Uneven tire wear - Play at 3 and 9 o'clock

[mbrando1994]

I noticed I have slight outer edge tire wear on my 2003 Explorer XLT AWD. Both front tires have slight 'and I mean slight, maybe just enough to make a faint clicking noise' play in them, this is with both tires off the ground, at the 3 and 9 positions. No play at 12 and 6. I understand this is indicative of tie rod issues, however both outers were replaced and the inners were fine when they were done. I also have an intermittant ABS light that goes off on restart but comes back upon fast acceleration.

Both wheel hub assys were replaced last year with timken bearing hubs. What should I be looking for next here? The tire wear is only on the front passenger side, driver side tire is perfectly fine.

Thanks!

 

[Drewmcg]

Suggest using forscan lite and bluetooth/wifi obdii reader to figure out which front wheel the abs fault is indicating. I'm not sure, but would think the code will still be there in the history even after the ABS lite goes off. If its the same side as the wheel play, I'd suspect the bearing (even though I realize you had it replaced last year). If its confirmed bad bearing, whomever sold it to you should warranty it. I replaced both front bearings on my '02 XLS recently, and each failure was preceded by the ABS light showing up on that side.

NB: I'm assuming your Timken bearnings came complete with new abs sensor wires (most assemblies, but not all, do). The ABS sensor wires are available separately, but I've seen Youtube video (SMA) where they were too deep to fit into the bearing, b/c the owner had already replaced the front bearing with Moog, which used different ABS wires.

Of course, ABS faults can come from different problems than bearings.

As for tie rods, I recently replaced inners and outers on both sides. Not too tough, but requires an alignment after. I used the Mevotech ones from Rockauto, and am happy with them. The oem inners were looser, but I could feel no play (195k miles).

I don't know what could give you 3 and 9 o'clock movement if its not a tie rod or a wheel bearing. Good luck.

 

[07gtman]

Steering gear box or steering shaft maybe..

 

[Drewmcg]

If steering rack, then play should be discernable on both wheels, not just one.

 

[mbrando1994]

There is slight play in both front wheels after checking the driver side again. Again it is extremely minimal. Something you really have to feel for to even notice it. It occurs with the opposite wheel on or off the ground (both wheels raised)

 

[Drewmcg]

I would not focus on rack (expensive) until after you repair both inner tie rods (easier/cheaper). New alignment will be biggest cost if you DIY tie rods.

 

[Drewmcg]

How many miles?

 

[mbrando1994]

It also appears the rear passenger tire on the same side has outer tire wear as well, so both tires in passenger side have outer wear now.

 

[mbrando1994]

How many miles?

190xxx