22 DRW tire wear / alignment

[mbarber84]

Good morning everyone.
Did some searching but not finding specifics so…I
Noticed last week the front tires on my 2022 3500 DRW are beginning to feather ? / cup ? on the outside edges on both driver and passenger side. I’m running 80psi cold on factory Nexen’s. Currently 6,500 miles on the truck. Mix of towing and empty driving. Mostly highway miles. I’ve been reading up on this and from the searching / reading I’m thinking this is an alignment issue. I called the dealer where I purchased the truck and they can’t do alignments on crew cab DRW trucks. So that leaves me to find a shop in my area that can. (I think I found one)
My questions are:

#1. Are the Thuren specs applicable to a 3500 DRW truck with stock suspension and tires.

#2. Do you feel these specs will help with the wear issue I mentioned?

#3. What are your thoughts on requesting replacement front tires under warranty? Seems to me if the truck is improperly aligned or aligned in such a manner as to cause accelerated and premature tire wear, the damaged tires should be replaced under warranty. Thoughts? The owners manual suggests DRW trucks be rotated at 7,500 miles so I’m easily 1,000 miles shy of their recommendation.

Thanks in advance, as always your opinions and shared information are greatly appreciated.


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[jetrinka]

Good morning everyone.
Did some searching but not finding specifics so…I
Noticed last week the front tires on my 2022 3500 DRW are beginning to feather ? / cup ? on the outside edges on both driver and passenger side. I’m running 80psi cold on factory Nexen’s. Currently 6,500 miles on the truck. Mix of towing and empty driving. Mostly highway miles. I’ve been reading up on this and from the searching / reading I’m thinking this is an alignment issue. I called the dealer where I purchased the truck and they can’t do alignments on crew cab DRW trucks. So that leaves me to find a shop in my area that can. (I think I found one)
My questions are:

#1. Are the Thuren specs applicable to a 3500 DRW truck with stock suspension and tires.

#2. Do you feel these specs will help with the wear issue I mentioned?

#3. What are your thoughts on requesting replacement front tires under warranty? Seems to me if the truck is improperly aligned or aligned in such a manner as to cause accelerated and premature tire wear, the damaged tires should be replaced under warranty. Thoughts? The owners manual suggests DRW trucks be rotated at 7,500 miles so I’m easily 1,000 miles shy of their recommendation.

Thanks in advance, as always your opinions and shared information are greatly appreciated.


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Yes they would apply to your truck and certainly help with tire wear - specifically getting the toe set to zero.

If you get the before and after sheet from the alignment shop showing the alignment was out of "factory specs" I would think you'd have a valid claim.

 

[mbarber84]

Spoke with the service manager yesterday at my ordering dealer. After some back and forth, They’ve agreed to schedule me to an outside shop to have the alignment checked as they do not have a rack large enough to accommodate my truck. Had a chance to grab a few pics of the wear. 6600 miles on the truck and all original / stock. I spoke with Andrew at Thuren via email and he seems to think it’s a result of excessive toe-in. He also said the Thuren specs would be applicable on my truck and would more than likely correct the issue with the abnormal tire wear. I questioned the service manager as to wether or not Ram would replace the front tires if it is found that the truck is not in proper spec. He didn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about that and said it would have to be a regional rep’s decision. Hopefully I can get this resolved. Some things to note:

- The service manager told me I’m supposed to be rotating dually tires every 3,000 miles (that’s news to me, the owners manual says 7,500)

- I was told by the service manager there is no warranty on original equipment tires

If anyone has access to the Ram Specs for proper alignment, I would greatly appreciate it. I’d like to have my ducks in a row in case this becomes a fight.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Really most duallys dont need rotating but 3k miles is way to often

For what its worth rotate the tires get it aligned and dont worry about it

 

[dynocompe]

my 19 srw 2500 was wearing bad on outside edges of front tires. only 12k miles too. all stock

 

[xcountry1582]

The service manager is crazy with that 3000 mile rotation. Cars and SUV's are 6000. No way I'm taking a truck and getting it done sooner.

 

[SMK Shoe]

I have kinda the same problem. While I was running Hotshot, I could get 45-50K miles on the drives but at 35K the steers were toast. Outside wear excessive but good thread left on tire. Figured it was pulling upwards of 25K pounds 90% of the time. Dually's pulling heavy seem to eat up steer tires. Now that I've retired, time for a front end alignment and be done with it. 2020 3500 and already on third set of tires.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I have kinda the same problem. While I was running Hotshot, I could get 45-50K miles on the drives but at 35K the steers were toast. Outside wear excessive but good thread left on tire. Figured it was pulling upwards of 25K pounds 90% of the time. Dually's pulling heavy seem to eat up steer tires. Now that I've retired, time for a front end alignment and be done with it. 2020 3500 and already on third set of tires.

