Any Members in Arkansas?

Yep. I've conversed with some members from Hawaii in the 1st gen section over the years.

 

It looks good now. Your dad is all set.

 

Little action (or lack thereof) up at Bull Shoals

 

Nice pictures. I would go water skiing on Bull Shoals back when I lived in Mtn Home.

 

*sigh*

Is this an out of balance thing?

 

Possibly, but can also be caused by poor alignment, incorrect tire pressure, or worn suspension.

 

I'm worried it's a belt failing too. Alignment is good, and they've been running 30-32psi for a long time.

 

Do you rotate often?

 

Every 5,000 miles. I'm on the schedule to get them rotated at my 75k mile service Sat.

 

Are they E-rated? What size? That's very low pressure for E-rated. Doing the conversion with the help of a forum member, my 265/75 R16 E-rated tires need 37 psi. So far so good on even wear, just wearing faster than I would like.

 

Yes, they are E rated. That's the pressure I got to when I chalk tested them new. 34-35 wasn't evenly distributed across the tread with the amount of weight I have.

 

Unpopular opinion here: The chalk test doesn't account for the dynamic load seen during actual driving. It's an old holdover from older tire technology. You should likely be running around 37. E-rated tires need a bit more pressure.

 

In my experience tire chop is caused by weak shocks that aren't able to keep the tire planted on the road.

 

Yeah, that's where my head was going based on my Google results. Seems like "worn suspension" is a likely cause. How many miles on your current suspension?

 

Probably 35k miles on the Dobinsons that's under it.

But I also realized the shadow may have been drawing my gaze. Upon closer inspection, it's the whole tire. Kinda alligator skin-like. :/

 

Is it just the one tire? Looks like more wear and scalloping on the outside. Did you hit something, looks like front driver.

I've always run my Toyo AT E rated at 32-34psi and have never seen that.

 

Haven't hit anything that I recall. I may see if I can get my alignment checked.

 

Yeah, what it's doing is called "cupping." Here's a link with a pic similar to what you are seeing: https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/learn/tire-care-maintenance/tire-cupping

Suspension makes the most sense to me, but that's not a lot of miles. Is it just one tire, or all of them?

 

I run my E-Rated Nitto Trail Graps at like 27-26 psi in the rear during summer and like 28-30 psi in the front just to have a decent ride quality, and have never seen anything like that and they wear evenly. I'm also unloaded all the time with no added weight.

 

I would get cupping regularly on FWD SUVs with struts and independent rear suspension as the struts would begin to wear.