FL80 pulling to the right

geoguy · Oct 12, 2003

I had a new steer tire put on the right side , after about 4000 , noticed it was wearing high on one side of the tread ridges. Had it aligned and mechanic said it might pull to the right alittle until the right tire evens out. Now about 10000 miles later , its still pulling to the right what seems even more than it did originally.
My left front is a Michelin and the right is a Kelly(i don't know if this matters). Any ideas on whats going on here?

thanks
Geo

RichM · Oct 12, 2003

I had that problem after I ran over a cow that had strayed onto US 58 in Virginia.A semi knocked it down and the right side of my truck ran over it.Hell of a mess.The truck pulled to the right for a long time but I finally found a shop that did a good alignment. Good alignment guys are not easy to find.The guy that I deal with now generally has a 4-5 day waiting list and guys drive 300+ miles to have him do their alignments.

dieseldiva · Oct 12, 2003

Oh Rich, That is UDDERLY RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!
DD

Weave · Oct 12, 2003

Rotate the front wheels to get some more life out of the wearing tire, and have the truck aligned again, I don't think it was right to begin with as it shouldn't pull after an alignment. Check or replace the front shocks too. I like places that use a Bee-Line or similar equipment as it gives you a printout of the alignment specs. If you are ever around Buffalo, NY, Steve's Equipment in Silver Creek does fantastic alignments. Plus you can go down the road and fuel up cheap at the Indian reservation;-)
-Weave-

RichM · Oct 12, 2003

Geoguy I don!tknow what part of the Country you live in but if you come to Florida I use a UD Dealer in Jacksonville for the front end alignments. They have the bee Line equipment and as I said earlier the front end guy is simply GOOD,he takes about 2 hours to do the job not 30 minutes like some shops do.As Weave said you might want to replace the front shocks,these FL 70-80!s with sleepers and 22 foot boxes are so long there is a lot of weight on the front end.
DD I am not certain but I think it was a male cow. After I ran over it a Honda car hit it,then along came a guy in a Pontiac doing about 75 and he went up in the air for about 25 feet before he landed. Police came,and of course no one took responsiblity for the cow, and the next day our very own Pat G said it was Non Preventable.Hard to believe that she would make that decision.

Weave · Oct 13, 2003

That was 100% preventable, you just didn't have your cattle alert bells taped to your bumper:7
-Weave-

streetsweeper · Oct 13, 2003

Geoguy? You should go back to that shop if their local & point out to them that tires are supposed run straight ahead not toe'd to the left or right.

As far as mixing brand names? Whatever works for you works for me.

*customer satisfaction is job one*

RichM · Oct 14, 2003

Running two different brands of steering tires could cause your pulling to the right. They may have different thread designs,and if the left one is thicker or has more air pressure it will make the truck veer to the right. I would thnk seriously about getting matching front tires and move those two to the rear.

Weave · Oct 14, 2003

I was going to mention that, and it is very much recommended to have identical steer tires if it all possible. But if not, they should be able to align it regardless. I could see where there would be a problem though if the older tire has more than about 1/8 of an inch less tread than the newer one. Large differences in tire diameter can cause all sorts of pulling problems.
I wish I could use my older steer tires as rears, but living in the snow belt I would never make it to my favorite pick up spot of St Marys, PA without agressive tread rear tires. I sometimes laugh when I see expediter straight trucks at truckstops with straight tread trailer or steer tires on the rears- I immidiately know the driver lives in the South!
By the way, BF Goodrich, Michelin and Uniroyal are all the same company now. My favorite steer tires have been the BF Goodrich ST234's. The Michelin XZA-1 is nearly identical to it. These tires are a bit pricey but well worth the money. The Michelin XZA-2 that is OEM equipment on FL70's is a garbage truck low speed city tire, stay away from it- does not have thick enough treads and seems to chop and wear easily on the highway. I have found that steer tires with thick 1/2 inch treads last the longest and don't give the squirmy feel on the highway. (Just my tire opinions for straight truck tires, where the steers are under a lot of stress. Tractor steers are a whole different ball game, so no arguements please, thank you E unit boys!) But opinions are very welcome! 'Nuff babbling

-Weave-

streetsweeper · Oct 17, 2003

Hey Weave?

geoguy · Oct 19, 2003

thanks for the feed back

geoguy

dieseldoctor · Oct 19, 2003

Back when I ran a dealership service dept with a Beeline machine, if a customer came in complaining of pulling that started when new tires were installed we would swap the steer tires from side to side and tell him to take it and try it. Most of the time it cured it. I didn't believe in making repairs that were not needed.

Whiterabbit · Oct 26, 2003

PLEASE, PLEASE make sure that the tires are the SAME PLY (identicle) and weight rating...ESPECIALLY dont mix steel and nylon ply together,your life may depend on this !!! , no exageration either. If you blow out on the front because of the dealer mix and matchin em the tire dealer can be held responsible ,he should be aware of this already tho !...AND they are as close to Identicle in height as possible. Just the fact that the rubber compsition are different,if it is, between brands can make a difference...When you really think about how little of tread contact (area) there is between you and the road , it makes you stop and think , doesnt it? I used to be a retreader back in ,well way back then,

... The newer tire will not wear down to match the older tire !

Big Scooter · Oct 30, 2003

I have found that it is wise to replace both steer tires at the same time, even though it will cost you initially. Realize that it is costing you now that you are having the right pull, anyway. Also, there is the safety factor to consider, right? Check your shocks and if you can afford it, invest in a set of Centramatic Balancers if you want to really extend the life of your steer tires. Remember that it all depends on whether or not you keep track of your tire pressure as well as how many "gators" and cows you run over. Driving in Detroit and New York City seems to negate any care you give to your steer tires, right?

BigBusBob · Feb 4, 2004

Geo, don't know if your still around-as I am replying to your post from Dec. 15th, 2003. Regarding tires, I agree with the folks saying put the same tires on. Your problem may be alignment, however if you're runnin' 2 different brands of tires-you have 2 different tread styles. That means, in laymens terms, your truck is trying to drive 2 different ways down the road. Same Tires = Same drive pattern. Mixing rear tires is on thing, but steer tires?! Those are your life-you can't mess with steer axle tires-go quality & the same exact tire on each side on that steer axle. Thats all, Bob.

guest · Feb 4, 2004

Could any of you guys give tell us how many miles you normally get out of a set of steer tires? Might as well go for the drive tires too

thx,

Weave · Feb 4, 2004

On average with my trucks, steers have lasted 150-175k, drives 230-250k. Costs? BF Goodrich steers about $275 ea, Decent recapped drives about $200 ea. These are all give-take figures. A lot of guys won't use recapped drives, but I have had no trouble with them myself.
-Weave-

guest · Feb 5, 2004

Thx Weave, That's 4 or 5 times the mileage we got of tires on the dump trucks. Of course, the reasons are obvious. The steer tires sound about right on price, but we have a dealer down here where you can get good virgin rough tread tire for $225. I'm not sure how they will do on the road, but they were better than $350 tires on the dumps.

With that kind of mileage, the tire costs are less of an issue. They were a big issue with the dump trucks.

Good thread!

Thx,

davekc · Feb 6, 2004

last set of steers were bridgestone. Got 200,000 out of them. They were R295. Changed them to the new R280. Stay away from R227's. Alot of fleets use them but they are not great for winter running. For whatever it is worth, I use the centramatics and have had good results with wear. Only have them on the front. Golf balls in the tire are suppose to do the same thing cheaper. Never tried it, so I don't know how well it works or whether it damages the inside of the tire over time.