Unusual tire wear pattern

[cpaharley2008]

The wheels are supposed to be balanced.....

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

It looks like I have a cupping problem on my passenger side.

Alignment doesn't look like the problem: I took a straight edge and laid it along the sides of the tires and that looked OK within a 1/8", I measured the distance between the axles from hub to hub on both sides and they are within a 1/16". Checked the bearings and they are both good.

Please look at these pics and let me know what you think. I'm guessing out of balance. My next step, unless someone has a better idea, is to mount the spare in the front passenger side and see if it goes away.

Oh, the driver side tires are wearing flat.

The tires don’t look like a lost cause to me......yet.
Is there any lead ( wheel weights) on either tire indicating they were balanced? If not I’d take them in and have the balance checked. Same with the spare if there are no wheel weights on that one, I would get that one done too. Second I would make sure the inflation on all the tires are inflated equally and to within a couple pounds of the max to make sure the centers are doing their share of the work. Finally if possible get a reading on loaded weights side to side. If bearings are tight and good and axles are true and aligned properly, ( toe in and toe out) many times balance or inflation are culprits. Hope you can figure it out.
Iowa Dave

[Kingfish]

I experienced a cupping/flat spot issue on one tire after I adjusted the brakes. I assumed I had one adjusted too tight and it was grabbing.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Kingfish

I experienced a cupping/flat spot issue on one tire after I adjusted the brakes. I assumed I had one adjusted too tight and it was grabbing.

Thanks, brakes might be a culprit as I just adjusted the brakes about 5k ago. I'll check them again.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

The tires don’t look like a lost cause to me......yet.
Is there any lead ( wheel weights) on either tire indicating they were balanced? If not I’d take them in and have the balance checked. Same with the spare if there are no wheel weights on that one, I would get that one done too. Second I would make sure the inflation on all the tires are inflated equally and to within a couple pounds of the max to make sure the centers are doing their share of the work. Finally if possible get a reading on loaded weights side to side. If bearings are tight and good and axles are true and aligned properly, ( toe in and toe out) many times balance or inflation are culprits. Hope you can figure it out.
Iowa Dave

I didn't see any weights but they may be on the back of the rims. I'll check them when it gets light. Tire pressure is 50 psi on all the tires - I check them each trip.

I'll check the brakes to see if I have them a little too tight and causing them to skip and if they are OK, get the tires balanced.

Thanks for the help.

[Rossue]

It seems counterintuitive, yet wheels that lock up are usually caused by brakes being too loose. That is because in that scenario when the brakes are activated the longer travel distance of the shoe to drum causes the shoe to slap against the drum and lock up the wheel- usually at low speed as when coiming to a stop.

[kfsmith]

Yesterday the axle replacement was completed and it looks to be good now. I was sure it looked out of alignment before. Dexter was great promptly replaced the axle and covered the labor and 75% of two tires (I had over 10K miles).
Heading our to the desert in January so I will let you know if the problem is fixed.

[TallyHo]

Originally Posted by kfsmith

Yesterday the axle replacement was completed and it looks to be good now. I was sure it looked out of alignment before. Dexter was great promptly replaced the axle and covered the labor and 75% of two tires (I had over 10K miles).
Heading our to the desert in January so I will let you know if the problem is fixed.

What kind of shop did the work for you? RV shop or trailer/tire shop?
Glad you've gotten things worked out.

[kfsmith]

I used a local tire shop that has a commercial division St Lucie Battery and Tire. I've used them before and was always satisfied.