excessive and abnormal rear tire wear

[JSzewczyk]

My 2006 2500 Mega Cab has always gone through tires, especially on the rear axel. I do pull a fifth wheel tow hauler that has a king pin weight that equals the max cargo load available and the truck does squat under all that weight. I purchase 10 ply michelin LTX A2 and I do not get the tire wear that I have grown to expect from this tire. I run the tires at 80 PSI filled with nitrogen. I alo use a tire pressure monitoring system that displays tire pressure and they are always reading fine. The rear tires wear twice as fast as the front and they wear on the inner side treads more than the outer treads. My this I mean that the outer treads still have the slightest margin before the wear bar while the inner treads have nothing of the wear bar left. I have rotated the tires since new and these tires were wearing out in 35000 miles. After the first set my dealer got me a free set from michelin due to the wear problems. We also have had the dealer check the alignment at various milage intervals to ensure that it is correct. My tire dealer instructed me to stop rotating. He has seen other dodge diesel trucks with the same issue. He said that i would get twice the milage on the front and just replace the rear ones. His assesment is spot on. My front have half treads left and the rears are actually below the wear bar. Does anyone out there know of a common problem that I have not heard about or have a better explaination? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[LFalconer]

In my experience with both Dodge and Ford 2500 -- 3500 series trucks both SRW and DRW - when towing large and heavily loaded trailers, rear tire wear is faster than the front. You have a significant load - what % towing compared to unloaded does your truck run?

Candidly - if you prime purpose is towing at max weight, moving to a dually has advantages. I have owned both, but the stability and lesser tire wear is an advantage with a dually in the max towing situations. I have a large 25' flatbed I tow hay and other loads on, typically total trailer weight is 13 to 15K, it is a gooseneck, so pin weight is in the 3,000 lb range.

I have experienced dually tire wear in the rear being on par with the front tire wear, given the load distribution across 4 tires. Whereas in the single rear wheel trucks - I have been in similar situation of the tire wear on the rear being pronounced.

Of course driving style can significantly affect rear tire wear based on acceleration . . my current SRW 2006 Quad Cab with 10K miles on a new set of Nitto Terra Grapplers shows some difference front to rear. Although I do rotate at 5 K mile intervals. I run a 285/70 R17 LR E tire, which is rated for 3750 lbs. I have found a bit wider tire versus stock tends to wear less, likely due to the force being spread over a larger contact surface.

You may want to switch to the Michelin LTX M/S as I have had good mileage out of that brand, I have no direct experience with the AT2, but I understand that they don't wear as well from some of the research I did before getting the Nitto's.

Good Luck

Luke

 

[HBarlow]

Quote"I do pull a fifth wheel tow hauler that has a king pin weight that equals the max cargo load available and the truck does squat under all that weight. "Close Quote

Sounds like you're using the meaningless advertising brochure cargo weight figures instead of kingpin and rear axle loaded scale weight to determine actual loading.

Your sentence describes the problem. Your rear tires are overloaded when towing. Overloading probably causes the tread to squirm generating excessive heat and wear. It's a setup for a tire failure while towing at highway speed.

When I was transporting I ran about 135k miles per year. I used nothing but Michelin tires on a Ram dually and got more than 110k miles of service from each set of six tires with 98% highway use and regular rotation. The tires were never down to the wear bars and never down to the minimum 2mm tread depth standard established by DOT when I pulled them off. The tires were good for 115k or possibly even 120k miles.

I realize Ram 2500 owners don't want to hear it but the proper advice for safe heavy towing is always the same - buy a dually.

 

[Hoefler]

May also have a bent rear axle from the weight.

 

[Hoefler]

May also have a bent rear axle from the weight.

 

[jhenderson]

I've run 2500 4x4 rams sense 92. I currently have over 3/4 of a million miles in these trucks. I have always pulled heavy trailers for work. Current trailer is a PJ 14ft GN that grosses 18,500lbs. All my towing is on secondary roads, a lot of stop and go. From day 1 my trucks have all used 2 sets of rear tires for every 1 set on the front. Part of the problem is the tremendous torque these Cummins apply to the rear wheels. It peels the tread off the carcass.

 

[MChrist]

To the OP, you wrote something that could be taken two ways... you said the inner tread was wearing faster than the outer. . did you mean inner of each tire, or inner of the rear tires, meaning the inboard side of both vs the outboards of both. If the inboard of both tires is wearing more than the outboard, you should check your axle for being bent and/or check your rear bearings. That could cause tires to camber like an overloaded VW Bug!

Also, the Michelin ATs don't seem to have the life expectancy of the MSs.

Another option would be to try switching to a 19. 5" tire/wheel combo. They cost more upfront, but last much longer than 17" tires, and are much more stable also. Since your MegaCab already has a long wheelbase, switching to the 19. 5" wheels and adding a leaf to your rear springs (or air bag) will help keep your truck from squatting and you will be very comparable to a dually without switching trucks. If you wanted to switch trucks, I would switch to a dually. Sometimes switching trucks just isn't in the cards, I understand.

 

[Adubya]

I had the same problem with my front tires, turns out I bent the front axle just a hair. Going a little too fast down a back road and got a little airborn :-laf

 

[Slow Six]

I drove 2500 series trucks with service bodies for years. Even without towing the rears always wore twice as fast so I never rotated tires. I would put on new rears and the next time change all four. These trucks were heavy on the rear and always ran max psi. I was always on gravel roads or worse. On my personal trucks the 2500s wore the rear tires faster than the fronts. Now that I am running a dually tire wear has evened out plus as stated previously the training wheels are great for towing heavy.

