Excessive tire wear - from leveling?

[Nels]

I bought my truck with 20,000 miles. Now has 74,000. Had the dealer install a 2" Readylift level at time of purchase. Replaced OEM tires with 285/60/20 BFG KO2's on at 30,000. Front end alignment done then.

Front swaybar links have needed to be replaced twice since. Paid by dealer both times.

In the last say 5,000 miles I've seen significant wear on the outside edge of both front tires. Is this an alignment issue? Swaybar link issue? Tire balancing?
With the swaybar link issues I've had, and now unusual tire wear, I am considering removing the leveling kit. Or maybe the factory UCA's are the issue? I am considering going to adjustable shocks hoping to get the sane look without the mechanical issues.

It's going to the dealer next week. They've been good about replacing failed end links in the past, so taking it back to them in case it's the same problem part again.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I bought my truck with 20,000 miles. Now has 74,000. Had the dealer install a 2" Readylift level at time of purchase. Replaced OEM tires with 285/60/20 BFG KO2's on at 30,000. Front end alignment done then.

Front swaybar links have needed to be replaced twice since. Paid by dealer both times.

In the last say 5,000 miles I've seen significant wear on the outside edge of both front tires. Is this an alignment issue? Swaybar link issue? Tire balancing?
With the swaybar link issues I've had, and now unusual tire wear, I am considering removing the leveling kit. Or maybe the factory UCA's are the issue? I am considering going to adjustable shocks hoping to get the sane look without the mechanical issues.

It's going to the dealer next week. They've been good about replacing failed end links in the past, so taking it back to them in case it's the same problem part again.

Did they give you a print out of the alignment specs? After 30k miles, wouldn't hurt to have alignment checked again. I doubt the seat bar has anything to do with the tire wear but you may want to look into the Suspensionmaxx endlinks.

If you did 2" lift and still have factory UCAs, probably wouldn't hurt to change them. The Mopar 2" lift comes with different UCAs.

 

[Rick3478]

Had the dealer install a 2" Readylift level at time of purchase. Replaced OEM tires with 285/60/20 BFG KO2's on at 30,000. Front end alignment done then.

Front swaybar links have needed to be replaced twice since. Paid by dealer both times.

In the last say 5,000 miles I've seen significant wear on the outside edge of both front tires. Is this an alignment issue? Swaybar link issue? Tire balancing?

Trimmed a bit for brevity. Your 2" lift increases the angle of the control arms, especially the lowers. So now, up and down suspension movement causes a bit more angular movement of the control arms, which will:
1) increase swaybar link angular movement, and depending on bushing design may wear them out faster.
2) increase sideways scrubbing of the tires, which is magnified a bit by taller tires - and - the tires will be scrubbing outward when the suspension presses up under heavier load, but scrubbing inward as the suspension falls under lighter load. So this will tend to wear the outer edges of the tires off faster.

Adjustable shocks instead of the spacers won't help if it doesn't correct the suspension geometry.

Alignment may help, especially if you alter the angles to be more compatible with the lift, and an offroad shop may know better how to do that than the OEM dealer.

A lift kit with K-member extension brackets that relocate the lower control arm pivots would do more to correct lifted suspension geometry.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

I bought my truck with 20,000 miles. Now has 74,000. Had the dealer install a 2" Readylift level at time of purchase. Replaced OEM tires with 285/60/20 BFG KO2's on at 30,000. Front end alignment done then.

Front swaybar links have needed to be replaced twice since. Paid by dealer both times.

In the last say 5,000 miles I've seen significant wear on the outside edge of both front tires. Is this an alignment issue? Swaybar link issue? Tire balancing?
With the swaybar link issues I've had, and now unusual tire wear, I am considering removing the leveling kit. Or maybe the factory UCA's are the issue? I am considering going to adjustable shocks hoping to get the sane look without the mechanical issues.

It's going to the dealer next week. They've been good about replacing failed end links in the past, so taking it back to them in case it's the same problem part again.

Alignment ( probably worn ball joints ) and I would highly suggest grabbing leveling struts and new UCA's since it has that many miles and for a better ride. Also spacers cause issues and worse thing for leveling/lifting.

 

[Nels]

Did they give you a print out of the alignment specs? After 30k miles, wouldn't hurt to have alignment checked again. I doubt the seat bar has anything to do with the tire wear but you may want to look into the Suspensionmaxx endlinks.

