Align or not

[BlackOak]

Should you have an alignment when the front passenger axel seal is replaced? I have some odd wear on that tire all the rest are even, tire pressure all equal 2020 Rubicon

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[Rusty PW]

Shouldn't need an alignment. Unless they didn't seat the unit bearing correctly when putting it back together.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

Sounds like something got tweaked during disassembly/reassembly. In an ideal world you wouldn’t need an alignment after work like this, however, in your case I think you do.

 

[BennieD]

If tire wear is weird, yes

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If tire wear is weird, yes

Yes, while it's there getting the seal replaced........
But not because of axle seal/bearing.

To have odd wear on just one front tire on a solid axle vehicle is very weird.
I'd love to see the wear pattern, even get to run hands across the tread. Could be a simple explanation......... but to have one front tire wear oddly? That's more typical of IFS due to the fact you can have one side really out of whack but not the other unless this is a factory mess-up.

Not seeing the wear - could be shock or damaged part on that side.
Caster won't do it, toe being off wears both tires, not one, and camber can't be changed (neither can caster without a parts swap)

 

[Janster]

Changing a seal shouldn’t have anything to do with alignment…..

If you have odd tire wear - that’s something totally different.

You mentioned your tire pressures are ‘even’ …What type of pressure are you running and did you do a chalk test?

If you haven’t have an alignment in a while (and especially after changing to bigger tires, etc)….I’d highly recommend checking your tire patch (chalk test) and getting an alignment.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

Worn where? Inside or outside? or are you getting cupping or diagonal striping? A tire out of balance will cause weird wear as well.

Alignment won't hurt, it will catch worn ball joints. And worn ball joints on one side will cause wear on just one tire.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Changing a seal shouldn’t have anything to do with alignment…..

If you have odd tire wear - that’s something totally different.

You mentioned your tire pressures are ‘even’ …What type of pressure are you running and did you do a chalk test?

If you haven’t have an alignment in a while (and especially after changing to bigger tires, etc)….I’d highly recommend checking your tire patch (chalk test) and getting an alignment.

Swapping tires doesn't impact alignment.
The only thing that can really change with time is toe - if he's seeing toe type wear, it will be both tires, and it will show a feathered or sawtooth type pattern across the face of both tires. Can't have incorrect toe on one and not the other.

If it's a tire pressure problem, it would be seen across both front tires. Tire pressure that's good for the right can't be poor for the left.

I found the chalk test to be goofy on my tires. I got a better chalk pattern running pressures way to low on my tires. It started to sawtooth the outer threads. I contacted General Tires, got in contact with their "consumer engineer" and we chatted a bit and he recommended a pressure higher than was running. Wear problems went away 100%. I'm getter very good life out of the tires now.
If it works for some - go for it, but keep in mind, when on the road at speed, there are forces that may contradict what is done at a slow roll.
I call it a "starting point" but haven't found it to be ideal on my cars or Jeep.

He can surely spring $100 or more for an "alignment check" but my bets are elsewhere if it's one tire on the front.
Camber can't change with age on these unless he's got ball joints that are toast, similar for caster - that won't change unless he's got bushings that are shot, but then, you can't change one side and not the other and caster doesn't cause tire wear. You can't change the caster split on these.

We're shooting spit wads at the wall and seeing what sticks without a precise description of the wear, or, photos of the wear. Otherwise, it's all armchair guessing, tossing stuff out there.
I'll put it this way - if I was in my shop and someone called me and said "I have weird tire wear on the right front tire, the others are fine, what's wrong" I would stop them there and say bring it in, or at least describe the wear or send me pictures.
There wouldn't be much use of going any farther on the phone.

 

[BlackOak]

Thanks for your reply. I did ask when the work was done and was assured it wasn't necessary. I don't use that shop anymore. Thanks again, though

 

[BlackOak]

Looking it over with your insight I have attached a picture it's like lumps and bumps up and down along the tire last pic is another tire

 

[BlackOak]

So I figure the tire is probably out of balance as the others are fine and at the same cold pressure any thoughts as to buying a new one mounting the spare and new at the back and use an old one for a spare all the tires have 35k on them I do mostly highway driving your recommendations?

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