C.R.U.S.H.

I have 26K miles on my 09 Rubi and had to get 2 tires for the front.
They were wearing very strangely - The tread wore inside in one row, then outside the next, then inside, then outside alternating. Very strange.

The dealer said it was due to not rotating the tires. I don't think this is the cause.

The "guy" at Mr. Tire called it cupping and said that something could be off with the front suspension causing the wear pattern.

Anyone experience this?

commish4u

I had the same issue before i lifted mine. It could be ( per tech i talked to ) ball joints ( which is common ) or out of alignment....or a bad shock. This is what i was told is common issues that can cause the cupping. I am sure there is more out there....that's the ones i was told are most common. Hope i helped

TROUPP

Were the edges stacked high to low looking across the tire. use your imagination here: _/_/_/_/ tapered all one direction? or like chunks of the lugs were worn off randomly?

Mark Doiron

Yes. Bad shocks and probably not rotating the tires often enough (went by owners manual instead of every 3K miles).

BTW, close friend of mine has been a mechanic over thirty years, and he said either bad shocks or something in the suspension. I asked about ball joints and he said he never heard of ball joints causing tire cupping.

kik

You should rotate those tires every 6,000 miles max. Every 3,000 is a bit overkill. If you haven't you should have the front end aligned and checked, to include the shocks and ball joints. At 26,000 you shouldn't have a suspension problem unless you rode it real hard. You didn't say that you rotated the tires at all. If you didn't it would cause the problem you had. Your front end should be aligned every 24,000 on a JK.

C.R.U.S.H.

Tapered all in the same direction - the high point facing forward.

And it was both of the front tires only - the rear are wearing fine. Both front = 2 bad ball joints? Very weird.

jcs07jk

Another factor can be tire pressure. Or lack of if you never check it. Worked on bikes for years and we saw it all the time on bike tires, most guys never check tire pressure. Pull the bike out of shed and ride, meanwhile tire pressure drop over winter to like 10 lbs

roguejk

That's due to not rotating tires. !!!!!!!!
Rears are fine right?
Fronts wearing uneven right?
I never rotatated my 33" bfg mt's and that's exactly what happened to me.

C.R.U.S.H.

The way the pattern was, I don't think that's the whole story.
Waiting to hear back from Troupp to see where he was going with this. The
wear was all tapered in one direction and not random.

Were the edges stacked high to low looking across the tire. use your imagination here: _/_/_/_/ tapered all one direction? or like chunks of the lugs were worn off randomly? [/SIZE][/SIZE]

STUPIDFACE

I would check everything in the front. Make sure everything is tight, track bar, drag link, control arms, etc. Check to make sure the joints on the drag link are good. You dont want that to come apart on you while going 80....uh, well 70 on the interstate / freeway.