So here are the symptoms:-

- Steering wheel wobbles a bit at any speed really, especially at higher speeds/highway driving.

- I have noticed that the front right tire is wearing on the outside only, all other tires seem to be pretty even.

- Trucks steering pulls the the right a bit

I am assuming the three are related. Should I be looking at a Wheel Alignment here or something else? I did a few searches and some people suggested to others to replace U Bolts??

A thing to consider is that I was once told that to do an alignment on a truck which is lifted (mine has a 4" lift I believe) then it would cost much much more. Like a couple hundred as opposed to the 50 bucks canadian tire charges for a normal wheel alignment. Canadian tire wont even look at my car as when I told them it was lifted they told me to go elsewhere.

Anyone know if there is any truth to this or why it costs so much more?

Should I be looking at other things before going to the wheel alignment as the source of this uneven tire wear?

 

jack your front end up check your bearings, tire wear is from alignment issues.

 

Usually the Co that makes the lift will issue alignment specs, and it should not cost more.

 

check your right front tire and make sure you dont have a belt broke in it which will cause a high spot in the tire that can make it wobble and just because your truck is lifted doesnt change how the alignments done i do a lot of alignments on lifted trucks and we charge the same no matter if its lifted or not

 

1 of the pistons on my left caliper was seized, causing my left front tire to wear horribly.

It's harder to align lifted trucks, I don't know about 4", I guess it depends on the lift. Setting the toe should only cost what the shop advertises. If your camber is off real bad, the price could go up because of time, and parts needed. The tech might add an extra hour to the job.

Some things to check...

Lift your front end up and see how freely your wheels spin. Check for play up and down, and side to side. Up and down play could be wheel bearings, or ball joints. Side to side is steering, check your tie rod ends, and steering arm.


When my caliper seized, I took it apart and beat the piston with a hammer til it moved in enough for the wheel to spin freely (C clamp wouldn't budge it). I replaced the caliper a few days later. I don't recommend doing this, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to make it home.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Ill lift up the front end and check a few things in the next week or so but its a canadian loooong weekend (well for me) so I wont have time til next week now