My 19 is on its 5th set lol not because of wear though

 

[AJ608]

I have kinda the same problem. While I was running Hotshot, I could get 45-50K miles on the drives but at 35K the steers were toast. Outside wear excessive but good thread left on tire. Figured it was pulling upwards of 25K pounds 90% of the time. Dually's pulling heavy seem to eat up steer tires. Now that I've retired, time for a front end alignment and be done with it. 2020 3500 and already on third set of tires.

I've had half a dozen 450/550 trucks they eat steer tires. Especially if they don't have a closed shoulder.

 

[Firebird]

Just rotated my tires with 6000 miles on these Nittos. Front tires did have some feathering at the edges

 

[Burnsze15]

This is my third 3500drw. Each one ate the steer tires. I took the truck to a commercial suspension shop for a legit alignment. It helps but there’s something g about the DRW geometry on this truck that skids the outboard steer tires in a turn based on the dual rear wheel pivot point. Anyway this is a thing and just expect to do reg alignments and replace steers more often.

I’m upgrading mine to the 19.5” rims (8 bolt) and commercial Michelin tires like the 4509/5500s. They will not wear nearly as quickly however for my hauling I like the better rated and built rolling stock. (off topic but just sharing)


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[mbarber84]

Finally had some time to post an update. Had the truck professionally aligned at an outside (not dealer) shop. The truck had almost an 1/8” of toe-in. The guy doing the alignment noticed it right away. He suggested cutting that in half even before I showed him the Thuren specs. Total toe was running .11-.12 before adjustment and .05-.06 after. The truck seems to move a little easier down the road now and doesn’t “push back” when stopping and parking like it did before. Also seems to track a little better. He ran his hands across the tire from inside to outside as well as front tires back. He said he could feel a little mis-shape in the tread and that the toe in adjustment should help with that. I feel better about it now. Just need to rotate the tires and see how the adjustment helps.


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[Blythkd1]

I know it seems like something but don't get your hopes too high just yet. Not trying to be a killjoy but every HD truck I've been around wears front tires from somewhat poorly to horribly, regardless of truck brand, tire brand or anything else. Like someone else mentioned, a good solid shoulder tire is your best defense but there are some trade offs. I' not going to just say you'll never find a tire, especially A/T's or M/T's, that will wear well on the front of your truck but I wouldn't hold my breath. My local alignment professional, who I'd put up against most, pretty much advertises that you will not see perfect wear from steer tires on HD pickups. He will do as good as anybody but makes no guarantees about tread wear.

Hope it all works out but I'd be guardedly optimistic at best until you've ran a few thousand miles.

 

[kvp]

Finally had some time to post an update. Had the truck professionally aligned at an outside (not dealer) shop. The truck had almost an 1/8” of toe-in. The guy doing the alignment noticed it right away. He suggested cutting that in half even before I showed him the Thuren specs. Total toe was running .11-.12 before adjustment and .05-.06 after. The truck seems to move a little easier down the road now and doesn’t “push back” when stopping and parking like it did before. Also seems to track a little better. He ran his hands across the tire from inside to outside as well as front tires back. He said he could feel a little mis-shape in the tread and that the toe in adjustment should help with that. I feel better about it now. Just need to rotate the tires and see how the adjustment helps.


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A good tire tech is priceless. Can you post who you use?

 

[mbarber84]

A good tire tech is priceless. Can you post who you use?

Yes no problem. See the attached picture.
Mike has a lot of experience, he’s been in the game a long time and is very knowledgeable. He did say, as others have stated, that there is a certain amount of steer tire wear that is unavoidable due to the nature of these trucks. The weight of that big Cummins hanging out front, the dually pushing constantly forward, and the constant low speed steering on winding roads all lead to a certain amount of feathering and rounding of the tire edges. That’s why rotating is important to balance the wear out. I recognized that from the very start, however there were other things indicative of a deeper issue when I was driving the truck. The way it tracked down the road, the constant dragging on the steering wheel, and seemed like I had to chase the truck a little going down the road. These were all alleviated by correcting the toe-in setting. Just as others have reported. Mike actually called out the toe-in issue even before he fired up the alignment rack by noticing the way the front tires were worn, and also by noticing that the truck reflexed backward when he put it in park on the rack. The pushing back or reflexing backward comes from the natural forces of the ground trying to drive the front wheels apart while moving forward.

 

[Cseybert]

Maybe Ram should go back to the Dana 60 front axle. Never had a problem with my 1997 DRW in 25 years.