I've been experiencing some abnormal tire wear on my front tires. The outside edges of the tires are especially worn, and there is some definite cupping going on. Tires were last rotated 2,000 miles ago, and I rotate every 5,000 with no issues. I thought that maybe I had a bearing (or both) going out because of the noise I was getting, mostly at speeds above 35 mph. I went in to Discount Tire and had them re-balance the front tires, and both were out of balance.

Anyway, I lifted the truck off the ground this last weekend to check the bearings and everything seems nice and tight. What I did end up noticing is that one of my sway bar end links is broken, and the other side somehow came disconnected. So my sway bar is entirely disconnected.

I bought some new end links from NAPA and will be installing today. My research online has been somewhat inconclusive though as to whether this is causing my tire wear issue or not. Some people say that disconnecting the sway bar will have zero effect on tire wear and others say that it will.

What do you guys think?

 

Unless your tryin to drive your truck like your on a road course, I wouldn't expect to see wear from the lack of a sway bay. The only thing you would have seen is increased body roll. Have the alignment checked. Outside edge wear would is usually an indicator of the vehicle being having a toe in condition.

 

Answer = No

 

Check tire pressure, as well. Low pressure will wear the sides quicker.

 

Yeah, I don't think the lack of sway bar is the problem. When was the last time you had it aligned?

 

I'll take Alignment for 1000$ Alex.

 

Thanks for all of your responses!!!

It's been quite a while since it was aligned. I last aligned it right after I put my lift on. So that's definitely something to look into.

Whats throwing me off is the cupping I'm seeing. It's not wearing evenly along the outside; it's almost as if it alternates lugs.

My rotors are warped, but would that be such a large problem that it causes the cupping on the tires? Found this on the Monroe website:

"Worn shock absorbers or unbalanced tires / wheels / brake rotors can also cause cupping, but the cupping would typically be more of a concentric pattern."

Shocks are fine. Had the tires re-balanced recently and both were out-of-whack, one was significantly.

 

Oh that? That's nothing abnormal or irregular at all. It's just because you're using those tires to steer with. Happens on all vehicles. And is part of the reason why you rotate front tires to the rear, and rear tires to the front.