How often do you pull that trailer? Also do you have kids that drive your truck?

 

Once a month. Nope, just one (myself)

 

They look like someone cut them to form a blade look on them similar to how monter truck tire are cut for racing.

Sounds as though they may be scalloping due to under-inflation or extreme weight. Are the tires load range "E"?
If they are load "C", all the correct inflation in the world will not help with the extra weight your 5'er is laying over the rear axle.

If they are under-inflated, the wear will be toward the outer edge of the tread, conversly over-inflation wears down the centerline of the tread.

Another thought is that the rear axle may be tweaked out of alignment. If your still inside your warranty, take it to your dealer and have them put it on an alignment rack or go to an alignment shop to have it checked.

I am not so sure I would go to a tire shop that doesn't have an idea and is lost when it comes to unusal wear.

I hope this helps.

 

Sounds as though they may be scalloping due to under-inflation or extreme weight. Are the tires load range "E"?
If they are load "C", all the correct inflation in the world will not help with the extra weight your 5'er is laying over the rear axle.

Nope, These are "E", unless they were missed stamped (unlikely), I run them @ 70PSI or 80PSI. The "scalloping" is throught out the rear tires, while front are square (proper wear)

If they are under-inflated, the wear will be toward the outer edge of the tread, conversly over-inflation wears down the centerline of the tread.

Another thought is that the rear axle may be tweaked out of alignment. If your still inside your warranty, take it to your dealer and have them put it on an alignment rack or go to an alignment shop to have it checked.

Just had an alignment done after purchase of tires, these tires are $200+, per tire. Nothing was mentioned to be out of alignment when picking up the truck.

I am not so sure I would go to a tire shop that doesn't have an idea and is lost when it comes to unusal wear.

I hope this helps.

here's some pics to help......

 

The pictures are too blurry to see any real detail of the wear but they kind of look like the wear on my OEM tires that I think to be normal due to heavy weight.

Although not the 2500# pin weight you probably have, my trailer has a 1100 pound tongue weight (Front Kitchen) without Weight Distribution Bars installed.

Also, I do know that the torque these trucks put out can cause unnoticed tire spin if you have a heavy foot.

Sorry I can't help more.

 

I believe this to look fairly normal. Probably from driving your truck like a sports car. This will create the "feathering" effect. Don't burn so much rubber!

 

Uh, your sig says "stock wheels," (16"), yet you say you're running 275/65/R18's. Something is wrong here???

 

txguppy: i have two sets that i use on the truck. One is for long distance towing for additional MPG's, i use the stock (16"). The second set came with the truck when purchased (305 or 315 size tires), but lose MPG's towing (18"). I have since changed the tires size to see if i can minimize the loss of mpg's (275/65R18).

roostinmax: I'm not that brave, after reading all the limping tranny threads in this forum. I must say, I would expect this from the front tires not the rears.

Dmax in Alaska: Your the second person to mention weight, although my stocks did not do this in a recent 3000 mile trip to AR for the x-mas holiday. The trailer was pushing 11000 pounds then, with no problems. Today, it's closer to 8500-9000 pounds and has made these tires wear funny/uneven. I do remember doing this to front tires when i had a tow behind trailer (5600 pounds "wet"). I had incorrectly set the distribution bars a bit front heavy causing this type of damage on a 500 trip.

BTW, It does seem to be "bouncy" with this tire/wheel combo. I wonder if this is causing the "slip", which is causing the wear? I'm wondering if i should install air bags?

 

I could not see any real wear patterns from those pictures. I will say this. That when you put a tire like that on there that has those huge deep sipes in the lugs, you are asking for some weird wear patterns. The reason is that with the deep tread of that tire and the huge lugs, with the deep sipes cut into them, you are getting a lot of tread squirm under torque. Don't forget that brake torque is more any any engine can muster, so you can get a lot of reverse looking wear due to heavy breaking with a trailer of heavy load.

Those sipes create biting edges when put under load. They also weaken the stability of each lug causing them to squirm. This increases heat and generates faster rates of wear than other tread patterns. That is what might be happening to you. The good news is that they will get more stable as they wear down and get closer to where they are anchored to the base of the tire. They should wear slower as they get more worn down.

The key is probably going to be rotation. Make sure you change the direction the tire is spining when you are going forward. What I mean by that is to not just do a front to back rotation, but rather an X rotation. Right Rear, goes on Left front and vice versa. This will ensure that you change, or break any pattern you might have started, and give you max life out of the tires. The other thing is to let the rear tires down when you don't tow. If you are driving empty, let those back ones down. You won't need 70 psi in there with no load. I run mine 35 to 40 in the rear when I don't tow. Leave my fronts at 55 all the time.

Good Luck.

 

The other thing is to let the rear tires down when you don't tow. If you are driving empty, let those back ones down. You won't need 70 psi in there with no load. I run mine 35 to 40 in the rear when I don't tow. Leave my fronts at 55 all the time.

Good Luck.

Please take no offense here... but,

While I am no tire expert, running too low an air pressure can be dangerous too. Remember the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire dilema? Those rollovers were found to be caused due to under-inflation. I think it was Firestone that provided bad recommendations to Ford.

Be Careful!!!

 

You have to take into account that these load range E tires are rated for 2800-3800 Lbs. Just the two tires in the rear can carry the weight of the vehicle at freeway speed's and not overheat. I have run my rears as low as 40, driven on the freeway for 10 mins at 60+MPH, gotten off the freeway and cheaked the temperature of the tire's which wern't any more than 110 degrees F.

 

Tire wear

What kind of shocks are you running? If they are worn and the tire is not staying on the road surface you can have that kind of wear.

 

05'Max: they're the stock ones, but it was an idea (40,000 miles).

epb091786: I dont know that i would ever run tires that low, i have seen someone roll their car in front of me due to low tires. I'll stick with the wear and 70PSI much safer in the long run IMO. My dad ran michelin's when i was young with similar pattern with no problems and always told us about proper tire inflation.

Duromax04:

"Sipes" someone has mentioned this before, It does look like the tires are wearing backwards. I'll keep an eye on them from this point.....

 

Actually running to much air in your rear tires is much more dangerous than runnning the proper amount for the load. When empty, the tires you have, have the ability to carry that load easially at 40 psi. To run a tire way over inflated will reduce your contact patch by as much as 50%. That is much more scary when you are in a panic situation. You want the proper air for the load, and the proper contact patch. I am not saying running the tires underinflated, I am saying that you air them TO THE LOAD. You should be able to get a load/inflation table from your tires manufacture.

With to much air in the tires, they will not react as they should when put in panic situations, and they won't respond correctly to bumps in the road. They will actually bounce up in the air. And when that happens, they really are not doing you much good. Remember, I am not talking about running the tires UNDERINFLATED, I talking about running them correctly. And, 70 psi when empty is not correct for the axle load.

The whole Explorerer debacle was much deeper than they ever told people. It was a combination of vehicle design and poor tire quality. Not so much the air pressure. They tried to blame it on that, but the tires were sub standard plain and simple.

 

:exactly: