Tire Feathering after alignment
My 2004 Winnebago Ford E350 has Michelin tires that were put on last January because of the recall. 2 months ago, I had it aligned for our fall trip to Arizona. Tires had no wear. We traveled about 1...
Forum Discussion
Can a properly aligned RV wear tires unevenly, QUICKLY, in severe cross winds = YES!
What to do now...?
You can check Toe yourself by driving forward on a flat, nearly level surface like a concrete driveway. Drive straight forward and stop gently with the brakes. Stick a Hat Pin straight into the edge of the tread of each tire. Perpendicular to the tread, as if you'd hit a roofing nail sitting on its head. One each side, trailing edge of tire, as high as you can and still sight straight across. The Radius Arms will keep you from going as high as the center of the spindle. You can get maybe 11" off the ground. Have your Helper hold the hook of your Tape Measure on the far pin while you measure the spread to the near pin. Then drive forward till the pins are about the same height off the ground and stop again. Measure again. Spread should be equal to (Zero Toe) or a little less than (Toe In) by 1/8" to maybe 1/4".
Front end will Toe OUT if the linkage is worn. Park straight ahead, steering wheel unlocked. Go under with a large pair of Channel Lock "Water Pump" pliers and squeeze the four steering linkage joints. Squeeze with one jaw next to the Grease Fitting and the other on or by the Stud and Nut (where the Cotter Pin is). There should be Little to NO compression of the joint.
Or take it to that alignment shop and ask them to check the front end for wear.
If you rotate, you can do what I did with fronts feathered on one edge. Rotate to rear. I didn't want wear to show so I went to the Inners. A couple heavy duty truck tire techs gave me a lot of tire tips. One was to put the wear on dual tires "between" the tires. In my case that meant flipping the tires on their rims. There's nothing wrong with reversing the rotational direction of modern radial tires. The very first ones developed a "set" and would come "unscrewed" if run backwards. No longer true.
What to do now...?
You can check Toe yourself by driving forward on a flat, nearly level surface like a concrete driveway. Drive straight forward and stop gently with the brakes. Stick a Hat Pin straight into the edge of the tread of each tire. Perpendicular to the tread, as if you'd hit a roofing nail sitting on its head. One each side, trailing edge of tire, as high as you can and still sight straight across. The Radius Arms will keep you from going as high as the center of the spindle. You can get maybe 11" off the ground. Have your Helper hold the hook of your Tape Measure on the far pin while you measure the spread to the near pin. Then drive forward till the pins are about the same height off the ground and stop again. Measure again. Spread should be equal to (Zero Toe) or a little less than (Toe In) by 1/8" to maybe 1/4".
Front end will Toe OUT if the linkage is worn. Park straight ahead, steering wheel unlocked. Go under with a large pair of Channel Lock "Water Pump" pliers and squeeze the four steering linkage joints. Squeeze with one jaw next to the Grease Fitting and the other on or by the Stud and Nut (where the Cotter Pin is). There should be Little to NO compression of the joint.
Or take it to that alignment shop and ask them to check the front end for wear.
If you rotate, you can do what I did with fronts feathered on one edge. Rotate to rear. I didn't want wear to show so I went to the Inners. A couple heavy duty truck tire techs gave me a lot of tire tips. One was to put the wear on dual tires "between" the tires. In my case that meant flipping the tires on their rims. There's nothing wrong with reversing the rotational direction of modern radial tires. The very first ones developed a "set" and would come "unscrewed" if run backwards. No longer true.
