Leveling with air bags correctly
After reading forums I did what they said. I think all that I have read have been COMPLETELY wrong. I don't mean to offend anyone, and I'm sure maybe this was mentioned already buried in long string...
Forum Discussion
It's easy to understand actually. Caster was out. This caused tire wear. Caster was not out on truck, it was out because the suspension height was changed which made caster out. Tire wear resulted. Caster can cause tire wear despite forum user's doubts. Caster is an adjustment on vehicle alignment, and caster should be correct and to spec.
Maybe it could have been something else, but caster does change when you raise or lower the rear end, so this is the first suspect. There is no wear on front end parts. If there is something else that changes from a few inches of rear lift enough to cause tire wear I am all ears, and that same something goes away with a few inches of rear lift change…
For those new to caster think of the front wheels on your grocery cart. They are called casters. They run like a backwards bicycle fork, and on a backwards bike fork would always want to run/find straight ahead.
Your truck will be slightly toed in also (and when up to speed somehow this toe migrates to the tires being parallel). I'm not sure if toe combines with wrong caster to make the tires wear or what, someone expert on alignment can explain it, but I doubt ppl are that much interested in details. My initial thought is that as you increase caster angle that toe also increases and this will result in the outside tire wear I was seeing. With the truck loaded with over 2,500 lbs I am sure other alignment angles get skewed so explains the reason I only saw wear with the truck loaded vs not loaded, and the frame at the same angle in each case.
The main point is to keep an eye on tire wear and know that my experience was that when loaded with a TC that the tires/alignment liked the rear of the truck a little lower than the high unloaded rear with no weight.
If you want to disagree that caster matters then instead talk to my alignment guy who I paid $$$ to make sure all alignment specs were correct. Or talk to GM as to why they care about proper caster… (being a little sarcastic there ;)
Caster matters, wrong caster will cause tire wear. If this was my issue or not - to be determined, but it is possibility and fits.
Maybe it could have been something else, but caster does change when you raise or lower the rear end, so this is the first suspect. There is no wear on front end parts. If there is something else that changes from a few inches of rear lift enough to cause tire wear I am all ears, and that same something goes away with a few inches of rear lift change…
For those new to caster think of the front wheels on your grocery cart. They are called casters. They run like a backwards bicycle fork, and on a backwards bike fork would always want to run/find straight ahead.
Your truck will be slightly toed in also (and when up to speed somehow this toe migrates to the tires being parallel). I'm not sure if toe combines with wrong caster to make the tires wear or what, someone expert on alignment can explain it, but I doubt ppl are that much interested in details. My initial thought is that as you increase caster angle that toe also increases and this will result in the outside tire wear I was seeing. With the truck loaded with over 2,500 lbs I am sure other alignment angles get skewed so explains the reason I only saw wear with the truck loaded vs not loaded, and the frame at the same angle in each case.
The main point is to keep an eye on tire wear and know that my experience was that when loaded with a TC that the tires/alignment liked the rear of the truck a little lower than the high unloaded rear with no weight.
If you want to disagree that caster matters then instead talk to my alignment guy who I paid $$$ to make sure all alignment specs were correct. Or talk to GM as to why they care about proper caster… (being a little sarcastic there ;)
Caster matters, wrong caster will cause tire wear. If this was my issue or not - to be determined, but it is possibility and fits.