 

[JSzewczyk]

I would say that 35-45 of the mileage is done towing my trailer. It sits most summer unless towing while i ride my victory motorcycles and we drive in the winter. The king pin rate of the trailer is 120 lbs higher than the dodge payload rate. The trailer was weighed and is 900 lbs less than the trucks rating for our normal trips. I would love to get a dually but that purchase must wait at least 2 more years. I was planning on air bags this spring.
As for the tread wear, I do mean the inward treads on the rear tires are wearing faster than the outward treads. I did have the rear axel looked at and it checked as ok. I did not think about those rear bearings. I do understand that these heavy loads will wear the tires faster but I did not think that they would be shot at 30000 miles. With the older pull behind trailer I would normal get 80000 miles from my 10 ply michelins. Appreciate all your opinions and for the record I do wish that I had been a member before I bought my 2500 . There was an article in late 2006 about how the 3500 was just a little more than the 2500. I simply did not have that info at the time.
One correction is that I do have the M/S tires not the AT2s

 

[charleyc]

Leveling will make the tires receive equal pressure from the weight of the car. It is also advisable to always rotate the tires once in a while so that they can wear evenly. Make sure your axle is in the right place.

 

[Hoefler]

With all of my Ram trucks, 05, 08, & 2010, I have never been able to get more than 30,000 miles out of a set of tires. All were dually 4x4's, with tire rotation every oil change. All tires wore with in a 1/32" of each other. General's, Michelin's, Firestone's, and Cooper's all wore out in 30,000 miles or less. One exception, the Cooper HT's wore to 32,000 miles on the 08. I tow approx. 90% of the time, within that, I tow the 5vr about 20% of that. I live in the Ozark Mountains, no straight roads and a hill around every corner.

 

[SierraRam]

If you would rotate your tires you would get better overall life out of them?

 

[jelag]

Any good alignment shop can check the camber on the rear axle which would indicate a problem with the axle...

I never had reasonable tire wear with the 17" tires on any of my trucks and have since moved to 19. 5" wheels and tires. .

I do several things... watch air pressure, monitor tire temperature... etc... I tow with this truck about 85% of its mileage... a 30 ft 5er... my hitch is set back 10" so I have more than normal load on the rear... with Bridgestone highway tires. . I'm seeing 90K miles per set... with a tire that's not any more money than the 17" tires...

This is the way I do it... nothing fancy but lots of load capacity and mileage... BTW they are rougher than the stock tires for sure...

 

[jhenderson]

I ran the numbers and it's just as easy and cost effective to replace the fronts every other time, but I have had excellent front tire wear.

 

[RDeFayette]

sounds to me that the rear axle is deflecting (and the wheels) just enough with a load on it to increase the wear on the inside of the tires. That's the reason for the inside of the tires wearing faster than the outside. No matter how beefy the rear diff. looks it DOES deflect. You might want to check the max load rating of the wheels also. the load rating of the tires and truck is irrelevant if the wheels are overloaded. All wheels have a max rating and it's not unusual to see this exceeded.

That being said even if they did wear evenly I wouldn't expect much more mileage out of them just because you're towing at max. advertised weight (as said before, doesn't mean much). What % of max tire weight is on the rear when towing? That will determine max wear. Towing ast max weight is generally not a good idea, no margin left for error (safety).

Towing with a 2500 maxed out all the time is like using a 3500 DRW to haul ping pong balls. They'll both get the job done but how efficiently?

I use my 3500 DRW for max towing and the 2500 for smaller loads, just feels better (control) that way. just my 0. 02

 

[R. Weber]

I logged in to see what the general consensus is on tire brands. I have 2005 Ram 3500 DRW with 105,000 miles. The OEM tires had to be replaced in Nashville TN at 46,000 when a crate of nails fell off the back of a truck and damaged all six truck tires and the four trailer tires. I carry a Lance 1130 and pull a two horse slant trailer with a Super Hitch. On a Sunday no less the closest dealer was Firestone so I replaced the tires with what they had the LT235/80R17 E120R. I have 59,900 on them and am shopping for new. At $156. 99 the Firestones are a bargain compared to Michelin LTX MS2 at $243+ and a 70,000 mile warranty. That is in my opinion. I could get another 10,000 out of the ones on there but I do winter driving and don't like to push it. One comment on tread wear - the inside duals carry more of the load than the outside and I make sure at rotations that the two tires with the higher tread value are placed there. It has worked well for me here in Wyoming. I travel East/West Coast and Midwest. Hope this helps.

 

[R. Weber]

Correction I was TOLD the inside duals are hit with the weight first as the truck squirms, and round road surface, crown etc. The wear difference is not noticeable except with a tire wear gauge. Would be interested in reading other experiences. Thanks.

 

[Ozymandias]

I've run 2500 4x4 rams sense 92. I currently have over 3/4 of a million miles in these trucks. I have always pulled heavy trailers for work. Current trailer is a PJ 14ft GN that grosses 18,500lbs. All my towing is on secondary roads, a lot of stop and go. From day 1 my trucks have all used 2 sets of rear tires for every 1 set on the front. Part of the problem is the tremendous torque these Cummins apply to the rear wheels. It peels the tread off the carcass.

Absolutely, I'm also impressed that the rear tires go down like butter in the sun.
I've BFG 315 on it and they'll last at best 10000M from New to Finish.

Never had a Vehicle before that eats tires like the Cummins does.

 

[AMink]

I wish I could get 30,000 out of tires. The original BFG Rugged Trails were going fine at 35,000 but we're damaged. All others never made it to 30. I currently have Coopers with about 15k on them. If they make it to 25k I'll be surprised. That is with tow/haul to empty about 20/80.