I have had my truck for a couple thousand miles now and am noticing my right front tire is cupping along with slightly more wear on the outer edge. I am going to have the alignment checked, but will alignment cause cupping. I also checked the pressure in all 6 tires to make sure that was good. The truck seems to run pretty straight when you let go of the wheel, but finding a non-crowned road around here is like pulling teeth.

Thanks Shane

Shocks.

Can you explain how the shocks would cause cupping? I hate not understanding things.

Thanks Shane

I tried to understand it...I just accept it now. If your shocks are worn, one of the end results is that 'cupping' on the inside of the tire. It happened to me. When you bring it in for an alignment...then will tell you if your wear was caused by misalignment or shocks.

When you have a bad shock, the wheel bounces. Every time the wheel hits the road after the bounce, it scrapes a tiny bit of rubber, hence the cups. They usually are spaced somewhat evenly around the perimeter of the tire. If the tire is out of balance also, the wear spots might be worse on the heavy side. After the trouble is corrected, put the worn tire on the rear or replace it. It will never wear evenly if you leave it on the front. If the one shock is bad, replace them all, and I would re-balance all the tires. Oh, and don't overlook the possibility of loose front wheel bearings. Have them re-packed and adjusted to spec's.

The inside of my Drivers side cupped badly. I have rotated to the back, had the truck realigned, and tech inspected for worn parts. He said he didn't find anything. After a couple thousand miles, I see signs that the inside of the drivers side tire is still wearing. Aren't the front wheel bearings non serviceable, replace only? What sort of wear would a worn idler arm and pitman arm cause?

A friend of mine has a lifted dually, he has had to replace the steering stabilizer 3 times in 40k. This really cupped his tires.....a little food for thought.

If you're grasping at straws try this one. Many years ago, I had a customer who brought in a car for much the same problem you are describing, drivers side inside wear. He had had it to several alignment shops and each time they checked and re-adjusted the alignment and rotated the worn tire to the rear. Each time the problem re-occurred between a few hundred to a few thousand miles. The man wanted me to check it out again before he purchased new tires. I checked for worn parts and misalignment. Everything was right on spec's. The man who owned the car was a very large man. On a hunch I asked him to sit in the driver's seat while I checked the camber angle. Darned if it didn't go slightly out of range when he was sitting in the driver's seat. He said that he drove most of the time by himself because if I put one of my mechanics in the passenger seat, the camber angle went back into range. I reset the camber so it was in range with him alone in the car, he bought new tires and never had the problem again. Just for grins, you might have the alignment shop check the camber with you in the driver's seat and if it is out of range or close to it, make the adjustment closer with the added weight. I read a lot of threads on DP that complain about GM's weak front ends. Something has to be letting the left front wheel get out of camber or you wouldn't see inner tire wear. The cupping could be a weak shock causing a multiple problem but the inner wear can only be caused by a change in camber. Check tire pressures, lower ball joints, upper and lower control arm bushings, weak torsion bar or spring, anything that allows too much positive camber. If nothing shows up, try it with your weight in the driver's seat. Good luck!

Do you pull a camper...? I know when I started pulling 5th wheel camper my front tires were cupping... so a friend of mine told me to buy air bags and it would fix the problem.... so I did Firestone :D I can't tell you how much they help.. I love them.. the ride is so much better and no cuping.. I think all 3/4 and 1 ton trucks should come stock with them...

i had it alligned empty, and checked it with the trailer hooked up. Tech said it was still in specs.

I can't keep tires(feathering/cupping) on the left front of my truck, after rotating the tires and having the front end realigned God only knows how many times the GM service tech finally took a closer look and found a bolt had come loose.(This was after bitching about the bolt sliding in a hole sound) I bought Wrangler Silent Armors all the way around, Same shit, Dealership said that the tires are too aggressive and out of balance, Gemini said that the front end is out of alinement and lower tie rod end shot. Back to the dealership, bad tie rod and tires still too aggressive and out of balance(even after I just had them done 20 min earlier ) After going around and around playing circle jerk I need to save up for my next set, Still have the same problem. What should I buy and have done, I know I'll have to pay more but I'm thinking about buying from the Stealership just so they can't give me any more BS.

check for idler arm play a well.. this can causes cupping as well

I have just put a brand new set of LT265/75-16/E1 Pirelli Scorpion ATR on my truck, this is the 4th set of tires I have had to put on. I was told that the front tire cupping was an issue with the 4x4. I was also told to rotate the tires ever 5000 miles to help stop the cupping, but that ultimately this was a 4x4 issue…….

Does this sound correct? I do not do very much hauling any more, and plan on running 60lbs of air in all 4 tires.

Thanks
SC

woore the crap out of the inside of both tires, more on the drivers then the pass, cupped both. allignment bad from factory. alligned, replaced both front tires, 20k later @80psi, wear is dead even. inner edge, outer edge, center, cupping.. perfect.

My original front tires only lasted 17K. Tire guy said I didn't rotate them enough. I think the tires were cheap, undersized(215/85/16) and couldn't handle the weight I have. I put Michelin 245/75/16's on the front and they show no wear at all after 4K.
Dave

I have new on my truck, I noticed when driving on the highway the other day that when I change lanes the rear feels like i have low tires, real sluggish.

I checked the air pressue adn the front tires had 60 psi, the back had 85psi. So let the air out of the back ones and got them down to 60 psi and the truck handles alot better now.

Any thoughts, has anyone run into a similar issue?

