BFGoodrich KO3 Uneven Wear

[gofastdan]

I've been running BFGoodrich KO3's in 285/70 17 for just over 20k now and am noticing uneven wear. You can see that alternate blocks on the outside part of the tire are wearing quite a bit faster than the rest of the tire. This is on my '24 TRD OR with Westcott spacers on the front. I had the front end aligned as soon as I put the lift on. The wear is identical on both sides of the vehicle so although I drive often on rough roads I really don't think I knocked a side out of alignment.

The only thing I can think is that either the kid at Goodyear tire shop didn't know what he was doing or the tires just wear oddly. I'm leaning towards the former explanation and plan to take it to someone else and see if it's really out of alignment or not but I've been busy and it's not super high on my list... Any other explanation anyone can think of though? I run the tires at around 35 psi so it doesn't seem like under inflation would be the issue.

I can also say that the inside of the tire is not exhibiting the same odd wear pattern even though it might kind of look like it in the pictures, which again makes me think alignment...

Sponsored

 

[CrispyTacoLover]

I've been running BFGoodrich KO3's in 285/70 17 for just over 20k now and am noticing uneven wear. You can see that alternate blocks on the outside part of the tire are wearing quite a bit faster than the rest of the tire. This is on my '24 TRD OR with Westcott spacers on the front. I had the front end aligned as soon as I put the lift on. The wear is identical on both sides of the vehicle so although I drive often on rough roads I really don't think I knocked a side out of alignment.

The only thing I can think is that either the kid at Goodyear tire shop didn't know what he was doing or the tires just wear oddly. I'm leaning towards the former explanation and plan to take it to someone else and see if it's really out of alignment or not but I've been busy and it's not super high on my list... Any other explanation anyone can think of though? I run the tires at around 35 psi so it doesn't seem like under inflation would be the issue.

I can also say that the inside of the tire is not exhibiting the same odd wear pattern even though it might kind of look like it in the pictures, which again makes me think alignment...

C or E load ?

 

[ridetime]

I've been running BFGoodrich KO3's in 285/70 17 for just over 20k now and am noticing uneven wear. You can see that alternate blocks on the outside part of the tire are wearing quite a bit faster than the rest of the tire. This is on my '24 TRD OR with Westcott spacers on the front. I had the front end aligned as soon as I put the lift on. The wear is identical on both sides of the vehicle so although I drive often on rough roads I really don't think I knocked a side out of alignment.

The only thing I can think is that either the kid at Goodyear tire shop didn't know what he was doing or the tires just wear oddly. I'm leaning towards the former explanation and plan to take it to someone else and see if it's really out of alignment or not but I've been busy and it's not super high on my list... Any other explanation anyone can think of though? I run the tires at around 35 psi so it doesn't seem like under inflation would be the issue.

I can also say that the inside of the tire is not exhibiting the same odd wear pattern even though it might kind of look like it in the pictures, which again makes me think alignment...

That is pretty substantial cupping for 20k. They are either mis-aligned or out of balance, or both. The wheel spacers increase the scrub radius. Its too late for these tires but I would find a good shop to check alignment specs and balance before I replaced them.

 

[gasgasman]

Camber is definitely off.

 

[gofastdan]

C or E load ?

C rated.

 

[gofastdan]

That is pretty substantial cupping for 20k. They are either mis-aligned or out of balance, or both. The wheel spacers increase the scrub radius. Its too late for these tires but I would find a good shop to check alignment specs and balance before I replaced them.

I'm sure you're probably right about the alignment. I don't think it's a balancing issue b/c all four tires are wearing the same (rotated every 5k).

Also, just to clarify, I don't have wheel spacers, the spacer that necessitated the original front end alignment was a pre-load shock spacer to level the front end. Regardless, I think your thoughts are correct.

 

[gofastdan]

Camber is definitely off.

A month or two ago there was a thread where someone was theorizing that alignment shops were potentially using 3rd gen specs to align 4th gen trucks. My alignment was done over a year ago so pretty early in the 4th gen lifecycle so I certainly think that could have been what happened. I'll just have to have it aligned again and see if they find something that needs changed.

 

[Gearman]

I've been running BFGoodrich KO3's in 285/70 17 for just over 20k now and am noticing uneven wear. You can see that alternate blocks on the outside part of the tire are wearing quite a bit faster than the rest of the tire. This is on my '24 TRD OR with Westcott spacers on the front. I had the front end aligned as soon as I put the lift on. The wear is identical on both sides of the vehicle so although I drive often on rough roads I really don't think I knocked a side out of alignment.

The only thing I can think is that either the kid at Goodyear tire shop didn't know what he was doing or the tires just wear oddly. I'm leaning towards the former explanation and plan to take it to someone else and see if it's really out of alignment or not but I've been busy and it's not super high on my list... Any other explanation anyone can think of though? I run the tires at around 35 psi so it doesn't seem like under inflation would be the issue.

I can also say that the inside of the tire is not exhibiting the same odd wear pattern even though it might kind of look like it in the pictures, which again makes me think alignment...

too me, it also appears that there maybe a psi issue also. What width wheel are you using? It is possible that the width of wheel vs the width of tread and the PSI your running could be a cause as well.

 

[Toyotimothy]

It could be the brand. I have BFG KO2s on my off-road Tacoma and probably less than 15,000 miles. Regular rotations. All of a sudden mine are bad cupped and riding rougher and making that whomp, whomp, whomp noise. Never had it lifted until recently and no alignment issues whatsoever. Nothing out of balance either. The tires always ran quiet and smooth. Not anymore. I did have it aligned with the recent lift. The shop I was at said that they’re seeing situations where people think that they’re getting rotations and or balances / alignments and it’s not happening at the shops. Mine was always serviced by Toyota too. The service advisor admitted that they let it go with it bad out of balance because a trainee did the work and it slipped through. But the next visit a supposed veteran did the balance and it wasn’t any better. Had to take it to two different tire shops to get most of the vibrations out and but by then it was too late. Whatever happened with the tires it was over. This was all in a matter of a week or two and I don’t drive an excessive amount. So it could be a lack of someone not doing their job properly or it could just be a bad quality product that wears absurdly with the least of problems. I’m looking at replacing mine with Nitto recon or Toyo AT3. Had Falkens with my 3rd gen and I wasn’t impressed. Similar issue with noise. Best of luck. I don’t know that anyone stands behind their products anymore.

 

[mikeymtbs]

Too much positive camber… see if your alignment guy can get the camber a bit more negative.

Sponsored