Jack up the rear of the truck both tires off the ground spin a tire with hand the other should rotate in opposite direction.

 

Your front tires aren't going to be affected by a stuck rear end!

I'd take it in to have the front end looked at. I would bet your front shocks are smoked and your alignment could be all jacked up too.

 

First, if your posi-traction had locked up you'd know ...at least I'd hope you'd know. The truck would handle extremely weird and you would feel the locked rear end as the inside tire in a turn would slip or the outside tire would drag.

Second, your rear end has nothing to do with front tire wear. Alignment, balancing, rotation and tire inflation do. Worn shocks can also contribute. When was the last time you did any of this???

"They are getting equal wear but this balding is within a month of normal wear."

What do you mean by that? How long do you have the tires on the truck before they go completely bald? The mileage "ratings" on tires are like the EPA gas mileage ratings; they are taken with a big grain of salt and are really just relative numbers. Just 'cause a tire says it's a 50,000 mile tire doesn't mean it's gonna last 50K. Too many variables involved. Everything else being normal, the fastest things that will wear a set of front tires is alignment out of adjustment, failure to rotate and balance the tires and running them with incorrect inflation pressure. All very easy and inexpensive things to take care of.

 

You need an alignment…

 

lets be clear here...Front shocks do not hold any weight.. they just dampen the springs oscillations.

you say they are wearing evenly? if that is the case, your amber sounds like its is good.. have you run your hand over the tire to feel any feathering of the tread? (or saw tooth feeling) what are your tire pressures? we kind of need more specifics. a picture or something.

your alignment could be off, but it gets jumbled when you tell us there is even wear ( is it good wear though?)

give us detailed specifics please

 

Ok to clear up a few things. Tire pressure is checked weekly and has been at 45psi continuously. If the pressure is low at all it is maintained at 45psi.This is not at the max pressure for the tire as I know overinflation could be an issue. The " normal wear" has been street driving and under 1000 miles in the time driven on these tires. The tires were replaced just before Easter.I have had the truck for 4 months. First set of tires looked the same.Previous owner ( a friend) never had this issue but was not his normal ride and only drove on occasion.First two month no tire issues. Drove through 2 winter months with snow with no problem. last 2 months tire issues and mostly dry pavement. When highway driving it felt like it bunny hopped with hitting a big bump throwing the whole truck to the left and jerking the wheel. There is now a vibration in the steering wheel and have not had an alignment yet. that is next on my list. Several guys have said it looks like the fron t wheels are being "pushed" this is why I asked about a stuck rear end.

 

that is far from even wear.. that is worn centers with worn inner tread. looks to me like over inflated tires, with what could be a toe in situation. you definitely need an alignment by a COMPETENT technician.

time to replace the tires, replace any worn front end comopnents (such as call joints and tie rods) since they look factory from the pics. and then get that alignment looked at

 

The tires appear to be run overinflated and the camber is off. Check all front end parts for wear and replace worn/damaged parts, install new tires aired up to what the door sticker suggests and have it aligned.

 

As the others have stated, definitely over inflation wear.

 

Time for alignment

 

This isn't over inflation.
I have a set of Michelin LTX M/S2 50psi rated tires I run at 40psi and I have zero issues with tire wear. The door post placard calls for 35psi ...but back in '98 when the truck was new it came with UniRoyal "Tiger Paws" ...car tires ...and 35psi was that tire's max inflation rating. I suspect the tires you have are also 50psi-rated.

If you look at your front tires ...the inside edges compared to the outside edges ...you'll see the inner edge of the tread is almost gone while the outside edge looks much like the rear tires. The wear spreads from the inner edge across the center of the tire. This is potentially a camber issue. Camber is how far outward the top of the tire tilts away from, or in towards, the body of the truck based on an imaginary plumb line that runs perpendicular to the ground.

http://www.discounttire.com/images/helpPosNegCamber.gif

In your case it appears there is too much negative camber and this is part of the cause for the wear. Most vehicles run none to a little positive camber.
Also, your toe adjustment is more than likely off. Toe is how much the tires point into or away from one another (think: pigeon-toed or duck footed). Typically incorrect toe will cause a "feathering" type of wear on the outside or inside edges of the tread (based on how off the camber is).

http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/graph ... stment.png

My guess is you have a way negative camber combined with the toe out of adjustment. Potentially you may also have some worn shocks. If these are the original shocks they are way past overdue. Most shocks are gas charged so they can effect ride height and front end geometry when the gas charge leaks out.

Bottom line? Bring it to a good indie shop and have them do a front end alignment on it. Have them check the shocks and spring for a new set (sorry, bad pun). You may also have some worn suspension components as mentioned and a good shop will check this as part of the alignment. Obviously you'll need a new set of tires also. Once you get the front end dialed in rotate the tires every 6000 miles or so. This helps distribute the wear over all four tires. Front tires will wear faster than rear tires so rotate them front to back to maximize the mileage you get from them.

 

Thank you for the info! This explained alot for me so I can go in prepared and educated.

 

^^
Very well written Mike & GL Melissa ~~~