worn tire symptom of...

[lighthouse]

hi guys,

My right front tire is terribly worn, and not quite sure why. I had an allignment done and new tie rods not that long ago.

Today i jacked up the right side to see if there was wobble. the wheel has some definite play when I hold it at 3 and 9 and try to turn it., and im thinking thats why the tire wore so bad. Does this mean there is a tie rod problem? is there anything else that could cause it?

thanks guys, dont know a ton about my machine, but im learning here.

[sub-arctic]

if your ball joints are worn out it would wear your tire out, and make clunking noises depending on how severe. (my buddy had the ball joints shear in his civic, made a bit of a mess ) might be worth while checking those out, and if you replace those you will probably need to get another alignment done unfortunately

[lighthouse]

i dont think its the ball joint... there is no clunking noises, and as I understand a worn ball joint would be indicated by play in the wheel top to bottom (ie holding the tire at 12 and 6 and trying to shake it)

[lighthouse]

so i found where the play is coming from. there is a ball and socket joint where the tie rod connects to the steering piston, and there is some play here. can this just be tightened?

[nxski]

so i found where the play is coming from. there is a ball and socket joint where the tie rod connects to the steering piston, and there is some play here. can this just be tightened?

You will need to replace your inner tie rod ends and get an alignment done.

[bionic]

Would check your control arm bushings, the lower ones are replaceable, but the uppers require replacement of the arm itself as a unit. Fore/aft generally will be control arm issues. (or groaning up and down for sticking control arms) In/out are generally tie rods, up and down are generally ball joints (or side to side) This a very general overview and each case can contain more than one group of symtoms, buts its a good start.

[lighthouse]

Talked with my mechanic, he says the tie rods he put in last summer were just standard and obviously not good enough because i got bigger tires on my deli and they cant tKe the increased load. So he is going to order in original l300 tie rods and replace them. Kind of bull to have to do something twice... Also my tire is know garbage. O well, things could be worse!