[southpole1989]

hi, on my 02 dessert runner. it is pulling to the right pretty bad. so i took it to tire kingdom where i bought my tires from a year ago. and also got an alignment there when i got the tires. any they said that everything was fine and just needed to be realigned. ( only the outer shoulder is wearing down) but even though i bought my tires there and got the alignment there. they making me pay for new tire and to realign it. so i told them to wait. and well today when i was poking around to see if i could find something. the only thing i found was that the boot for the lower ball joint is starting to root. that will be getting fix but i am wondering could that cause the tire wear and the pull? they never put it on the machine or any thing because i still have to hunt for a replacement tire. because mine is on national back order ullout:

 

[lvfire]

What tire is on national back order?

 

[southpole1989]

general tire uhp. even tirerack has them on back order.

 

[TwoBills]

A proper alignment is very hard to get. I gave up on it and rotate my tires, a lot. I'd try a rotation while I was searching for an alignment tech that knows his job. They're rarer than you would think. Rotation: cross the fronts to the rear (LF to RR). Bring the rears straight up (RR to RF). This'll take care of any radial tire pull that you might have.

 

[southpole1989]

i can't cross rotate the tires. they are directional tires. i know i can find someone to properly align them. i just would like to know is a rotting ball joint boot can cause the alignment problem. and also i notice on the tire when i spun it with the truck jacked up. there was a metallic like sound coming from it.

 

[massbaster]

no well maybe

i can't cross rotate the tires. they are directional tires. i know i can find someone to properly align them. i just would like to know is a rotting ball joint boot can cause the alignment problem. and also i notice on the tire when i spun it with the truck jacked up. there was a metallic like sound coming from it.

a rotting boot will not cause alignment issue, however, i broken and rotted boot that has been ignored will cause ball joint issues which will lead to alignment issues.

ball joint check is easy to do to see if there is excessive play or wear. ball joint is type of part that will not break right away. instead there will be a consistent slow worsening until it fails completely. as it fails IT WILL BE noticable. i have never come across a ball joint that just broke and have driven on worn ones until i had money to fix.

start with the simple stuff. tire quality, balance, tie rod ends, alignment check unless you're sure the ball joints are bad.

 

[chainsaw]

A proper alignment should pull slightly to the right, this is an old safety feature incase you stroke out at the wheel you do in the ditch and not on coming traffic. Should be very noticable though. The wear on the out side of the tires could just be from going around corners, when you turn the out side of the tire wears more. Its normal. How many miles on the tires?

 

[southpole1989]

they are 20k miles on the tires. at around 16000 is when it started to pull to the right. and i didnt have the money to look at it. i only think it's the ball joints because i saw the rotting boot on it.