Need help diagnosing uneven tire wear!!

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As far as the nitrogen I don't know. Sounds like you have slight toe in causeing the tires to feather on the outer edges. Could be a wear pattern started from before or could be new from like weak rack bushings or even slight play in the rack itself.

 

Gotcha, any ideas on that sketchy ass noise?

 

I'm at work and can't see the video so give me till the morning to watch it.

 

Rgr that. Thanks. I think I did in fact mess something up on my steering rack in the accident but I'm not certain. A master tech didn't seem to think it was an immediate problem but may pop up in the future.. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with his answer lol

 

I hear what you are talking about. Does it pop at the same spot in the racks travel? What was replaced when you hit the pole or whatever and how did you hit it? The steering shaft looks normal and the axles should have some play. Mayb a tooth or two in the rack got knocked off?

 

Find someone thats you can trust not to crush your hand and have them make the noise while you hold different parts. You should be able to pinpoint the noise and feel it. Check all ball joints, bushings ect and keep your eyes open to see if you can see anything flexing.

 

The the clunk can be felt in the steering rack where it attaches to the knuckle. I'm completely new to Steering racks, but the accident was head on and the pole I struck was only about 3-4' high. I replaced the radiator and also the transmission cooler lines that are bolted to the forward most cross member. The cross member needs to be ground out and fab up a new one. The tire wear was going on before the accident, but I don't recall the noise prior to the accident.

 

Is you crossmember that the rack attaches to bent? If it is, it could be causeing stress in the rack. Also if that member is bent I would say the rack needs to be replaced too, it is weaker than that crossmember. I wish I could help more but without see it in person...

 

Well I don't think it's technically a cross member as it isn't there for structural frame support according to others when I posted up initial questions from the accident; but, It's the cross beam that the skid plate attaches to on the front. I may look into the steering rack when I have some time and go from there.

 

Oh ok, kinda like a radiator support.

 

Yeah more or less. Thanks Justin for keeping up with this thread btw.. I tend to forget to check back with posts I make lol. So judging by the crazy noise from the steering rack and the fact the boots seem to be saturated. Would you feel pretty confident in agreeing that the rack needs to be replaced? I have noticed my steering is a little sloppy, but figured it was from something to do with my last alignment. In about three weeks from now, I'll be done with college (finally) and would like to celebrate by squaring away my truck lol.

 

First make sure the outers aren't the problem. Get some large sliding jaw pliers and squeeze the joint at the knuckle, any bounce and they can be considered bad. Next jack the front of the truck up and have someone move the tire side to side while you squeeze the inner tie rod boot. Squeeze it till you can feel the joint, if its bad you will feel it. Hate to tell you the racks bad without seeing it but try this just to see if you have any cheaper bad parts first. If the inner tie rod end boots are soaked then the seals in the rack might be blown and should be replaced. Most racks come with the inners installed so if you replace it just be sure to grab some outers to and do it all at one time. Keep your eyes open for any bad control arm bushings and a bad steering shaft joint, I don't think our trucks have old style rag joints but I can't say I've looked either. I can hear the same noise when you move the cv axle but don't think that's where its at. I hate to tell you x part is bad without seeing it in person cause I don't like throwing parts at a problem till its fixed.