Uneven Tire Wear

My front passenger tire is wearing WAY to quick on the outside. Awhile back I had two new leaf springs put on the front and it has started ever since then. If you are looking at the jeep from the front the passenger tire is ****ed a bit like this \ which I guess is positive camber and I was wondering if there is a way to adjust this. I am getting new tires today and I dont want to wear them any quicker than I have to.

 

There's no way to adjust camber - it's built in to the knuckle. I'd first be suspicious of the kingpin bearings, and would disassemble and inspect the spindle studs.

 

Rapid edge wear is usually a toe-in problem. This is a simple adjustment for any alignment shop.

 

If it was a toe in problem wouldnt both tires be wearing quickly??

 

One side could be toe'd in worse than the other. It could have been effected when the springs were replaced.

Another possibility is that tire is suffering from a belt edge seperation on that shoulder.

Mike

 

It is visible that the camber of the tire is positive. Also, the tire before I rotated had the exact same wear so it is not tire specific.

 

How intensive is this and what should I be looking for in the studs?

 

Dr. Vern has a good write up of all things related to the front axle: http://www.vernco.com/frontaxle/index.htm

 

I'm not sure about 4 wheel drive, but I know for vehicles with back wheel drive, they have offset spacers they can put on your ball joints, then turn them till the perfect camber is aquired.

 

I disagree. the front axle will neutral itself based on the directional bias of both tires. In theory if they are both pointed straight ahead, the truck travels in that direction. If there is toe-in, caster will make both wheels split the difference of the bias and the truck still travels straight. (in effect, the wheels plow straight ahead.) Toe-out has the same effect in that it doesn't always make a vehicle pull one direction or the other relative to the bias.
I would check the other things previously stated, and check toe in as well. If you don't find a problem, you may have one of many millions of 4 wheel drive vehicles that will never be perfectly aligned. Rotate as needed to get the most life out of your tires.

 

I'm gonna jump in here FWIW. I agree w/ m38willys, toe in will cause the same effect on both front tires, usually sculping of the inner portion of each. Bad camber on one side will cause even wear of the inner or outer portion of that tire. In a jeep that either means bad king pins or a bent axle housing. Because of the unequal axle lengths I've seen a jeep bald the inner tread of one tire and not the other if the housing was bent.:v6:

 

my truck gets uneven wear on the front, it comes from the highway on/off ramps. It looks like stairsteps in the tread.

 

I would have the toe in checked, I doubt if your on/off ramp mileage is enough to cause the problem. Stairstepping or sculping is caused by the tires grabbing and losing traction as you drive along. The forward portion of each lug grabs and it loses traction to the back of each lug, thus the "stairstepping".:v6: