Anti-Spin Rapid Rear Tire Wear

[DDrenkhahn]

Before my first tire rotation, I noticed that my rear tires are wearing much faster than the fronts. At 6500 miles I had lost 3mm (1/8in) of tread on the rear and 1mm on the front. The wearing is nice and even with no cupping, but at this rate I will need 4 new tires at about 15,000 miles. Ouch! I complained to the dealership, but they say everything is ok and that I should rotate my tires every 5000 miles. I could rotate my tires everyday and the wear rate would be the same. I was also told that the factory puts low quality tires on new trucks. Are Michelins junk? My guess is that the clutch preload in the differential is too tight. Has anybody else had this kind of trouble?

 

[CRegal]

Did you check your tyre pressures? I found that excessive wear usually went with high rear pressures with no weight in the bed.



I usually run mine around 55lbs with no weight in the rear and that seems to work well. Also 265's from the dealarship??

I thought the standard was 235's in the rear, or at least that is what is on mine.



Cole

 

[DDrenkhahn]

CRegal

I assume you have dual tires with the 3500. I forgot to mention that I have a 2500. I have updated my signature. I have the factory 16x8 wheels which take the 265s. I currently run the tire pressures at about 65-70psi. I will try dropping this down and see what happens. As a side note, right after I bought the truck, the front tires looked really low. The tire inflation chart recommends 45 psi up front and 40 psi for the rear with a light load for the 265s and 55 front and 70 rear for a full load. With the truck empty and 45psi in the front tires you tend to go every which way but straight, especially on rough road. I found that 65-70 gives the best handling. There is just something about running a tire at half its maximum pressure that makes me feel uneasy. I'll give the 55 a try for the rears. Thanks for your input.

 

[FAllen]

Noticing the same phenomena with the rear tires on my 99 with auto trans. Have around 24,000 now and the rears are worn twice as much as the fronts. They are the Michelin 245's and are worn more in the centers. Dropped the pressure to 45 psi when not towing to see if I can even out the wear. Been running 55 psi in the fronts full time.

 

[BigMike]

I had to replace my Michelins at around 30k. Rears were worn down to 3/32 and fronts still had 8/32. I made a mistake in not rotating them, but that still seemed to be awful fast wear. Mine were evenly worn as well. I assumed it was because of the light rear end and perodic spinning in gravel as well as towing, although I don't tow all that frequently. I'll be watching my new tires carefully and rotating every 5K. Hope that helps me get at least 50k out of my new tires.

 

[chuck3]

No proplems here with 24000 miles, I think I can go another 30k or so.

 

[BigMike]

Chuck, Are you doing any towing. I've got to believe that added weight in the rear may account for some additonal wear.

 

[dan_gilson]

What my tire guy says...

On my 2500 I went way too long without

rotating. My long time tire guy reminded

me to rotate at least every 7500 miles

and 5K would be more preferred. The

tires were worn in much the pattern that

you described.



On my 3500 I have been doing that and

I have 55K on the tires and they are

still going strong. Basically, do and

oil change and rotate the tires.



Also, on the 2500 I found that

I broke the rear end loose (not even

trying) more than I wanted. Especially

when wet. I am really easy on on the

take offs. I want to get the

clutch ingaged before pushing more go

pedal.



The duals on the 3500 seem to stick much

better. Tire pressures that I am running

are 58 front and 40 rear. I had to up the

fronts from 50 because I was not getting

the same wear across the tire. It was more

on the sholders and less in the center telling

me that I did not have enough pressure. The

rears feel a little spongy but wear looks

good and I am not getting much heat from them

(at least as not as much as the front).



Most of the time I am basically unloaded with only

a couple of hundred pounds in the bed.

 

[chuck3]

Towing.

BigMike I do tow some, not a lot! I tow a TT that weights somewhere around 7000lbs 27ft. I allso keep my tire pressure up around 60 to 65 psi. chuck.

 

[FourBarR]

tire wear with antispin

my truck has 157000 km. or nearly 100000 mi replaced original tires at 94000mi and were not down to wear bars yet . they were goodyear . just installed michelin ltx 245/ 75/16 e . I use 50 psi all round and rotate every 6 to 8000 mi. recomended pressure for max . weight is 50 front 80 rear. hope this is helpful.

 

[FDziurda]

40,000 miles on my original Michelins and still have plenty of life in them. I run 45 in the rears and 58 in the fronts. Rotate every 10,000 miles (not often enuff but I'm lazy). Probably could get another 20,000 out of them but like to have plenty of tread when the snow comes, so will probably change them before Winter gets here.

