I am incredibly frustrated with my 2013 SCrew F150 Lariat. I have been dealing with this issue since day one and cannot seem to get help solving it. I bought the truck new (special order, not off lot...if that matters) and within a few thousand miles I noticed a problem: I am wearing the heck out of the outside edge of the front, passenger-side tire.

I went to the dealership I purchased it from and they found the alignment "off". The Toe was off. I got it aligned and again, a few thousand miles later it was bad again. I brought it back and they said the same thing: Toe. I expressed my concern (and displeasure) but was assured nothing was wrong and was told "potholes, hard turns, road conditions, hitting the locks too hard". Hogwash.

I have since gone to another dealer and an independent garage with no new information...just constant Toe issues and alignments. I am four years in this to the day and every 5k miles I need an alignment or my tires are trashed. I mean, down to the fabric. At 5k miles I am barely keeping up with it. I have 65k miles and am on my third set of tires. I can't keep doing this. Can someone help me??? What would cause this???

I don't know what it takes to align a vehicle and other than doing my own brakes and oil, am not that vehicle-savvy. I don't know much about the mechanics in play here. I am an intelligent person and will learn easily if taught, I just need to know what I am looking at and how to fix it. I see that others here have had this same issue but I see no concrete solutions. Is it ball joints, control arms or tie-rods? All three? Every garage says that they see nothing wrong. Something MUST be wrong, right?

 

The lower control arm bolts move if they aren't torqued properly.

How much change are you noticing on the alignments? Got some printouts?

 

Sounds like too much positive camber or too much toe-in. I would go with camber. What tire pressure are you running on the front? Have you done a 4 wheel thrust alignment?

 

if the camber was off enough to cause that much wear, you could see it with your eyes. Something is loose or coming loose. A good shop should be able to find the problem. Trouble is most shops just see how fast they can get you in and out for a fee and not spend any time actually diagnosing a problem because the mechanic is paid on commission.

 

Thank you for your replies. See below for my answers to your questions:

Patman - Have you heard or seen this before? What can I look for to see if the lower control arm bolts are not tightened properly? Is there a defect (beyond human error) that could prevent these bolts from staying tight? I have printouts from every alignment. The number varies but it is always Toe and it's usually 0.22 or greater. Occasionally it's both front wheels that are off (Toe) but usually just the passenger front. I have not had a single alignment with anything wrong other than Toe.

Aussiekeeper - I have heard no mention of Camber, though when I first reported the problem that's what I said it was...then they measure and found the Toe off. Since then no one at any of the three shops I have had look at it (including two dealerships for what that's worth) have mentioned Camber. I am running 35psi on stock size tires. This is what is prescribed on the door jamb. Also, I should mention the truck is entirely stock. I have never had a four wheel thrust alignment and no one has suggested one until your reply. Would a rear axle alignment issue contribute to this?

Roadie - I hear ya. The problem is I have taken it to two different (and allegedly reputable) Ford shops and a private garage all with the same explanation: "hmmm looks fine - must be potholes or something". It's discouraging. If it is something coming loose, how can I tell (easily) if a bolt moved or loosened? Should the shop, on the next alignment, mark all the bolts/nuts?

 

If it's the toe that's always off, sounds to me like the tie rod adjusters are loosening up.

 

glc - how can I verify this? If it is the cause, how does one prevent this?

 

I don't suppose the rack is loosely mounted?

 

Definetly human error, after the truck is built at the factory

You might have a popping sound in the front end, but look at the bolts in the front frame and see if they have shifted, they would have a half moon, or even a full halo look around then where they have been sliding.

 

I am having trouble recalling if I have heard a popping sound, but if I have it certainly wasn't something consistent but I will go check the bolts to see have anything has moved.

 

I checked the bolts on the lower control arm and see no marks that would indicate movement. I also checked the tie rod to see if the locking nut moved or if there are any clean threads indicating movement and I do not see any. I would have thought I would have seen something indicating movement/slippage.