[5th Gen : 08+]: Tire wear, driving issues.
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Tire wear, driving issues.
2017 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. 90k miles.
Something happened in the last 2 months with my wife's van. The drivers rear tire is completely worn and slightly more on the inside. When a bump is hit at interstate speeds, it feels like a shock is broken. It is noticeable at 50-60 but not before that. It drives straight down the road and feels fine aside from bumps. The rain makes it 10 times worse.
I drove it 1500 in October on the interstate and it drove perfect. The only thing I can think is my wife backed into a stump that is lower than the bumper but high enough to catch something. I was in the van, I think she got the tire directly. I didn't notice it after this though and I'm pretty sure I drove it after that.
My first thought was the shock was dead. I took it off and it feels as good as any new shock I've ever had in my hands. The van sits level, if I jump on the back or push in all 4 corners it pretty much levels immediately. The bearings sound and feel fine with no play or gravely sound. I've got a bit of experience and I can rebuild a front end and do crash repair, so I have a decent idea of what to look for.
Next, I thought maybe she clipped the trailing arm and bent it or messed up the bushings. I checked that. Made sure the mounts were aligned in the same place on either side. I checked the spring, it doesn't seem like the seat or anything is bad and it rides level so the spring being the problem seems unlikely.
I spent half an hour looking for impact marks. I don't see anything bent or hit. I took the tire and ran my hands over it looking for broken belts and other things. Aside from the wear, it looked OK.
I don't work on the rear end of front wheel drive cars much. I assume if I take it to a shop they are going to want to change the shocks but they felt like new. I didn't check the other side but I assume the bad tire would be the issue here if it were shocks.
Is there something I'm overlooking? Is it possible I just got a tire that sucked halfway into the wear pattern? I don't see anything that needs fixed. I could put a couple of the old tires that have 50% tread on them and take it to an alignment shop and see if it is an alignment problem. There is a 2014 in the junkyard, I could just go take the whole rear end out of it. It looks like it comes out in 1 piece for both sides.
Anyone have any suggestions on what to look for?
Something happened in the last 2 months with my wife's van. The drivers rear tire is completely worn and slightly more on the inside. When a bump is hit at interstate speeds, it feels like a shock is broken. It is noticeable at 50-60 but not before that. It drives straight down the road and feels fine aside from bumps. The rain makes it 10 times worse.
I drove it 1500 in October on the interstate and it drove perfect. The only thing I can think is my wife backed into a stump that is lower than the bumper but high enough to catch something. I was in the van, I think she got the tire directly. I didn't notice it after this though and I'm pretty sure I drove it after that.
My first thought was the shock was dead. I took it off and it feels as good as any new shock I've ever had in my hands. The van sits level, if I jump on the back or push in all 4 corners it pretty much levels immediately. The bearings sound and feel fine with no play or gravely sound. I've got a bit of experience and I can rebuild a front end and do crash repair, so I have a decent idea of what to look for.
Next, I thought maybe she clipped the trailing arm and bent it or messed up the bushings. I checked that. Made sure the mounts were aligned in the same place on either side. I checked the spring, it doesn't seem like the seat or anything is bad and it rides level so the spring being the problem seems unlikely.
I spent half an hour looking for impact marks. I don't see anything bent or hit. I took the tire and ran my hands over it looking for broken belts and other things. Aside from the wear, it looked OK.
I don't work on the rear end of front wheel drive cars much. I assume if I take it to a shop they are going to want to change the shocks but they felt like new. I didn't check the other side but I assume the bad tire would be the issue here if it were shocks.
Is there something I'm overlooking? Is it possible I just got a tire that sucked halfway into the wear pattern? I don't see anything that needs fixed. I could put a couple of the old tires that have 50% tread on them and take it to an alignment shop and see if it is an alignment problem. There is a 2014 in the junkyard, I could just go take the whole rear end out of it. It looks like it comes out in 1 piece for both sides.
Anyone have any suggestions on what to look for?
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It doesn't appear to have anything that can be aligned.
It turned out the entire thing was bent. It just was perfectly center on the rear end and I guess I was looking at the side with a problem, so it wasn't obvious immediately. I picked up an entire rear clip for $80 at the junkyard today.
It turned out the entire thing was bent. It just was perfectly center on the rear end and I guess I was looking at the side with a problem, so it wasn't obvious immediately. I picked up an entire rear clip for $80 at the junkyard today.