I have a 2000 xj with a 3.5 RE and 31" tires. I cannot keep tires on the front of this thing for over 5k. It wears them really funny. It has mud tires on it now and it eats the lugs off across the tread. It wears them down at an angle wear one side of the lug is up to a 1/4 inch high while the other side of the tread block is 1/16 high. The ball joints are good. Brand new complete Currie Enterprises steering, with fresh alignment. One thing i did was measure from lower ball joint to shock mount to see if it was "square." The measurements are off almost 3 inches from each other. WTF? Could the unibody be tweaked? The jeep drives straighter than an arrow down the road like there is nothing wrong and it does not dogwalk at all. Its never been wheeled hard but it did have a prior salvage title. I did not even know that till i got my title in the mail.

 

If it has a salvaged title and wasn't disclosed to you then that's fraud at least in OKlahoma.. Anyways my guess would be yeah the front is tweaked a bit. When you had the alignment done did they give you a readout that shows toe-in/out, camber and caster? If so what were the numbers?

 

My best guess would be a bent axle housing. I had a tire that would wear funny like you explained also, tweaked it from years of wheeling. Bet yours took a hit to the front end in the collision.

 

it does have a different roof on it. it also has different doors. i did not even think about that it might have been illegal to sell w/o telling me it was a prior salvage. i've had it for a year. bought with 100k. guy said he never really wheeled it. sorry no numbers from the aligment
This is just irritatting cuz tires ain't cheap and i have no time to keep rotating them.

 

Im in Minnesota.

 

Uh yea, I think the seller is supposed to disclose that it is a salvaged vehicle and has a marked title. Didnt the title show anything when you bought it? Oregon titles have a special spot on the front of the title for that.

Different roof and different doors? Was most likely a rollover which could have tweaked the unibody pretty bad.... Dont know about bent axle housing.

If it was mine I would take it to a frame shop and have them measure everything up and see what is going on.

A friend of mine had a toyota truck and hit a tree with his left front wheel hard enought that it broke the setor shaft on the steering box. Replaced the box and thought it was good enough until we looked at the front end and the thing was all messed up. Took it to a frame shop and was told the frame was "diamond" and at least $800 to straighten it out plus it needed A-arms, etc.. Needless to say, he sold it.

 

it could be a bent outer c knuckle. take a look at those to see if one is bent in a bit.

also, could be a tweaked unibody/frame section like mentioned.

a salvage title has to have everything that's damaged replaced new with receipts, or a copy of the title from the junkyard vehicle. but who knows, there are always ways around the law.

i'd take it to reputable collision center that has some killer equipment and have them look everything over real well. they should find something.

good luck