Wheel Hub at 32K

[AfterBurner]

Took my sig truck to the dealer for the right front tire showing excessive wear on the outside. They said the wheel hub is bad and are ordering a new one. I put it on a jack yesterday and I was getting slop in the up-down direction, but nothing in side-side.

Surprised to have this problem so early. At least it's still under warranty at 32K.

Would it be beneficial to check the front end alignment after the hub swap?

 

[crispyboy]

Are you sure its all in the wheel hub? Sounds like there could be some ball joint movement.

 

[AfterBurner]

I was expecting it to be a ball joint issue based on my observations. I hope they diagnosed it right, as I don't want to be in and out of the shop trying to fix it.

 

[Bob4x4]

Some vertical movement in the lower ball joint is normal

 

[AfterBurner]

Bob, thanks for the input. I should have specified that it had much more movement than the left side and was accompanied with a "thunk". The truck has required extra effort to keep on the road lately, but I just chalked it up to handling like an old dodge truck.

Oddly the truck was just at the dealership last week and the front right tire received a green check in the multi-point inspection. Not sure how the tech missed the uneven wear, especially considering the outside of the tire is just about smooth.

 

[Brocky]

Am taking mine with 21k miles into the dealer tomorrow for alignment (??) as both front tires are wearing on the outside, right worse than left.

will advise what hey say later.

 

[Ozymandias]

They say probably alignment.

 

[JLandry]

Am taking mine with 21k miles into the dealer tomorrow for alignment (??) as both front tires are wearing on the outside, right worse than left.

I have 16,892 miles of mostly highway driving on our 2014 3500 dually and the front tires are also wearing more on the outside edges than in the center or inside edge. Assuming nothing is worn in the suspension, this must be normal due to steering geometry and alignment.

At the current high wear rate, these stock Nexen tires will need to be replaced by about 30,000 miles. A far cry from the 80,000+ miles I got (with plenty of tread still remaining) from two sets of Michelin LTX M/S2's I had on my 2nd gen truck.

John L.

 

[Brocky]

I am also asking the dealer to rotate the steering with my outside drives so will start with even tires after the alignment.. Should I ask for the rotation before or after the alignment???

 

[JLandry]

I am also asking the dealer to rotate the steering with my outside drives so will start with even tires after the alignment.

You do realize that'll require dismounting, remounting, and balancing the tires... right? Unfortunately, the aluminum wheels aren't polished on the insides.

Should I ask for the rotation before or after the alignment???

I don't see how that would make any difference as the alignment should be referenced off the rims (wheels) and not the tires.

John L.

 

[Brocky]

NO< I did not realize that the drives were not cleanable on the insisde.. I was just thinking of starting with even tires to see if the alignment cured the problem..
Please advise your thoughts??

 

[JLandry]

I was just thinking of starting with even tires to see if the alignment cured the problem..
Please advise your thoughts??

If it were possible to properly rotate the tires without dismounting and remounting from the wheels, I'd definitely do that. Unfortunately it's not, so per the owner's manual, all you can do is swap the tires from side to side on a dually. That doesn't do much to equalize wear... but it can't hurt.

I haven't done the math, but I don't think it'd be cost effective to pay to have the tires dismounted, remounted, and balanced in an attempt to get more mileage from a set.

We're sort of stuck due to the wheels Ram chose to use on these trucks.

Best regards,

John L.

 

[Cummins12V98]

They have too much toe in from the factory. Set at 1/16-1/32" tire wear will be vastly improved. Also rotate the front tires side to side every 7,500 or so.

 

[Brocky]

John

Thank you for the advise. Since the right is worse than the left I will just have them swap sides and see how things go from there..

 

[JLandry]

Thank you for the advise. Since the right is worse than the left I will just have them swap sides and see how things go from there..

You're welcome and that's exactly what I'd do. Hopefully the alignment will help reduce the unequal front tire wear going forward.

Just curious, what pressure do you run in the front tires?

Are you following Chrysler's tire loading / pressure chart (attached)?

If yes, then you might consider running the pressure about 10 psi higher than suggested on the chart (while still staying within the maximum pressure limit of the tire) to help compensate for accelerated edge wear. Higher inflation pressure should cause slightly increased wear toward the tread's center while correspondingly decreasing it on the edges. I run 70psi in the front tires on my truck both when towing and empty even though the chart suggests about 60 psi is appropriate. This seems to have helped decrease uneven wear. Another side benefit of higher pressure is lower rolling resistance, which could mean very VERY slightly better fuel economy.

Good luck,

John L.

 

[gsbrockman]

I haven't done the math, but I don't think it'd be cost effective to pay to have the tires dismounted, remounted, and balanced in an attempt to get more mileage from a set.

You left out the part where the Tire "Tech" might actually gouge / damage one or more wheels in the process whilst dismounting & remounting. :-laf

 

[JLandry]

You left out the part where the Tire "Tech" might actually gouge / damage one or more wheels in the process whilst dismounting & remounting. :-laf

Indeed!

 

[Brocky]

I am running 80 psi in steering and 65 in drives.. weighs 5100 on steering

 

[AfterBurner]

New wheel hub is on. So far so good. 20 mile test drive revealed 75-80mph vibration is gone and steering doesn't wander as much. Happy with the fix so far.

Service rep said wheel hub problems are rare on these trucks. That dealership also has Chevy/GMC and he said they see a lot wheel hub problems on those 2500/3500's.

 

[AfterBurner]

Was changing fuel filters on the truck today and discovered right front is wearing the same it was in November. Truck now has 46k. Pretty frustrating considering it's ruining another set of tires with only 12k on them. Guess it's back to the dealer... Hope they honor the warranty as the first attempt to fix was under warranty.