32 x 11.5 x 15 Falcon wildpeaks just under 40K on them, all tires cupped causing waviness in the steering (plenty tread). Mechanic/tire guy says it is from improper rotating and soft compound of the tire. I know 40K is not terrible but there is plenty of tread left. I kept at 29 PSI each. They are telling me proper rotation should be every 3K miles, first rotation should be right side to left and then every 3K front to back after that (do not put spare into rotation).. What do all of you think?

 

Proper inflation is determined by the chalk test, 29psi may be too much or not enough for your rig.

Rotation does help. I do the five tire rotation but this site had 4 or 5 rotation for 4 wheel drive. - Tire Tech Information - Tire Rotation Instructions

The type of wear you're describing is usually related to a suspension problem or tires out of balance.

 

Have you had the vehicle aligned?

 

have not had it aligned since tires mounted, although they did not see any glaring abnormalities with it. The rest of the suspension checked out as that was my first question to them. Should an alignment be done more often in the future? Will have to do the chalk test on new set when I figure what I want.

 

Alignment on these jeeps takes minutes with a tape measure.

You have a bent tie rod, bad ball joints, or need to replace what's causing it or new tires are useless.

 

Sounds bogus to me. Is the cupping on both front tires? On the inside, or outside? Is front an back the same?
When you are driving, how does it feel? Pulling? Vibration? Most likely wavyness in the steering is causing the cupping and not the other way around.

Send us a pic...

Cupping is usually caused by poor alignment and imbalance. I would find another shop from which to get my tires and alignment.

That said, you should rotate your tires regularly. Also, use the same rotation pattern every time. If you do a 5 tire rotation then you effectively get 20% more tread because you are using all 5 tires.

 

Cupping caused by improper rotation I rotate my tires every 6000 km. Never had a cupped tire

 

no pulling or vibration just light waving of the wheel, worse when rounding corner hitting a bump or down hill. front d/s seems the worst (1st pic)



p/s front


rear

 

I'm no expert, but I don't see really bad cupping in the photo. I do see that the left front is showing the most wear. This is to be expected for tires with 40K never rotated. Also, it looks like the (slight) cupping is mostly on the inside edge of the drivers front tire. Where every other lug is warn down more than the next. Is that correct? I would bet that the rear tires are not bad at all. Is that correct?

Also, you might think about using a little more air pressure, maybe 32-35 PSI. The center of the tire seems to have much less wear than the edges.

I think you might have a warn ball joint or tie rod end, maybe on the driver side?

What I would do:
1. Check the steering components for wear. Ball joints, tie rod ends, drag link ends? Also check that all the connecting arm and track bar bolts are tight.
2. Rotate the tires, putting the front left on as the spare.
3. Add a little air to the tires to move the wear pattern to the center of the tire. (also improves handling).
4. Get an alignment and make sure they print you a copy of the results so you can see what the changes were.

Finally, in the second photo, is that a nail/staple in the outer edge of the tire? Upper right side of the photo?

 

Why pay for alignment it takes maybe 10 minutes to do with a couple measurements