Rear wheel alignment
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 07, 2005 at 20:40
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Bob of KAOS
I have had BFG ATs on the truck for over two years (80,000 kms) and they are starting to look like they need replacing. They would have lasted another 10,000 kms if they had worn evenly. The rear left tyre is excessively worn on the outside of the tread. I am at a loss to understand how a rear wheel can be out of alignment? It is on an LX470 which I presume is the same rear end as the 100 series. Does anyone know a good 4WD wheel aligner in the ACT region?
Reply By: floyd - Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005 at 15:17
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005 at 15:17
80,000 is pretty good milage from a 4WD tyre. I have only beaten that once. I got 90k out of BFG AT 33 inchers and they still had a bit left.
If your rear end is out it could be the diff alignment. Most rear ends (all Toyota solid axels) have a "centre bolt" that comes down from the axel and goes through all of the rear leaf springs to locate them centrally. It is kind of like a stud that is a few inches long. They can break off or rust off if they have been dipped in salt water as they are not very thick. They can also be broken after serios off road travel on really rough terrain. When driving with a broken centre bolt it feels like your alignment is out and you have to correct by turning the steering wheel off centre in order to maintain a straight line.
When travelling behind a vehicle with a broken centre bolt it appears that the rear wheels are not following the line of the front tyres. It also looks like the vehicle is driving a little "sideways" down the road.
To see if this is the case hose down your driveway and drive through the puddle. If there are 4 tyre marks exiting the puddle onto the dry surface then this would indicate a mis aligned rear end. If there are only 2 tracks then the alignment is OK. Another way to sus it out is to get someone to drive the vehicle in a dead straight line and follow behind to see if the vehicle is out of alignment.
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