotate the tires often enough.  I know that this "can" make the problem worst, but not like this.  I told him I had an Honda van that I have not rotate the tires for 48000 miles and there is even wear on all tires.  He tired to tell me that the Honda is ...hum....better.....Hum....  Anyway the Yukon is still under warranty and I went to a large GMC dealership and they checked the alignment and said it was out a little but not that bad.  They corrected it.  They also told me that this type of wear is normal.  I just can't buy that.  It has the factory Bridgestone's P265x70x17 tires.  I have never had a vehicle with this kind of wear on the tires so I am concern that there could be other problems.  Also tire pressure is 32/33.

 

Any thoughs...

 

Thanks

Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

This suggests a alignment issue. You either have too much toe out or improper camber on front wheels. (or a combo of both). Find you a good alignment shop that has a tech that really knows this stuff and show them your concerns and they should beable to "tweak" the alignment to help because sometimes factory specs do not cut it. Have them add more positive chamber to front end (I cannot say how much with seeing tires) and set about 1/16 of a inch of toein and it should fix problem. Positive chamber tips the top of tire away from engine and moves load to proper part of tread while toein counter act the tendancy of wheels to toe out wheel rolling. Front end caster has little to no effect on tire wear but it can greatly effect handing at times.

jdouthit Enthusiast

jdouthit

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Just wanted to say thanks for your replys.

 

I spoke with the dealer again and they are telling me this is normal.

 

I am going to speak to another dealer...

 

Thanks

 

Jerry

snoman Senior Enthusiast

snoman

Posted
Posted
Just wanted to say thanks for your replys.

 

I spoke with the dealer again and they are telling me this is normal.

 

I am going to speak to another dealer...

 

Thanks

 

Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

It may be normal for that car but it is not normal. It is likely that the bigger wheel has a different offset than stock wheels that load suspension differently and requires a different camber angle (more positive) Be prepared to fuss about it and understand that if they tell you that it is a OEM spec that you want them to add more camber because OEM is not cutting it. If you aver look at the tires ona old Ford 4x4 pickup with a TTB front axle (swing axle) you will see the tires are usually worn funny because you cannot really adjust camber on the front axle and the camber angle varies a lot with load and eats up the tires quickly sometimes. Camber has a big role in even tire wear.

Draenor Senior Enthusiast

Draenor

Posted
Posted
Just wanted to say thanks for your replys.

 

I spoke with the dealer again and they are telling me this is normal.

 

I am going to speak to another dealer...

 

Thanks

 

Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

It may be normal for that car but it is not normal. It is likely that the bigger wheel has a different offset than stock wheels that load suspension differently and requires a different camber angle (more positive) Be prepared to fuss about it and understand that if they tell you that it is a OEM spec that you want them to add more camber because OEM is not cutting it. If you aver look at the tires ona old Ford 4x4 pickup with a TTB front axle (swing axle) you will see the tires are usually worn funny because you cannot really adjust camber on the front axle and the camber angle varies a lot with load and eats up the tires quickly sometimes. Camber has a big role in even tire wear.

 

 

 

 

 

I had the same problem. Bad camber. I always wear the outside of the tires out. They were in spec, but not really correct. I just went to a good alignment shop and had them remove some camber. Corrected the problem. (for a while, a-arm bushing are going bad now ).

 

I always hated that TTB setup too.

ChevyTech007 Enthusiast

ChevyTech007

Posted
Posted

I hate to admit it, but a lot of shops just set the toe and let it go. You just need to find one that will take the time to do it correctly. Your set up is about the easiest to adjust.

C & A s Dad Senior Enthusiast

C & A s Dad

Posted
Posted

I agree with Snoman. I have an 02 Yukon XL that I bought with 39,000 on the odo and the inside of the Firestones were cupped and worn while the rest of the tire looked new. I had the alignment done at a very reputable shop and increased my tire pressure to 37PSI. A really good tire guy who owns a Goodyear franchise in my area told me that he sends all new P rated tires out the door at a minimum of 38PSI cold pressure. I have done this on my company Dodge Caravan and my Wife's Yukon XL and it seems to help the wear and the ride. It certainly helps the mileage.

 

One other thing, if you ask others with Burbans, Tahoes, Yukons etc., you will find that 80% will tell you that are experiencing the same wear. I was told that it has something to do with the Torsion Bar front suspension. It seems that this suspension requires more frequent tire rotation.

snoman Senior Enthusiast

snoman

Posted
Posted
One other thing, if you ask others with Burbans, Tahoes, Yukons etc., you will find that 80% will tell you that are experiencing the same wear. I was told that it has something to do with the Torsion Bar front suspension. It seems that this suspension requires more frequent tire rotation.

 

 

 

 

 

I feel that this torsion bar issue is related only in that as suspension sags, it causes wheel to get more negative camber which will cause wear on inside of tire. If the proper camber is set it wiil not be a problem. Sometime some common sense is needed here and more camber than factory giude lines because if it is wearing the inside of tire, it does need more camber, regardless of what factor specs say.

jdouthit Enthusiast

jdouthit

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks again for the help.

 

I am taken this in again Monday to a different dealer. I sure hope they are better at this than the last one. They are going to do a 4 wheel alignment and hopefully get this resolved. This thing only has 31K miles.

 

Thanks

Jerry

snoman Senior Enthusiast

snoman

Posted
Posted
Thanks again for the help.

 

I am taken this in again Monday to a different dealer.  I sure hope they are better at this than the last one.  They are going to do a 4 wheel alignment and hopefully get this resolved.  This thing only has 31K miles.

 

Thanks

Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

If they do not add more positive chamber with the correct amount of toein, it will return. Ask for a copy of the current alignment of vehicle and one after it is realigned to see what you had and what they did. (most of the better alignment racks have the abilty to make hard copies of before and after for several years now.)

  • 1 month later...
Rapiti Enthusiast

Rapiti

Posted
Posted

This problem is a plague on 2wd 1/2 ton SUVs, Avalanches, and some pickups.

 

I initially wrote it off to OEM Firestones, but the C-rated LTXs I put on are starting to chop as well (less than the Firestones.)

 

I am running 45psi in LT 265/75-16 Michelin LTX tires, and the fronts show signs of chopping or ramping on the inner and outer row of tread blocks.

 

These tires weren't cheap, but I thought they would be the answer, as I had great results with them on other vehicles. If this is an endemic problem, I will just put cheap Korean tires on.

 

I am rotating the fronts diagonally to the rear, and the rears forward on the same side. Sorry, i don't know the lingo.

 

I have heard that some people have had good results with heavier tie rod ends, but what do you think?

TEE Enthusiast

TEE

Posted
Posted

Also keep in mind that the "factory setting" is based on the narrowest tire size.

In other words.....if it has anything wider than a 195, there's a possibility the camber is set to that standard and is usually + or - 1 degree or more.

I went round and round with GM and a 91 S-10 that 245's on it from the factory.

It wore the first set out in 10K...the second set wore out in 8K and GM still couldn't see the light :confused:

Took it to a GOOD alignment shop and had it set to 0 and problem solved :crazy:

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