Have any ideas what this could be about?

I have just under 10,000 miles on my 2004 Lightning and my front passenger tire is showing signs of abnormal wear... as in it only has about 2000 miles left on it!

I had the tires and wheels balanced and rotated at 5000 miles. I was getting a slight shudder at 65 - 70 mph which I figured was a wheel out of balance.

Anyway - here I am a few months later and I'm getting this tire wear with a strange noise. When going under 25 mph I am hearing a slight thumping noise - almost a droaning sound.

The truck tracks straight. I can take my hands off the wheel on the freeway it it doesn't drift.

Any ideas what the cause of this might be? I'm headed to the dealer - but I'm expecting a reponse like ----- ohhhh these are high performance tires and they will wear like this. (even though the back tires are fine)

Thanks In Advance!
Jeff

 

have you ever had them rotated?

if so, then my guess would be alignment.

-Mike

 

I had them rotated at 5500 miles and I'm now at 9700 miles.
Would the dealer replace something like this? I don't really call tires wearing out at 10000 miles normal wear, especially sicne I have had them rotated.

I'll drop it off at the dealer tomorrow and see what they have to say!

 

I'm thinking they will say something like "Nice truck, lets take it to the beach and do donuts during lunch... to check the alignment."

 

Just picked up the L from the dealer. The alignment was "off", something "loose" as they described it. Anyway, truck drives much better - but I'm still left with 2 nearly bald tires with less than 10K on them. No warranty coverage on the tires (even though I don't consider that normal wear & tear)

Anyway... guess I will be buying 2 new tires in about 2000 miles

I was planning on getting some Nittos... but don't really want to replace all 4 tires this early.

What is your opinion? 2 new Goodyears or 4 new Nittos. Is it worth the extra $$?

Jeff

 

Um... I'm gonna have to say no to Nitto's.

I know you have 18's, but my 22 inch Nitto 404's aren't great. I know alot of people on this site get these, or the 555's, I have heard or experienced little good with the tire. They aren't bad, but I am not impressed. I also had two go flat from minor sidewall damage. Also, after checking out other opinions on a couple of tire websites, the Nittos also got mediocre ratings.

I'd say stick with Goodyear, or look for some nice Toyo's or something like that.

 

I recently bought a set and here's my .02. The 555's are far superior to F1's in straight line hook. The F1's corner better because of the reinforced sidewall but that is also the reason they want to pull the steering wheel when you hit a rut or pothole, no more of that with the 555's. That was the first thing I noticed was the truck is now stable on bumpy roads. The tread designs are very similar with the sidewalls being completely opposite. I like the clean look of the Nitto and they are much easier to clean than the F1's. The price is what decided it for me $190 Nittos or $250 F1's (or $170 Hankooks) I read through miles of threads to help my decision also. I saw an L with Toyo proxes S/T's and didn't like the look. I would go with RA-1's if I went Toyo but there pricey as hell too. Good Luck.