I noticed that both of my front tires are wearing more on the inside toward the center of the truck vs the outside of the tire. I had the wheels alligned, new shocks and new ball joints about 6 months ago. Is this normal or does this need to be addressed and how? Is it just a matter of rotating tires more often?
Any input is appreciated.
PS. I have a 1998 F150 4x4 XLT Package with the 16 inch wheels.

CurtO

 

I watch the tires real close for the first 5,000 miles. If there is even a hint of ware on the inside or outside, or if the truck pulls one way or the other I will take it back and have them take a closer look at the alignment.

They will do a bettter job the second time.

 

It its wearing that eneven, your camber is out of wack. I would rotate your tires one time putting the back on the front.... Do what greencrew said and run them for about 3,000 miles. If you start to see the tires wearing abnormally like you were talking about with the ones you currently have up front, go get a rotation and tell them your camber is out of wack.

 

Thanks for you input, I've never heard of camber, but I'll bet thats it. I did take the truck back for a re-allignment 3 days after they alligned it the first time, to me it seemed to pull to the left just a smidge. When the shop looked at it the second time they said it looked fine but made a slight adjustment anyway. He also told me they intentionally adjust the allignment to pull to the left slightly because most people drive in the right lane and this compensates for the slight slope in the road? Have you ever heard of such a thing?

CurtO

 

No, this is my third F-150. Every one pulled when I picked it up, and by the time I got done with them they all drove straight. The 99 4x4 Off Road SCab was the most solid. The tires on my last truck had flat even wear at 28,000 miles. I had it in for abnormal tire wear and pulling to the right at 4665 miles. The tires had to be rotated at 5,000 miles, and stayed there until 25,000 miles.

I swear, if they don't know, they make it up as they go along. If you have them check it again, they may be more careful.

 

It seems as though it does'nt pull to the left anymore now that I've got them worn in a bit. I think the cheap tires must have something to do with it. I still have the tires that came with the truck. Wide Track Baja's on the front and the standard issue Good Year Wrangler AT's on the back. I'm anxiously waiting for these to wear off so I can get some good rubber on there. Any recomendations?
I want to go a bit larger. I'm thinking P265 75 R16 instead of the current P255 70 R16's

CurtO

 

The Michelins have resulted in positive comments in threads here. I'm a bit tired, but I think they are the LTS M/S. I run the Cross Terrain which is a similar tire as far as I can tell, with more of a road tread design. If you like to off road, then the BFG AT is a heavy favorite.

In my opiinion, more important is to run the same four tires. If you have Bajas on the front then I'd put the same tire on the back.

If you change to the 255, you'll have to get all four tires with a 4x4. Those are my thoughts.

 

I completely agree Greencrew. I'm sure the 4 different tires I have on there now may also be part of the uneven wear problem. I'll definately be getting 4 identical tires when it's time to buy. I use my truck for mostly highway driving but I also pull a boat in the summer and winters here in Minnesota can be fun with a 4x4. Thanks for the Michelin tip.

 

There is a Sam's Club by me that has the Michelin M/S tires. They also have the best price for mounting/balancing, just $9 a tire. I think that even includes valve stem and road hazard.

1010tires.com is a good source of information on tires.

I've run with both the 255 and the 265. I like the 255s better to drive on, but the 265s look better in the wheel well.

 

Why "wait" on your tires to wear out. Just go cruisin one rainy day in a VERY deserted parking lot with a close friend and do some burnout videos and then come back and post them so we all can see