Disclaimer #1 : I have known I had some excessive outside wear on my front tires in the past, and had the thing aligned maybe 10 months ago before moving, and rotated the tires at the same time. The slight shimmy was still there.
Disclaimer #2: These tires are 6 or so years old and have been mostly stored outside. They are hard, dry, and starting to get dry rot cracks. It has been my goal to replace them due to age not wear for the past year or so, but I cannot financially cover that at the time. Lets focus on the odd wear for a moment.
Notes:
-The rear tires are evenly worn. The passenger front tire does exhibit a little more wear on the outside than the center, but lacks any severe oddness like above.
-All 4 tires are at 30-31 PSI.
-I had these mounted at a kinda sketchy 24 hour Llanteria in vegas because no normal places will put a 33x10.50 on a 6" wide rim because it is not manufacturer recommended.
Anyway, note that on many of the lugs, the front edge is higher.
You can see that in this pic as well, and also note that every other or every few other lugs are significantly lower than the others.
You can see the outside edges are worn more, but also every other outside edge lug has more wear (no siping left) but also many of the center lugs are worn more, in a much more RANDOM seeming pattern:
This is how this tire is balanced:
I figure this is "cupping" but it seems more random. I read the main cause of cupping is something worn in the steering/suspension. All components are new up here except the wheel bearings. Shocks are new within the last few thousand miles, ball joints are new and have no play with the tire off the ground, steering is all new with no "play" when lifted off the ground (it moves slightly side to side but moves the other tire the same amount, and moves the steering wheel as well, its not slop in any TRE's or anything), the bushings in the spring are good. Everything feels good and tight up there from when I swapped in my rebuilt axle.
Is this even "cupping"? Does the fact that it seems so randomized, coupled with my 55mph shimmy/wobble/vibe point to the fact that this is simply caused by being out of balance? Am I forgetting to check some suspension/steering component that could have caused this tire to start cupping so badly?
Can i have the tire balanced, then rotated to the opposite rear side and hope it wears out a little more evenly and lasts until I can afford a new set of tires?
