Tires: My 2005 Tahoe, tire placard, target value

Question
I bought this car brand new, and it had a clicking noise when turning to any side; after six trips to the dealership, nothing was ever found, it now has around 35K miles and the inside of the front tires is very worn since the 20K's. I am buying new tires, but I'm afraid the problem persists. Please advice. Thank you.

Answer
Jose,

I can't tell you what the clicking sound is, but I do not think it is related to the tire wear.  The tire wear is probably from a misalignment condition and that ought to be corrected before you put new tires on.

It is my opinion that most vehicle manufacturer alignment tolerances are too wide by half.  The target value may be OK, but the published range of acceptable values is too wide.  I think the value needs to be within the inner half of the range.

Plus, you need to insure that the tires are rotated per the owner's manual (which ought to say every 5,000 to, 8,000 miles) and the inflations pressures ought ot be checked every month.  

On every vehicle sold in the US, there is a sticker – commonly called the tire placard - that lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size.  The placard is usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box – but sometimes it is located in the trunk or on the fuel filler door.

Personally, I like a car that handles crisply. So I use 3 to 5 psi above the placard pressure.  I also get better fuel economy, better wet traction, better snow traction, better tire durability, better tire wear, but I do have a degradation in ride harshness (but I am willing to put up with it.)

BTW, it doesn't matter who makes the tire or what pressure is listed on the tire's sidewall, if the tire size is the same as the placard, then the pressure listed on placard is also appropriate.

One word of caution:  Some trucks use tires with the letters "LT" in front of the tire size - and some trucks use tires with the letter "P" in front of the tire size - and some trucks use tires with the letter "C" after the tire size.  You should not use "P"'s in place of "LT"'s and vice versa.