Tire issue or alignment -- Anyone else seeing this kind of wear?

[G-Zeus]

Would it be unreasonable to request an alignment at purchase, just to know that it is within spec and that you won't be killing tires prematurely from day one?

Maybe... but these things get out of alignment and my dealer has recommended to realign every 10k.

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[G-Zeus]

For what it's worth, tires were rotated at 10k, so the initial fronts went to the rears, and while they are worn on the outside, they are not as bad as what became the new fronts. Tells me that after the first 10k, the alignment just got worse and destroyed the tires. And the Hankooks apparently are "soft" compared to other tires, so they will wear more quickly anyway. Here's a picture showing the wear on the outside edge of the fronts, only took 10k to wear down like this! (And I drive like an old man, so it's not due to aggressive cornering!)

 

[Pioneer74]

Maybe... but these things get out of alignment and my dealer has recommended to realign every 10k.

Your dealer is ripping you off. I have the stock Generals, rotate every 10k miles, and they are wearing evenly. Have 44k miles on them with 6/32 tread. An alignment every 10k miles is insane.

 

[G-Zeus]

Your dealer is ripping you off. I have the stock Generals, rotate every 10k miles, and they are wearing evenly. Have 44k miles on them with 6/32 tread. An alignment every 10k miles is insane.

It’s not the dealer ripping me off. It’s the soft Hankooks that came with mine, and the tendency of the Lightning alignment to have issues after 10k miles. Most of the people with premature and uneven wear problems have the Hankooks. Consider them the canary in the coal mine, showcasing the alignment issues that will eventually cause issues with all tires. Aligning every 10k miles will help.

My rears, which were originally the fronts for the first 10k miles, also show uneven wear, but not as much as the ones on the from now. Which would suggest that the 2nd 10k miles were worse on the tires than the first 10k miles.

I consider the recommendation from my dealer to be an honest suggestion to avoid a premature tire replacement next time. I’d rather pay for a couple of extra alignments than a new set of tires. I wish I had known earlier - although the Hankooks seem to not be a durable anyway.

 

[Pioneer74]

It’s not the dealer ripping me off. It’s the soft Hankooks that came with mine, and the tendency of the Lightning alignment to have issues after 10k miles. Most of the people with premature and uneven wear problems have the Hankooks. Consider them the canary in the coal mine, showcasing the alignment issues that will eventually cause issues with all tires. Aligning every 10k miles will help.

My rears, which were originally the fronts for the first 10k miles, also show uneven wear, but not as much as the ones on the from now. Which would suggest that the 2nd 10k miles were worse on the tires than the first 10k miles.

I consider the recommendation from my dealer to be an honest suggestion to avoid a premature tire replacement next time. I’d rather pay for a couple of extra alignments than a new set of tires. I wish I had known earlier - although the Hankooks seem to not be a durable anyway.

If the Hankook tires were the problem, why are you doing an alignment every 10k miles after replacing them with another brand?

 

[G-Zeus]

If the Hankook tires were the problem, why are you doing an alignment every 10k miles after replacing them with another brand?

Let's see how it goes. Clearly the alignment could go wonky after 10k miles. I'm here to raise awareness to other members on this board. Do as you wish and what's right for you.

 

[B. Lane]

Replaced my Hankooks with Michelin Defenders. Dealer has recommended a rotation every 5k miles, and an alignment every 10k. Since all 4 wheels have independent suspension, rotating the tires to the back won't help "flatten out" any toe/alignment wear as it would on a fixed axel. That was news to me, I don't call reading that recommendation in the manual but it makes sense to do (especially since there isn't really any other maintenance needed on these trucks).

Not happy about the hefty bill after only 20k miles for new tires and an alignment. @Ford Motor Company, you need to make all consumers aware of this. A could of $150 alignments may have saved me $1000+ in tires...

Agree. My right front is wearing badly on the outside, so much so that Discount Tire told me they could not rotate and balance my tires (I avoid the dealer if possible, for a variety of reasons). My dealer said they needed my truck for two days to do an alignment but they weren't sure when they could get to it. Scheduled an alignment at another dealer 30 miles away for this coming Monday. I'm at 18,400 miles and rotated the stock Hankooks at 8,500. Not a happy camper.

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