tire wear

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I have a 1996 2500 extended cab and my tires are getting to the end of their life. 3 tires are relativly good and one is worse than the rest. It seemed to me like the tires on the back wore faster. I would have thought that the front would wear the most due to the weight. I rarely have anything in the back. I do have a limited slip rear end which might be causing the wear. Could anyone agree with this or do the fronts wear faster. I need to know where to put the worn tire. On the back or front?

 

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JJP Put your worse tire in spare position. If you don't want to do that but it on rear.
Tires with most tread should be on front. So the truck will go in the direction you want it to.

 

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This topic's gonna wander over and wear on the "chassis" forum... 2ND Gen Ram Forum.

Thanks guys.

 

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JJP, you are more than likely, correct! The rear tires WILL wear faster than the fronts if you have a limited slip differential (LSD) that was setup tight, or still remains so. That's one of the reasons tuning the LSD through the controlled addition of friction modifier is a good idea. it will allow a good balance between tire wear and enhanced traction characteristics.

 

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JJP-

I'm not as sure that the rear tire wear is because of the LSD. I have the LSD and it is very tight and my front tires wear a little faster than the rears. What tire pressure are you running? If you don't have much weight in the bed than the rears should be quite a bit lower than the fronts. I run 55psi in the front and 42psi in the rear unloaded. This is per Michilin's recommendation. You may be overinflating the rears. Are the centers worn more than the outside? I have 37,000 miles on my tires and they still have a lot of tread and are all very evenly worn.

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99 QC SB 4x4 Auto
Factory Ordered
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JJP - incredible that you are just replacing yur tires - ON A 96, yet. I've got a 99 and 36K miles and need my third set. Put the junk tire as a spare and buy 3 new tires and use the new spare. JMHO

 

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tlippy-

I thought you were mostly stock like me. We have the same truck except yours is a longbed. What brand/size tires are you running? I have 37K on the factory Michilins.

Dave

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99 QC SB 4x4 Auto
Factory Ordered
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Tlippy, these are my second set of tires. The factory ones were replaced at 34,000 miles. They had some tread left but it was getting into winter and they would not have passed inspection in May so I replaced them.
Dave, I run 55 psi in all tires so you might have something there, however, they are wearing evenly across the tread. These have 32,000 miles on them and the 3 probably will go 8 to 10,000 more. Don't know about the bad one. Would running the brand new spare and the old tire on the back screw up the limited slip differential or is there not enough of a difference in diameter to cause any problem?

 

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JJP-

If they are wearing evenly it's hard to say if it's the pressure. I think it could still contribute to excessive wear. One other thing though, my truck rides a LOT better with 42 in the rear with no load. I also don't spin the rear tires as much in the rain. I don't think that the difference in wear on the same size tire would make any difference to the LSD but I'm not an expert.

Dave.

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99 QC SB 4x4 Auto
Factory Ordered
Most Options

 

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Have you ever thought about the 500-600 lbs of torque transmitted to the rear tires to drive the truck forward. Front tires do not face this scrubbing. The heavier your foot the more wear. Rotate your tires often (5000 miles) and they should all wear out evenly.

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1996-3500 tst stage 3 plate, K&N air filter,4" exhaust,bigger injectors,b&m trans pan,Amsoil all around,temp gauges out the wazzo,much trans work,double tow 33' 5th wheel and 12' trailer w/motorcycle(Honda Valkyarie Interstate)Also have 1999-2500-stock.

 

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I found that my rear tires also wear faster than the fronts. The opposite of what I thought would happen. I think it is due to the LSD and lots of torque.

 

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Gentlemen, I have 36k on my '99 & the tires on the rear wear faster due to the light weight of the rear allowing wheel hop. This will definately scrub some rubber off these tires. Too bad some of the roads I drive are so rough!

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Jim Humphrey - Cedar Creek, Tx.
'99 2500 QC, White/Driftwood, Tan Lthr,Grovers, Blk WeatherGuard Inside bed box, MAAG Boards, Alpine 6 Disc CD, 3-pc. bug shield, 4x4 Mudguards, Line X over the rail,15. 5k Pull Rite 5th hitch. '01 Tow/Flip mirrors, Tow a 29' Alpenlite w/1 slide every time I can.
mailto:jenjim@Impala.net