Tires: tire wear, new dodge trucks, alignment settings

Question
Mr Smith
My son just purchased a 2008 Ram 1500 on 9/2/2010. We noticed that the outside edges of the left %26 right tires tread are wearing badly. I told him that i had this same problem on my 2 new dodge trucks back in 1998. Neither the dealer or the tire manufacturer wanted to admit something wrong %26 neither would fix the problem. Dealer said nothing wrong w/ alignment %26 tire manuf said nothing wrong w/ tires. I dont want my son to be stuck w/ purchasing new set of tires every year. What is your suggestion?

Answer
Billy,

First, I am of the opinion that uneven wear caused strictly caused by mis-alignment.

I am also of the opinion that the published alignment tolerances are too wide.  Not the target value, but the allowable deviation from that value.  I think it ought to be half of what is published.

Put another way, the alignment should be within the inner half of the spec.

You should be aware that even vehicles that do not have a pull can be out of alignment.  There are settings where one out of spec condition is offset by another out of spec condition – typically camber vs toe.  

Also, many alignment techs think that if the factory did not make provisions to make adjustments for the alignment, then they can’t make an adjustment and will declare the vehicle “OK”.  This is totally wrong.

ALL alignment settings are adjustable, but it may require an eccentric bolt, some shims, etc.  A GOOD alignment tech will know what to do and the vehicle should leave a shop with ALL the alignment settings close to the nominal.

So I would suggest your son get an alignment from an alignment tech who agrees with the above (Check before the truck is left).  Just be aware that fixing the alignment does fix the tires.  You almost have to start with new tires to gauge how effective the alignment is.