So, Ive had this vibration, mild shaking coming from the front drivers side of my 2000 xj. When I would get in it to drive it home after work at night, I could feel this wop, wop, wop sound coming from that area like I had a flat or something. It would eventually even out after a half mile or so. So I checked out the tire today. The 2 in the back are like new and the pass side is like new also. I think they were fairly new from the PO. They are 225/75/15 Destiny Dakota ht tires (pepboys house brand). Well the drivers tire is like new too with the exception of a 10 inch area in one spot where the outer tread is worn really bad and the center rib and surrounding area is all chopped, scalloped. So, in essence, Ive got a flat spot on the tire. 90% of the way round is perfect with this one area worn away. Ive seen chopped tires due to bad front ends and such before but Ive never come across anything like this. Its kinda bizarre. Ive checked over the front end and it seems good and tight, the stabilizer is leaking though, gotta replace it soon. Im thinking its a defect in the tire that caused a crazy imbalance issue that caused the odd wear. Any other ideas? Anyone ever had a similar issue? I tried to get a pic but it was dark and the flash killed the detail. I will take one tomorrow and post it up here.

 

Sounds like your tires are cheap AND out of alignment. Ball joints going or bad toe maybe.

 

I think the tires are kinda cheap. They do get decent reviews for street use though. For now Im gonna move the backs to the front and look for a replacement for the bad one. Ive seen lots of cheap barely used spares in that size on CL, some even already mounted on the stock steelie. Too bad my spare is a doughnut. Ill also be replacing the shocks and steering stabilizer while Im in there.

 

And check your alignment? Steering stabilizer doesn't have anything to fo with tire wear

 

Im sure the alignment isnt perfect but Ive had lots of 4wd vehicles with bad worn out misaligned parts and usually the tire gets worn all over whether it be cupping, or outer edge wear, feathering, etc. Its like someone dragged this tire sideways for miles on this one spot, wearing it down. I replaced the shocks and moved the tires to the rear and vice versa. The front end feels perfectly fine now and the vibration, flat spot, is in the rear now. Im only replacing the stabilizer because the one on it is leaking and most likely shot. I dont expect it to have much effect on the tire issue. Well, heres the pic as promised. You can see the flat spot on the outer edge and the 2 big dips in the center rib. looks like a roller coaster. Maybe the rim is bent?

 

That's very typical of bad alignment in Jeeps with the Quadra-Link front end. Totally even tire wear is almost unheard of unless you have 30k miles on your rubber.

 

Interesting. What exactly is adjustable on this front end? I see the tie rod ends. but everything else looks fixed.

 

Yep it's really just the steering and ball joints (adjustable ones exist if you've bent your axle somehow). Caster is adjustable via shims behind the control arms.