Uneven rear tire wear + Airlift 1000

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56nomad56
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Uneven rear tire wear + Airlift 1000

Postby 56nomad56 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:48 am

Going on a trip to Utah so decided to rotate tires and check brake pads. Noticed both rear tires (Yokohama Geolander AT/S, 265/70/17) were really badly worn on the inside of the tread, had to have them both replaced. Tire warranty was 50K miles and only had 32K on the tires, shop would not honor the warranty b/c of the uneven wear attributed to alignment or other issue. Typically run the bags at 20 psi.

Are the bags causing the uneven wear? Would new rear shocks, rear alignment, or both help the issue? Nissan dealership quoted $100 for a rear alignment.

Thanks in advance for any helpful feedback.


skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:20 am

Well I've always had trouble keeping this thing aligned, but mainly in the front. Granted I drive very fast and hit a lot of rough roads...but it's always the fronts that wear. I keep the airlift at 20psi as well. I'd probably call it a fluke the first time and see what happens. My alignment was so bad on the front the last time, it chewed my tires nearly bald on the inside in 5k miles. I put those tires on the back and they have corrected and not wearing anymore on the edges but I'll have to get new tires before winter. Probably get 60k miles out of these and would have gotten a lot more if they hadn't been chewed up.

As for the alignment...I'd look for a good private shop that specializes in alignments. I use a local tire shop and it's $60 for a 4-wheel alignment. They have a dedicated guy that knows suspensions very well and he's booked solid for weeks in advance...but he does a good job. I just wish I could keep it locked in longer...the PF drives so much better when it's running with a perfect alignment. Your dealer is nutso at that price.

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:21 pm

I've been wondering for awhile about the affects of the airbags on the alignment. Whenever I get around to putting a set on mine, I'll have to get it on the alignment shop at work and play with the pressures in the airbags and see how much it affects the alignment. I would have to think that inflating them to the point of actually lifting the rear suspension would have a direct affect on the rear camber and putting more weight on the front end could affect front alignment, as well.

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RacerZX
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Postby RacerZX » Wed Aug 01, 2012 5:51 am

How often do you all rotate your tires? I'm a bit obsessive and rotate them with every oil change at 3K'ish miles...never had any uneven wear issues.

56nomad56
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Tire rotation

Postby 56nomad56 » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:03 am

I usually do my oil myself, and do the tire rotation at the same time. So for me it's about every 5000 miles.

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silverpath
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Postby silverpath » Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:14 pm

This is a good topic... just recently had the airlift installed on my truck as well, however, another issue came up on mine. Eveytime I'm on idle or on reverse, something is rattling, sounds like the exhaust is hitting something... I wonder if the shop that installed it messed anything up while installing it.... also, the service engine light came on, and I had it looksed at, and said it was something about oxygen sensor, but then it went away after they reset it. Has not come back since. I am riding at 15psi and I will take note of the uneven tire wear.

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doctahjones
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Postby doctahjones » Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:04 am

i hadn't noticed any uneven wear on my old tires, or these.

however i put the airbags in and redid the suspension within about 3k miles, and then had an alignment. i had the alignment done with the bags at 30psi, which is what i normally keep them at.

since for me i have a .5 in difference in rear height when deflated (5psi) and fully inflated (~30psi) i would imagine that for sure on mine it's going to cause my tires to wear differently if i continuously run the bags at a pressure that's ~5psi more/less than what i had it aligned at.

get your alignment done with the bags at what you -normally- keep them at, this should prevent any uneven wearing in the future. also keep in mind that if you air up to carry a load/trailer, imo it should not affect your tire wear, as the bags are compensating for the extra weight, and are keeping you from sagging (which is an alignment "change" from normal).

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:39 am

Over inflated bags would cause tire wear on the outside of the tire, right?

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doctahjones
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Postby doctahjones » Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:00 am

disallow wrote:Over inflated bags would cause tire wear on the outside of the tire, right?
oh, yeah you're right. that's what i get for posting at 4am. :shock:


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