front end destroying tires, but alignment is good! ????????

My stock tires had feathered outside edges by the time I hit 8000 miles. No, I didn't rotate them. I took it to the dealer and under warranty they checked the alignment and were able to make a very small adjustment and said it should be fine now. Shortly thereafter, I put on a my Revos. I'm now at almost 15,000 miles and I noticed the other day the outside edge is feathered again, so back to the dealer, actually a different one this time because the old one sold the Nissan franchise. They put it on the rack and said the alignment is good again. They showed me the sheets, they aren't lying.

So they're telling me this is just the way its going to be and I need to learn to rotate them every 3000 miles or so to keep the wear even. WTF is that all about? Is anybody else having tire wear issues like this? After 12,000 miles alignments aren't free anymore, so this is coming out of my pocket to investigate.

I've got copies of both the alignment sheet, but I forgot them at my friend's house. I can post them up if anybody wants to see them, but they just show everything is in spec.

Why is my Xterra doing this?

EDIT: Oh, and I don't drive it like a racecar. I'm nice to it, and my wife drives slower than my grandma, and she drives it 3/4 of the time. I frequently haul stuff in the back that can be 200-400# (or more). Could this have anything to do with it?

I would get it checked out at a real alignment shop, not the dealer. It's going to cost you some scratch, but it will be cheaper than another set of tires.

I have 33000 Km on my 05 X still stock tires and have not rotated them as I am getting new tires in a week or so. The tires still look fine with little wear.

--Have your alignment checked with your #400 lb load in the back and raise the tire pressure (in all) 10lbs-- --JIMBO

You want me to run 45 PSI in my tires? Wow.

8000 miles, and no rotation? That seems to be about the interval that is recommended for a rotation, so a little wear on the edge to me seems normal.

How did you come up with the 3000 mile interval?

mitt

I was always told to rotate every 2nd oil change...my old Long Trails started to wear like that too....put on new REVOs and got an lignment (after replacing chamber bolts) and they seem to be fine for now...rotating your tires is key though.

That's what the dealer is telling me if I don't want to really see the wear I'm going to have to do.

Well I would say rotation is your answer...all vehicles need their tyres rotated, just how it works...alot easier to rotate them every 2nd oil change then to replace them early or loose performace because of bad tyre wear

it seems like Nissans wear the outsides of their steering tires on more than one model. My 2005 didn't come with cam bolts on the lower control arms and there was a bulletin about putting the proper bolts in there (they made a few 05's without the right part)- so I went in to get them. I think I will be doing a lift so I need to be able to align it.

making a long story short, they put the cams pointing more or less straight up like the regular non adjustable bolts were. It drives straight as an arrow and the wear isn't even all that bad. I think with one rotation, the tires will wear to the end of the tread with a bit more on the outside.

I did try to set the tires straight up and down (i measured the camber to be POSITIVE. but I think the caster angle isn't right since I just marked where I started and did a shadetree adjustment at home. the tires squeeled around corners and pulled a little due to cross caster uneveness, so I put it back. still drives straight...so I decided to not spend any alignment money until I lift it.

I did notice the same wear pattern on my tires prior to my lift. I assume it was from my driving style. I had a Bimmer with 18" rims prior to the Xterra so I often took corners faster than I should've. Since the lift and new tires I haven't had any abnormal wear and I don't take corners the same way I did at first. The sidewalls are extremely soft and flexible on the rugged trails so I think most of thae wear is a result of the tire rolling under on turns. Just my .02 cents.

Rotation is not an answer - it's a way to hide the problem.

It's HARD to find someone who knows what they are doing on an alignment machine. I'd say their techs don't know what they are doing - or that they aren't checking everything related to the alignment.

I agree Kaiser..a good alignment is $75-$90. The $49 alignment is a ripoff. they just hook the machine up and maybe adjust the toe and take your money. The timne it takes to get on the rack costs about $40 so there has to be incentive for the tech to "have a light at the end of the tunnel" with more money.

I started noticing the same kind of thing -- uneven wear on the outside edge of all of my tires -- at about 45,000 miles, and I admit that I drive my truck hard (turn faster than I should, brake harder than I should, pull away from a stop faster than I should). I took it to a tire shop and had them check the camber. It was a little out of whack (too positive) and they adjusted it. Now, up until I got new tires the other day, you could still see that wear on the outer edge, but it didn't get any worse.

So, maybe your camber is off. I don't know if you have to ask the shop specifically to look at that, but it couldn't hurt to do some research and go in knowing what you're talking about. Make sure they're looking at all of these measurements .

I'll reiterate... Nissan X's come with positive camber. you can see it. maybe it levels off when the truck is underway with suspension movement.. i dunno.

I don't have the specs, but can anybody look up the recommended alignment settings?

I've got the alignment printouts at home. They have the specified ranges. I'll get them up tomorrow.

Why was this moved? This is specific to the new Xterras, not the old ones. I want to hear from 2005+ owners if they are having the same experience. Please move it back. There are plenty of people like me who don't look at any of the other forums except the 2005 section. Thank you.

It's a tire issue. Ergo it's in the tire forum.

No its not a tire issue. Its an alignement issue specific to the new Xterras. I'm not asking what mud tires work best. :rolleyes: Thanks a lot.

I had a hard time refinding this topic and it seems to affect all 2005 and up xterras as a whole.

it is a suspension/alignment issue- nothing to do with tires.

I respectfully request a re-move back to general new gen X topics.

power trip?