Why are my front tires cupping/scalloping?

I have 43,000 miles on my 2016, TRD OR DC tacoma. I rotate the tires religiously, Which are Cooper STT MAXX tires. I also keep it aligned consistently. The past few thousand miles I've really notice the tires are starting to cup. they still have plenty of tread on them, though.

I've also noticed my shocks seem to be wearing out. Seems a little premature for shocks to be going out. Also, if I'm going slow enough, when I come to a bump or pothole I can hear what sounds like my ball joints, or some other suspension component making a popping noise. it doesn't sound like the typical loud popping, maybe just quieter and not so forceful.

Is my suspension really already having wear issues like that at under 45k? seems ridiculous to me. Would this stuff be covered under warranty still?

Thanks

 

Tires could be alignment, or maybe air pressure is wrong.

With the popping sound I'd bet that the alignment company didn't tighten your cam tabs properly and they are loose. That would also cause your alignment to possible shift and cause the tire wear.

Go under the truck and make sure the lca boss are torqued properly.

 

Thanks man I'll do that

 

Worn shocks, ball joints and tie rods can cause the issues you are experiencing. But I agree they should not be worn. My 150k 2012 original suspension is still solid.

 

What tire pressure are you running?

 

Wrong tire pressure...mark the tire with chalk across the tread then roll them to confirm even tread contact across the pattern. I would wager you are too high. E rated tires wont flex like the c rated tires that came stock so you can't go off what is on the door jam.

 

With 265/75 ST maxx I run 37psi front/ 34 rear, DCSB.

When you rotate you need to cross the front diagonally to the rear so they reverse direction.

 

Good chance the popping sound could also be related to the radiator mount bushings, a well documented weak spot on these trucks.

As for the cupping, looks like one of two things would be the issue there, either youre running too much toe out or too much positive camber and its just the shape of the blocks that causes the first block on each tread to be more worn than the second. Just because Toyota told you to align it one way doesnt necessarily mean that is the 'ideal' alignment in any way. Id start with about -1 degrees of camber and .125 degrees of toe in based on stock caster specs. If you have the option then I'd recommend getting some nice UCAs so you can have a larger range of adjustment.

EDIT: looks like uneven camber wear the more I look at it. Mine is doing the same thing on my Michelin street tires and im planning to run slight negative camber and lots of caster this time around

 

I've noticed with those tire ratings and chalk test I have to run 24-26psi. I run 28psi. But too high pressure should cause feathering not cupping?

 

Also, too high pressure would cause feathering in the middle of the tire, too low of pressure causes wear on the outsides/sidewalls

 

I stand corrected, looks more like toe wear in those pictures!

 

If it is the suspension you can get new components here for pretty cheap. Good luck OP. And thanks for those charts up there guys, really useful.

 

My ST's are doing this as well. I don't recall having this issue with Duratracs. I'm on fairly new Fox 2.5's, new control arms and everything. It was aligned, I rotate religiously and still cups. I bumped the pressure up to 34 to see if it'll help and it hasn't, may have to go up more.

 

My truck had been doing this since new, I had the dealer align it several times, the tire guy said it shouldnt be doing this, dealership did nothing but tell me to rotate the tires. In the end what fixed my issue was to replace the offroad suspension with trd pro suspension. The stock offroad struts are too small to control the wheels.

 

Interesting comment on rotation direction above. I recall that with the old bias ply tires crossing tires at rotation was standard. Once radials became common it was recommended to rotate for and aft. What makes the tires mentioned different that you need cross rotation?

 

Hey man do your tires squel/ cry when you're on a curve turning right or left? When I make right turns it makes no noise but when I go over speed bumps it makes some little squels but it's a bit of a longer squel when I'm on a curved turn like a highway ramp or curved road. Mostly on my right turns only. I did an alignment the day before yesterday, and it rode fine no noise but after the alignment it started doing the squealing, I went back to mention the noise but they said it's because of the cupping tread on my tires and now that their aligned its make a squel because of the uneven tread. Anyone have any info on this? I purchased these tires about a year ago, on my first tire rotation, I noticed my front wheels were cupping but the rear were fine so I switched the rears to the front but not those are cupping. Maybe my shocks are what's causing this issue? Would appreciate your guys help! Don't know what to do and well it's really embarrassing driving a new truck making old car noises

 

At how many miles are you rotating the tires?

 

+45 for worn suspension/alignment components.
Same problem on my old set. My upper balljoint was worn.
Jack it up and try to shake thongs around and see if anytjong is lose or has any give.