I have about 3800 miles on my 4x4 Lariat screw, and put some Husky mud flaps on today. In doing so, I ran my hands along the tires to check wear. It turns out that the front tires are both cupping badly. What I mean is that on the outside or inside tread pattern, you can feel some of the treads seem to be raised, and they catch on your hand. They should be wearing smooth.

I believe this is a sign of mis-alignment. The truck was out of alignment when I took delivery, and I had it fixed at about 500 miles.

I'd like to know if anyone else is having similar problems. My dad had this type of problem on his Mercedes ML320, had the dealer replace about 3 sets of tires, and to this day it is still wearing poorly.

 

It sounds to me like it could be misaligned or possibly shocks going bad (hopefully not the case w/so few miles on it) I have only 1000 miles on my 04 but have not noticed any problem with tire wear. I would take it back to the dealership and show them the tires and have them fix it again. if you still have a problem make them replace the tires too.

 

you might also want to check air pressure. a lot of people have a tendence to over inflate..

 

I would check the pressure first and if that dont do it take it back to the dealer.

 

Could also simply be out of balance. One problem with being such a smooth riding truck is you will never feel if the tires are slightly out of balance!

 

Do you have the Goodyears or BF Goodrichs?

 

I've got the BF Goodrich's. In doing some additional research, tire cupping, or feathering, can have a number of causes; balance problem or worn suspension components are the most common. I plan to take it to the dealer tomorrow a.m. and have them check it out.

One other item I found was that once the tires have become cupped or feathered, they are ruined. Based on this, I'll ask the dealer to replace them as well.

 

I have the BF Goodrich tires on 18" wheels. The dealer has balanced the tires, and aligned the front end (twice), replaced the steering gear and front hubs. Front tires are showing the same wear you described. I have a vibration at 45 - 50 mph and the steering wheel visibly shakes at 65+ mph. A Ford engineer is scheduled to look at my truck on the 22nd.

 

At about 4000 miles, the BF Goodrich tires on my Lariat Scab 4x4 are just a bit feathered. Not too bad compared with previous trucks.

I have a very light vibration at 70-72 mph. Can't really complain about that either.

The steering wheels is just a bit off center - at maybe 11:30 or so. I guess I should and do consider myself lucky in this aspect.

 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being picky but my 01 Chevy Silverado had no vibration or unusual tire wear at any speed. That truck had 90k miles on it and still had original shocks. So I really expect my new Ford to be at least it's equal.

In every other aspect my new Ford is a much better truck.

 

Well, I haven't experienced any of the vibration problems described above. The steering wheel was off-center prior to the allignment job at ~500 miles.

I am experiencing a slight, almost grinding, sensation in the steering wheel at rest, or very slow speeds. This problem has been discussed on occassion in the forum, and I plan to have the dealership look at this as well, but I don't think it's the cause of the feathering.

By the way, my dad's ML320 has had a bad feathering problem since the day he bought it. He's had it in the dealership about half a dozen times, and is on his 3rd set of tires (that they replaced). Still has the problem.

 

UPDATE:

I took the truck to dealer today. They could find nothing wrong. They balanced the tires, checked allignment, made sure all the suspension components were tight. They said the allignment was right on (which I agree with...it was tracking straight as an arrow). Of course on the drive home from the dealer it felt like it was pulling to the right I'm gonna hate it if I took it in and got it back in worse shape.

Anyway, they are attributing the feathering to cornering. I don't drive it hard, and don't take tight corners. They rotated the tires, and suggested doing so every 3-5K miles. I guess I'll see how it does. If it's out of allignment again I'll take it back this weekend.

Thanks for everyone's feedback

 

My truck came with General Tires on it. What gives? All of the older F150's I have seen in the past have BF Goodrich or Goodyears.

 

I am running into the same problem. At 1200 miles the right side was cupping. Mostly the front right but also the right rear. Dealer said it was out of alinement. At 2300 miles I broght it back in and this time both tires are waring. I also had them rotate the left side and then put the spare on the right front.
100 miles later the right side is showing signs again....
The Dealer I bought the truck from is not the dealer I get the service from (same company different branch and only 2 miles from work).
I guess I need to bring it to the original dealer and start squeaking...

 

General makes good tires. I'll be suprised if I'm not replacing my Goodyears long before you have to replace your General's. I'm not affiliated with them at all... I just bought a set one time because I couldn't afford the tires I really wanted... I sold that truck a over a year ago and that guy is still driving on those tires. I was very much impressed.