Tire Trouble

If you read deep into the owners manual I believe it states alignment and tire balance is covered under warranty for a year.

 

Reasons I dislike chalk:
-it's a holdover from the days of bias plies; modern radials do not react the same
-doesn't account for dynamic loading or safety factor
-doesn't account for mounting on a non-nominal rim width, which changes tire section width; chalk footprint expectations do not change
-conditions to do a proper chalk method are difficult, if not impossible to replicate
-according to purveyors of the chalk method...loading 3 adults or any significant load requires re-chalking

 

Along with those factors, the biggest factor is that it cannot account for is deflection. The contact patch is not just shoulder to shoulder, but also longitudinal. You cannot account for that by seeing how much chalk remains. It also does not account for tread deflection that occurs as the tire spins faster. As the tire spins faster, the center of the tread will lift. This is something that you won't see with a low speed chalk test.

 

Yes. But it’s “or” 12,000 miles :/

 

My silverado with 265/75r16 tires looked the same as pics on page 1 and I drove it for 15 years. It was mostly on front tires and alignment never did anything.

 

So you think this is normal? For 14,000 miles. I’m totally cool w that. I just don’t know what’s normal and if it’s not, I want to fix it sooner than later

 

However you both should agree it is the easiest way for any layperson to see first hand the effects of an over/under inflated tire and clearly/immediately understand why.

I'm sure there are a lot of other scientific influences to consider. What about altitude? What about driving in the winter when the temps are colder? What about roads that are more winding compared to roads that are straight? What about more starts/stops in traffic compared to an open road? Wouldn't all of these things affect the PSI? Surely there are more................

 

I agree with your stance on Duratracs. Avoid these folks, unless you don’t mind flushing money away. I ran these on Wranglers for years and almost ALWAYS had wear issues. I don’t trust those tires anymore.

 

Can't always trust what you see...
If you mount a tire with a nominal rim width of 8" on a 7" rim, section width will decrease by approximately 1/2".
The layperson will then lower psi to get the latteral chalk print they think they should have. It'll look right to the layperson, but is underinflated.

As to the other stuff:
-Altitude changes are usually a wash because of temperature/pressure inversion when ascending/descending if it's a daily commute. The only time you should need to worry is measuring at one altitude and spending considerable time at another altitude.
-Cold psi is cold psi
-that's why I give recommendations adjusted from the door placard

 

It never hurts to have your alignment checked. Some places will do it for free, but keep in mind that they will almost always tell you that it is off. It is not bad practice to do it every 5000-7500 miles. You don't want to wait until you see tire wear because it is too late at that point.

 

Me thinks it's an Alignment issue. I set my 265/75/16 Duratracs @ 30 psi and they are wearing quite nicely. I do 32psi in the winter due to the weather fluctuation.

 

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How many miles you gettin out of em?

 

That looks like positive toe(toe-in) wear since it usually affects just the edge.

Camber wear usually affects the whole tread; turns the tire into a cone.

 

Jesus, those are shit aren’t they lol

 

30psi is way to low for that tire (on the Tacoma) on blacktop imo. I’d be running that at 33-34psi on pavement.

 

You would think that they would be in better shape at 25,000 miles seeing how they get rotated every 5,000 and I check the pressure regularly. I’m going to run them out and decide what to replace them with.

 

Ya. I’m surprised because they aren’t an aggressive tire to begin, thought they’d be in better shape at that mileage

 

I've had 3 free oil changes and they told me I needed an alignment at each one. The just spit out the "we recommend it once a year anyway". Nobody should have to or does this. I'm getting bigger tires soon anyway so I got 21k and they look half worn. Same wear as yours.

 

So......... I went back in today. they asked “what can we do” and I told them I wanted the problem fixed and new tires. (I had a nail in one, it needed replacement) So we could go half each. They agreed. They tried to offer the buy three get one free that anyone can get any day.
I maybe should have persisted w replacing the three for free (I have no prob paying for the one that needs to be replaced with the nail) I think this is more than fair on my part

 

If you put new tires on, you definitely need to have the alignment checked. And probably checked by someone other than the dealer. Once you get it aligned, make sure to get a print out and post it up here to be analyzed by the TW arm-chair mechanics.