Hey Everyone. I've heard bad things about Track Bars on our manly dodges. They wear out quick I've heard. So whats a good sign if I'm losing my track bar in my 95 2500 V8 gasser? Would abnormal tire wear be one? I've got some funky tire wear goin on...i think its originating in the front. Its hard to describe how they are wearing but they are wearing weird on the inside but not smoothly, its more of a bumpy wear. The tire place where i got these BFG All Terrain T/A KOs said that the wear is not due to an alignment issue. They told me to take it to a place that knows the front of end these trucks. I've got 124XXX miles on her, 30,000 of those that i put on it since october 2004 and i've never changed the trackbar but the previous owner MAY have but i'm not sure. Could the abnormal wear in the tires be due to the track bar taking a hike? should i notice a difference in the way the truck drives? thanks in advance guys...and girls.

 

bumpy time wear is called scalloping. (and cupping) i've had it on a lot of cars. i was never sure whether it was alignment, or shocks or what. edit.. under-inflations is listed as a cause.

loose track bar tends to allow the front end to wander back and forth on the road, so you're always chasing it. you can see movement at the ends, most commonly on the drivers side at the ball joint thing. i don't know that it causes any particularly special tire wear.

 

Bad tire wear could very well be from a bad track bar, and also several other things. Lay under the front of your truck and have somebody saw the steering wheel back and forth fairly quickly. If you see a fair amount of play in either end of the track bar, its shot. Also check the steering ends at the same time as well (with this same method), cause they could also make odd tire wear.

Another thing to check is the ball joints and wheel bearings, cause these will also cause odd tire wear if worn out. Jack the tire up and wiggle the tire from the top and bottom. If there is movement, then either the ball joints or the wheel bearing is going out (or even both).

 

What PSI you runnin in your tires? I had the same problem and I had mine aired up too much. Also, check the cam bolts where the lower control arms meet the axle on both sides to make sure they're pointing in the same direction. If not, that can contribute as well.

Also, what olyelr said is spot on. Good advice.

 

cupping and other problems...

under-inflation is listed as a cause, putting more wear on the edges, which turns out irregular, instead of smooth.

http://www.kaltire.com/commercial/me...es/cupping.php
http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/HD.../995T-2-05.htm

 

i just checked the pressure in all four and they were all at 47 PSI cold.

 

Wowzers thats sounds like a lot of pressure, but I guess you do have a 3/4 ton, though. I run around 35 lbs in my half ton and my tires are wearing absolutely perfect (which probably have about 20k miles or more now). But Im not sure about a 3/4 ton.

 

oh man I'm beginning to wonder if mine are over inflated. But maybe they are higher psi for a 3/4 ton, thats what the tire shop always airs them up to, or around that area. I had to air them down to 38 psi a few weeks ago so i could get better traction in the snow (they've got around 32,000 miles or more on them so they're getting wore out) and with that low of pressure it took a lot more power to get it moving down the road...not to mention took more gas too haha.

 

assuming you've got tires rated load range C (50 psi) or D (65), i don't think your 45-50 is too much. i run mine at about 50 unloaded, and will air up higher for hauling firewood. anyway, over-inflation would wear the centers, not the scalloped edges.

 

The problem I ran into with my tires being overinflated was that the pressure from the tire was actually forcing the ball joints into an unatural negative camber position. I also have wheels that are spaced out about 2 inches from the body. I aired down my tires to 30 in the front, and 28 in the rear and have not had a wear issue since.

Since you still have the stock rims that aren't pushed out, perhaps this is not your problem. Also, check those cam bolts. Check both of them on the inside of the control arm. Mine were pointing opposite directions causing the front axle to be turned a little bit. Don't just check the cam bolts on the outside of the control arm because that side can strip and rotate independantly from the bolt head.