If you did 2" lift and still have factory UCAs, probably wouldn't hurt to change them. The Mopar 2" lift comes with different UCAs.

I don't remember if they gave me a printout of the alignment. I'll have to check my files. I keep everything from everything.

 

[Nels]

Trimmed a bit for brevity. Your 2" lift increases the angle of the control arms, especially the lowers. So now, up and down suspension movement causes a bit more angular movement of the control arms, which will:
1) increase swaybar link angular movement, and depending on bushing design may wear them out faster.
2) increase sideways scrubbing of the tires, which is magnified a bit by taller tires - and - the tires will be scrubbing outward when the suspension presses up under heavier load, but scrubbing inward as the suspension falls under lighter load. So this will tend to wear the outer edges of the tires off faster.

Adjustable shocks instead of the spacers won't help if it doesn't correct the suspension geometry.

Alignment may help, especially if you alter the angles to be more compatible with the lift, and an offroad shop may know better how to do that than the OEM dealer.

A lift kit with K-member extension brackets that relocate the lower control arm pivots would do more to correct lifted suspension geometry.

Thank you for a detailed explanation. There's a lot here to unpack for a novice like me. I'll dig into it.

 

[Nels]

Alignment ( probably worn ball joints ) and I would highly suggest grabbing leveling struts and new UCA's since it has that many miles and for a better ride. Also spacers cause issues and worse thing for leveling/lifting.

I've debated moving into a newer truck so the investment into different suspension components now wouldn't make sense. BUT I think I've talked myself into driving this truck for another 50k or so. So I just might follow your advice, and that of others by having the alignment checked more frequently.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

My 19 has around same mileage and will be getting suspension upgrades, plus tune-up come Spring. UCA, Struts, Shocks, Rear Control Arms, Sway bar links and checking other parts.

I hate how this thing rides, like a boat!!

 

[H2OMAN]

Trimmed a bit for brevity. Your 2" lift increases the angle of the control arms, especially the lowers. So now, up and down suspension movement causes a bit more angular movement of the control arms, which will:
1) increase swaybar link angular movement, and depending on bushing design may wear them out faster.
2) increase sideways scrubbing of the tires, which is magnified a bit by taller tires - and - the tires will be scrubbing outward when the suspension presses up under heavier load, but scrubbing inward as the suspension falls under lighter load. So this will tend to wear the outer edges of the tires off faster.

Adjustable shocks instead of the spacers won't help if it doesn't correct the suspension geometry.

Alignment may help, especially if you alter the angles to be more compatible with the lift, and an offroad shop may know better how to do that than the OEM dealer.

A lift kit with K-member extension brackets that relocate the lower control arm pivots would do more to correct lifted suspension geometry.

Everyone looking to do this needs to pay attention to this^^^.

 

[Scap]

My 21 with air suspension and zero mods is destroying the outer band of tread on my Michelin LTX at 31k of use on them with regular rotations.

I was thinking it was due to using Aero mode for all my driving.

Now I'm not so sure...

 

[HSKR R/T]

My 21 with air suspension and zero mods is destroying the outer band of tread on my Michelin LTX at 31k of use on them with regular rotations.

I was thinking it was due to using Aero mode for all my driving.

Now I'm not so sure...

That seems to be the theory with air suspension. The alignment can only be set in one suspension mode. So once the height changes from whatever position the alignment was done in, it is no longer accurate

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

My 21 with air suspension and zero mods is destroying the outer band of tread on my Michelin LTX at 31k of use on them with regular rotations.

I was thinking it was due to using Aero mode for all my driving.

Now I'm not so sure...

Aero mode I would think would wear the inside, not outside because it pulls the tires in from stock alignment.

 

[Scap]

Aero mode I would think would wear the inside, not outside because it pulls the tires in from stock alignment.

Not sure, but it seems like it is easier to steer corners in normal vs aero. So maybe using aero in the neighborhood isn't smart in the long run. I just didn't think going up and down all the time was the best for the life of the compressor.

 

[CHeYeNNe71]

Not sure, but it seems like it is easier to steer corners in normal vs aero. So maybe using aero in the neighborhood isn't smart in the long run. I just didn't think going up and down all the time was the best for the life of the compressor.

Yeah with tires being toed in from being lowered, you're fighting the neutral steering.