Thanks
SC

I put 2 new 235/85r16 Nitto Durra Grapplers on mine today, they were both cupping pretty bad.It's at the align. shop now,hope that's the problem,trucks only got 36,000 on it can't imagine the shocks are bad...

I also have both front tires wearing on the outside edges like they are under-inflated. have ran with 65 psi normally and 80 psi when loaded. Only 15,000 miles on truck and went ahead and rotated the front tires to the back. The tires that came on the truck are GoodYear. Don't know if this tire was a bad lot or not.

Take it to some place that uses hand gauges not the junk computerized stuff It will just get it to the "specs" not perfect. I work at a place that doesn't use computers to align and I had my mt tires on the front for 8k towing and not and I have very little cupping just the normal wear. I normally try to rotate every 6k. I need shocks also.

I have new on my truck, I noticed when driving on the highway the other day that when I change lanes the rear feels like i have low tires, real sluggish.

I checked the air pressue adn the front tires had 60 psi, the back had 85psi. So let the air out of the back ones and got them down to 60 psi and the truck handles alot better now.

Any thoughts, has anyone run into a similar issue?

Thanks
SC
I've never found anybody that actually give me a good explanation of why, but more than a couple of tires dealers have told me that new truck tires will feel a little mushy for the 1st few weeks (nobody has ever mentioned miles) after you put them on. That's been my experience too; when they're new they seem to wiggle around some but after a month or so you never notice it again. :confuzeld

I've never found anybody that actually give me a good explanation of why, but more than a couple of tires dealers have told me that new truck tires will feel a little mushy for the 1st few weeks (nobody has ever mentioned miles) after you put them on. That's been my experience too; when they're new they seem to wiggle around some but after a month or so you never notice it again. :confuzeld
The tread is soft and flexes thats why at's or mt's do it more because the tread is more spaced out.

My Left inner tire is cupped and my right outter is cupped and truck pulls to the right. What is off? ?

greif03lb7, thanks for the reply. I'll watch them over the nect few motnhs to see how they do.

Thanks
SC

cupping is caused by bounce of tire on the pavement, NOT alignment issues
outer edge wear can be from alignment being toed in, it can be also from hard cornering
inner edge wear is excessive toe out
edge wear on inner and outer edges....underinflation
the 4wd GM trucks do cup tires, it is the nature of the beast. Heavy loads will definitely help in adding cupping to frt tires. Frequent rotation is the best remedy to get the most tire life. Thrust angle alignment with GOOD equipment such as Hunter or other name brand equip is the best. The alignment is ONLY as good as the person working the machine though. So many shops have clueless or careless guys doing alignments or the tech is on flat rate, and the book time is 1.2 hrs (for example). Many times an alginment that is far off, or on a vehicle that requires alot of time to do the adjusting will take FAr more than the alotted time given. The tech then has to decide....make $$ to eat and get the job done or go home poor and make the alignment correct. Yes the job needs to be done right but the poor guy does have to feed his family as well...which is right? which is wrong....both, but that is how the real world operates. Hand held bubble angle finders are as good as a yard stick for alignments..good money spent for bad. Wheel alignments are measured in minutes and seconds or thousands of an inch. 1 degree= 60 minutes, 1 minute= 60 seconds...that will give anyone unfamilar with actually doing alignments some idea of just how precision a good wheel alignment is.

My 07 Sierra Classic 1 Ton Dually Crewcab 4X4 is cupping too. It started on the right front so I put a set of new top of the line front shocks on it and rotated the tires and checked the toe-in. Now (maybe 1500 miles later) I'm seeing it on the left front. I read the posts here on Diesel Place and then did a google search and came back with a gazillion hits so it looks like it's a systemic problem on the newer Chevys & GMCs. Is anyone aware of GM putting anything out on this or has anyone been able to identify the specific cause and fix for this? Most of my miles are with light loads in the bed (8 or 10 bales of hay, 150-200 pounds of feed in bags, etc.) though I tow a 32 foot 5th Wheel RV or a car trailer 10-15% of the time. I think it's pretty clear that there's a design or production problem.

everyone always told me that you will replace steer tires 2 sets to 1 rear set on most duallys , especially if you tow alot of miles, my dually is nearly always hooked to somthing and yes it has the cupping on both tires. Unless I find somthing obvious, I will just replace tires, to have it from shop to shop will cost you money because the dealer shops will throw every front end part at it and you will likely not fix what is the nature of the truck, yes shocks and inflation play a parts in it, but not near what you think.

I thought it was a dually trait,,,,, My buddies F350 used to eat front tires to

have alignment and rotate..............rotate.........rotate......... lol

Neither of my previous GM Duallies had this problem, though they were mid and late 80's models with solid axles. I've talked to a number of other guys who are seeing the same problem and several of them tell me the type of tread makes all the difference so when these tires give up the ghost I'll align it and then put some good tires on it. Every time we've had this problem with our trucks at work it has been shocks or tire balance and one of my shocks was leaking so I figured that was the deal. I went to school on Beeline Frame and alignment machines and then they promptly put me in engine rebuild, lol. CRS has set in and I think I sold the books to buy fishing gear or something...

I finally had my frame checked, because the allignment was all the way out on the top, and all the way in on the bottom instead of somewhere in the middle. My frame was bent from some kind of impact by previous owner, and the driver side wheel was about 3/4 inch behind the passenger side. I don't think the truck was ever wrecked, but maybe ran off a culvert, or fell in a hole somewhere. $400.00 to pull the frame, and problem solved. Now have about 10,000 miles on a new set of Michelins, and tires are wearing even on both sides.