After installing Centramatics on the steer axle, I've increased tire life at least 100%, no other changes. The set I have on now have 200k+ mi on them and still look good.

As for drives, I've been using Oncore retreads on my casings with very good results. At $150/tire installed and balanced, I challenge anyone to beat the price.

 

I've got Centramatics on my steers (Bridgestone R280's), but my steers look like crap - but the abnormal wear started BEFORE I put the Centramatics on. I have still gotten 118K out of the steers so far, and will likely keep them on until the end of the year, at which point they'll probably have about 145K on them. All in all, that's not bad for a set of tires that started wearing abnormally at about 60,000 miles.

When the time comes to replace the steers, I'll be getting a 3 axle alignment done (possibly a 5 axle if I can get the company to pay for the trailer), and I'll get the front end looked over. Nobody has been able to figure out what has caused the abnormal wear, because it looks really weird. I've heard everything from the kingpins to the shocks to the tires themselves. I know that I won't be buying the same type of steers again, although I'll likely stay with Bridgestone (since I've had such good luck with my drive tires).

 

Once a wear pattern starts it usually continues. You may be able to slow the wear by either switching the front tires or turn them around. What type of wear are you seeing? Are there flat spots? Is the wear in one specific location?

 

I swapped them right after the wear started - it did nothing. I changed the shocks - it did nothing. At this point, I have conceded defeat with these tires - they are beyond saving.
The passenger tire:


The driver's side tire:


Here's what I do know:

The wear is not caused by underinflation or overinflation.

The weird wear on the driver's side tire (the stuff that is worn right to the edge of the tire) was caused by a bad shock. Only the one tire has that wear, and that tire was on the side the bad shock was on. Once it started, there was no stopping it. The unusual wear is the strip of wear that goes all the way around the tire about 1 inch in. Both tires have it, and both had it before they were rotated.

The wear may be caused by the tires themselves. I've been told that they don't use this brand of tires for class 8 vehicles anymore, and that they are primarily used on RV's.

 

Me and my father have centramatics on our T600's....smart investment :wink:

 

It may primarily due to the wear started from the worn shock. I would suspect the tires since they no longer use them on class 8 trucks. From looking at the passenger tire, it looks as though it could be an alignment problem. Although it is still an odd wear pattern. One other thing I would check is the drag link. Since your truck is newer, that would be a long shot, but might be worth checking. Usually when a drag link goes bad, it will tend to drift abruptly and seem non responsive when you are driving. It may also have a loud popping sound when it gets really bad. The pop (for lack of a better word) happens when it gets in a bind. The drivers side wear pattern resembles the type of wear you can see with a bad drag link. When I have had a worn out drag link, the wear normally happens only on the drivers side. I would check with the dealer to see if he will trade the tires out with you, since they no longer use them on big trucks. If all else fails, I would look for gremlins. :wink:

 

Should have added - the truck goes dead straight down the road when I let go of the wheel, and stays that way.

Definately not that, because the truck doesn't drift at all - even with those crappy tires on it.

I did have a problem with a popping, and the dealership shimmed it up to stop it. It was on the driver's side.

Remember - the bad wear on the driver's side started when the tire was on the passenger side. The passenger side tire (the old driver's side tire) looks a lot better than the other one.

Unfortunately, with the truck being over 3 years old already (even though I bought it new less than 2 years ago) getting them swapped out would be a long shot. When the time comes to replace them, I'll be taking it to a real tire shop, rather than the dealership.

I've had dealers look at it, I've had tire guys look at it, I've had general mechanics look at it. Nobody can explain that odd wear pattern. The only logical answer I've gotten is that the tires just don't work well on a class 8 vehicle. We shall see when I get them replaced.

I'm not going to whine too much about it, though - I'll still get about 145-150K out of the tires. That's not too bad.

 

Sometimes, I think you can just get some bad tires. :sad:

 

Anyone suggest a good place to pick up a set of centramatics? Is $180 per axle as mentioned earlier in the thread the going rate for these? If so, that's not a bad deal if they really increase tire wear.

 

If your truck goes straight that means your scrub line is good. Your front alignment could still be off, namely toe in. Maybe you have too much.

Tires do tend to wear like that, but usually it's from the outside in. I haven't seen it start on the inside like that.

It's just the nature of the beast. Solid axle, kingpin setup. There's no adjustment for camber, its fixed. This causes unusual wear.

On another note, I got 245,000 miles out of a set of XZA3's, but they were close to the limit. If I had kept on them a little better, I would've got more.

With your truck being a set-forward axle, I'd expect it to treat tires a little better.