muddeprived

What would you think is causing this?

Here's the lowdown: I just bought these tires a couple months ago. They are balanced. Alignment was done a couple weeks ago. It drives straight but there's a bad shake up front. The jeep shudders constantly at 56 mph and 61 mph+.
I noticed the front passenger tire wearing down like this so i swapped it to the rear and put the rear up front thinking maybe the tire was out of balanced or smoething. Nothing changed and now the front tire is wearing just like the other one did so that tells me it's related to the steering or suspension. Looking at the picture, you can see how the upper trear block inner edge is worn down at an angle while the tread block on the other side is not worn at all. Something's causing this shake and weird wear. It may seem very minor right now but i want to catch the culprit before it wears down the tires worse. I can't afford new ones so i gotta figure out what it is.

I've replaced all the front steering parts except the steering box, hub bearings, and ball joints. There is no play in the ball joints or bearings. Sometimes when i turn without moving (in a parking lot) it's very difficult to turn or there's certain spots where it gets stuck and i have to force it. Sometimes it does that, sometimes it doesn't. It mainly does it when i'm in park and turn the wheel left or right. That sounds like ball joints or steering box but i'm not sure.

What you guys think?

Kyle

I would go into more detail about inspecting your hub bearings. A good friend of mine had the same problem and that was the culprit.

dabeast727

i have the exact same thign, its not your hubs its your ball jouints

muddeprived

I inspected the hubs when i took em off last week. They spun freely, sort of. Just a tiny bit of friction in them (both sides). They have 84k on them. There was no play in it, no clunking of any sort. Same with the ball joints, no play or clunking that i could see/feel but i've heard they can be bad and not clunk or have play.

muddeprived

have you fixed your issue? how do you know it's the ball joints? Did you jeep shake at highway speeds?

drakan1908

Can you take it somewhere and have the tires balanced on the Jeep?

BlueXJ

With a wheel jacked up, how much can you rock the wheel by grabbing it at the 12 & 6 o'clock positions. That may help determine if the ball joints are bad.

muddeprived

i can't rock it at all. It's firm. There's no play or clunking. I spoke with my ex gf's brother about this cuz he had recent ball joint failure. His tires were worn the same way but much worse cuz he left it like that too long. We fixed his ball joints last month. His had alot of play and clunked when you pressed on the lower 6 o-clock position. Mine is wearing the same way his were but no play at all in the joints. I don't get it.

I don't think the tires are out of balanced. originally the passenger front tire was wearing funny like the picture so i swapped it with the rear passenger, which was wearing normally like the other two on the driver's side. Now that formerly-rear tire is up front and wearing funny like the first tire was. It's obviously suspension/steering issue, not tire balance.

Since i'm off tomorrow, i'm gonna pop off the knuckle and see what's going on with those ball joints.

BlueXJ

Did you check both sides with the 6/12 o'clock rock test? It only takes one bad ball joint to mess up the tires like that. Usually the right lower seems to go bad first followed by the right upper then the left etc...

nick_n_ii

I'd say Ball joints also, I didn't know mine were bad till I jacked up the front end one day to do brakes and the spindle fell off. So they can be bad and not "cluck" or "move"

dabeast727

There should be a lot of friction, just no grinding or popping. Ive replaced mine before thats how hte new ones were.

BlueXJ

Are you speaking about unit bearings? If you are they offer some resistence in your hands when new but get smoother after a couple of weeks of use. I always attributed it to internal lubrication and bearing needing to seat.

muddeprived

yes both sides show no sign of wear. I'm gonna go ahead and replace them anyways. I might hit the culprit while doing it. My goal when i bought this used cherokee was to replace every component up front. I normally do this on used vehicle (i did this on the tj) because i don't know what condition the joints are in and i don't take risks with things like steering and suspension so i go around and replace everythign so it's basically new. I got the ball joints, bearings, and steering box left to do then the entire front end is new.

BlueXJ

Kewl!! Let us know what cures the tire wear issue.

muddeprived

I just popped off the passenger side knuckle and the lower ball joint rod just wiggles in the socket. Found it



I took it for a spin up to 65 mph and the vibes have been reduced. I'm guessing there's still a tiny shake, hardly noticeable, from the two odd-worn tires in the back. The strange bumpsteer i've had since i bought it is gone too.

I've discovered a possible problem while doing the ball joints. I spun the axle shaft and noticed clanking and skipping inside the differental. Something's up with my lockright. Normally it's easy to turn and it clicks but now it's very hard to turn and it skips sometimes and clanks loud. Seems like the lockrigh springs aren't functioning properly. I'm gonna have to pop the cover tomorrow and see what's going on in there.