 

[Deezul1]

My Michelins only lasted 80,000 on the rear but the fronts still have 30% rubber. 265/75/16. When I have the windows down quite often I can hear the tires sqawk going around a corner from a stop and I am not getting on it either. I think the rotating doesnt prevent wear just spreads it to all 4 tires evenl, I believe the LSD does contribute to wear. The article in the new TDR about the 1. 1 milion mile truck said they were getting 200,000 miles on tires, going straight doesnt wear em out bad at all.

 

[HC]

The Michelins are NOT junk! I've got over 57k on two, 47k on the other two (lost a couple due to steel in the road). NEVER rotated, and still have quite a bit of wear left. I'd like a more aggressive tread, but may have to go back with the same tire just because the service has been so good.



I run higher pressure than others, and have an "open" rear end. I think you are right that your clutch pack is on the "tight" end, but after reading posts from others that have "loose" set ups, they are NOT happy campers because their limited slip slips too much. I'd say do as others suggest - rotate, adjust pressures. I would add one thing - add an extra bottle of the LSD anti-friction additive. It should loosen you up, without risking letting the monkeys into your differential, where they might do more harm than good. And if you don't like the results, you can reverse them by just changing the fluid again.

 

[DocStressor]

I'll second what HC just said. The LS rear ends seem to be all over the place in terms of "tightness". And they will cause a lot of rear tire wear if they are too tight. Your under warantee, so ask your dealer to check the amount of torque required to turn each wheel with the other wheel on the ground. Even if you are still within specs but near the high end of the range you might add more friction modifier.

 

[BV]

Rear Tire Wear

So... To recap what has already been said.

1. The LSD will scuff the tires more especially if you power through the corners. I try to coast or take corners under minimum power.

2. Rotate every 5-10,000 to wear them all evenly.

3. Air pressure should be around 50 unloaded.



I have followed these suggestions since new and now have 26,000 with about 1/2 the tread left so that works out to replacement around 45-50,000. That's not bad for a peacup tire that tows and hauls and goes off road.

 

[Bigramguy]

Just a quick note to check tire circumference. If one tire is larger than the other (at equal pressures),it will be dragged along if the LSD is strong enough. We have several pro street cars with spooled (locked) rears,and they will burn off a tire in 200 Miles if they aren't the same size. You can't go by pressure alone on these cars,you have to measure. Just take a tape measure and hook it into one of the treads and roll it around to measure the circumference,you'll be suprised at the difference from tire to tire. Then you can match the tires and put the two closest on the rear. Changing air pressure a few pounds will also affect the size. It will probably have a negligible affect on a truck,but it is certainly worth a try. Also when you buy new tires,ask if you can pick 4 out of the pile that are fairly close in size,it will help,both the life of the tires and the LSD.

 

[DDrenkhahn]

I got more response than I thought I would. Thanks to all. By the way, I did a little check on the rear end. I jacked up the right rear tire and basically grabbed it and tried to rotate it. After pushing the truck and floor jack, I chocked the front wheels. It took everything I had to turn the wheel, but it did break loose for a little bit. I noticed that the manual says the rotating torque should be between 30 and 200 ft-lb. Thats quite a range. I think I'm closer to the high end if not past it. I guess there is a Mopar tool that allows you to get a torque wrench on the axle or you can make your own. I think I'll hit up the salesman and see if he can make something happen. The service department doesn't seem to be interested into looking into warranty complaints. They drive the truck around and say everything is ok. Gee, that makes me feel better.

 

[FAB]

Rear Michelins

DDrenkhahn

My rear Michelins are wearing as rapidly as yours seem to be; even though I do not have the LSD, the right rear seems to take some serious abuse from normal acceleration. On a wet road, I can easily break the rear tires loose in fifth gear. I think long tire mileage depends on personal driving habits, I like to use the torque available from the HO six speed all the time. So I doubt I'll see 25K from mine even with 5K mile rotation!

 

[dan_gilson]

More on tire circumference

I had totally forgotten about tire

circumference.



A "good" tire guy can "match" (make all

your tires the same circumference) by using

a special grinding machine. This will

also make you tires roll absolutely round.



Both of these will help you tire life.

I know it seems counter intuitive to

take a brand new tire and grind some tread

from it but it works.



I bought 2 sets of the same brand of tires

for an old honda accrord. The 2nd set I had

matched and got about 18K more miles from them.



Tire matching will typically add about

$20/tire to mounting and balenancing.



Do not believe some tire shops that say this

void the tire warrenty. That is just bull.

Just go some where else because that shop is

now up to date on the latest tire stuff.



If your normaly car tire shop does not have

the equipment try a truck shop.

The 18 wheelers have been doing this for years!