rear tire wear!

tires were 9/32" but recently found the rears to be at 6/32"

how!?!?
These tires were supposed to last forever!

How does one even check or adjust rear alignment given that supposedly it's fixed with no adustment points?

 

Alignment issues are not the only thing that can cause uneven front to rear tire wear. Under (or over) inflation, overloading, hard cornering and plain old poor tire design and manufacturing come to mind as just a few possible reasons. Before you try to re-align your (non-adjustable) rear axle, how often do you rotate you tires and check inflation pressures?

 

How often are you rotating them?

 

I hope this is sarcasm.

 

There's supposed to last a lot longer than 5,000 miles. They have a mileage warranty from the manufacturer for 60,000 miles, assuming you stay on top of air pressure, rotating, and alignment. Which I do.

Every 5k oil change.

Most often once a month because more than that the PSI doesn't really deflate unless there is a puncture, which TPMS lets me know. Already had that once; it was a slow leak. Quickly found the nail and patched it.
Keeping it at 29 cold psi according to the door sticker/manufacturer suggestion.

Even though the rear is marketed as non adjustable due to not being a multiple control arm layout with camber and toe adjustment bolts,
it still can probably be adjusted by loosening and moving the U-bolts.

 

Not exactly. There's a pin in there that pretty well prevents you from moving the axle. Trust me, unless your truck has been in a pretty serious accident, the rear end should not be out of whack.

 

ok thanks
I'll see if I can throw it on an alignment rack just to check
or another way I've found to get an idea is using sewing string on jackstands to make a square around the vehicle, and measuring in with a ruler to wheel center cap and left/right rim edges to know if it has excessive toe

Hasn't had a serious accident didn't know if it's something that off-roading can throw off, without really good shocks to soften impacts

 

You don't want to check alignment with the vehicle up in the air on jack stands. Your front suspension will be at full droop and thus your numbers will be way off. If you want to string measure it, do it on flat ground with the vehicle at ride height.

 

red LED lights at Lowes/home depot are easily had
relatively cheap

used inside a darken garage true straight line is easily determined
rock crawling/muddin/the occasional ditch can throw a rear end out

'toe end ' doesnt always show bad tracking

good luck

 

I agree you shouldn't be going through tires in 5,000 miles with normal driving.

What tire, size, and load rating are you running? Do you have even wear across the tread? What shocks and how old are they?

 

Part of this was going to be my first question, are they wearing evenly across the tread?