Tahoe Z71 4wd, high mileage, tire wear, front end rattle

[mizzouguy]

Assuming camber plates are set correctly, wear on the outside edge of the tire could be from two things:
Camber issue: Loose ball joints or loose control arm bushings, causing the tire to "lean" to the outside edge during a turn. Jack the truck up so that one front corner is off the ground, put a big pry bar under the tire, and try wedging the tire up and down slowly, watching the upper ball joint for movement. Then watch the control arm bushings for slop. Tire wear will be smooth/even.

Toe in/out issues: Will cause a tire to feather. Kind of looks like a saw blade, all choppy. Is it like that?

Either that or you make a lot of 90 degree turns lol.

 

[mattt]

Thank you for the suggestions. Most times I've had it back in for an alignment check, the camber and caster were marginally in spec, but the toe is always out of spec.

By what you said, replacing the upper control arms would make sense as they come with new bushings and ball joints. I make a lot of U turns....have to to get into my work parking lot.

 

[mizzouguy]

Control arms/ball joints wont help toe in/out unless they are in really bad shape or bent, toe is adjusted by tie rods/idler or pitman/gear box/rack and pinion, depending on what set-up you have. They can all be checked for wear, a competent alignment shop should be able to find the issue.