wear on outer edge of tire...problem?

[dirko]

Hi Ho: At the annual safety inspection the technician pointed out wear on the outer edge of only the right front tire. There is about 45,000 miles on the rig and still lots of tread (maybe 5/32 or 6/32) on the tires, but the outer edge is worn a little more and is wavey. There are no cracks in the tires.

Is this a problem? Is it caused by misalignment? Should I put on the spare or just watch this tire?

Dirk

[Hikerdogs]

I would take it to a heavy duty truck shop for an alignment. The 2 most common things that cause outer tire edge wear are too much toe in or too much positive camber.

The Ford specs have a great deal of latitude. Both times our front tires began to wear the alignment was still within Ford specs. Some F53 chassis will never show tire wear as long as the alignment is within specs. Others (like ours) seem to be sensitive and need to be more precise. If yours is sensitive an experienced truck alignment technician will bring the toe in to the absolute minimum of 1/32* and set the camber on both wheels as close to neutral as possible. This should minimize tire wear and still give you complete control and a good feel of the road.

Even after the alignment is corrected the tire will continue to wear unless it is fliped on the rim and rebalanced. In this case moving the worn edge to the inside. It costs an aditional $30.00 - $50.00 depending on where you have it done, but it will help ensure you get the maximum mileage from the tire.

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirko Is this a problem? Is it caused by misalignment? Should I put on the spare or just watch this tire? Dirk

In order, YES, with qualification, and NO.

as to the Qualification

In theory you could ear the outer edge by being in exactly the right spot reference the curb.. In practice I don't think that is possible.