Front Alignment Issue

[SGT_Rock6]

2020 Ranger Supercrew Sport 2wd, 30k (generally easy) miles:

In for 5k oil change today. I noted front tire inner edge wear. Service writer said
“Ford sets an aggressive front end alignment for better steering control,
which results in shorter tire life.”
He said he rarely gets much more than 30k out of his tires.
Anybody having that (or better) experience?
I’m not cool with wearing tires out at 30k (they’re Expensive!)
Appreciate your thoughts out there.
He said it was worse on the 2019’s.

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[RedDakooter05]

My F150 has the same setup.

Dealers and chain stores will maintain the specs, but if you find a decent independent shop they should be able to get you a more normal alignment spec.

Fords current spec's not only wears out tires prematurely, but also puts slightly more unnecessary strain on bearings/hubs..



That said, you should be able to get more than 30k if you rotate every 10-15k miles.

 

[SGT_Rock6]

My F150 has the same setup.

Dealers and chain stores will maintain the specs, but if you find a decent independent shop they should be able to get you a more normal alignment spec.

Fords current spec's not only wears out tires prematurely, but also puts slightly more unnecessary strain on bearings/hubs..



That said, you should be able to get more than 30k if you rotate every 10-15k miles.

Thanks Red! Would you expect any noticeable change in steering characteristics, after correction?

 

[RedDakooter05]

Thanks Red! Would you expect any noticeable change in steering characteristics, after correction?

I don't have a ranger yet, and can't say on my F150 as I've never had the alignment done.


But, generally speaking a good alignment will make it easier to steer. If you ever had to park an F150 you'll see just how stiff and "binding" the steering is.

 

[BassRanger]

The workshop manual calls for 0 toe with 1/10 of a degree tolerance in either direction. That's not aggressive. Most shops will default to a bit of toe in as it makes the steering more stable. Either way you shouldn't be seeing excessive tire wear from Fords toe specifications. I'd take it somewhere to get see where the alignment sits. I'd wager that it's out of spec.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

2020 Ranger Supercrew Sport 2wd, 30k (generally easy) miles:

In for 5k oil change today. I noted front tire inner edge wear. Service writer said
“Ford sets an aggressive front end alignment for better steering control,
which results in shorter tire life.”
He said he rarely gets much more than 30k out of his tires.
Anybody having that (or better) experience?
I’m not cool with wearing tires out at 30k (they’re Expensive!)
Appreciate your thoughts out there.
He said it was worse on the 2019’s.

You need a better service writer.... the Vehicle Dynamics Engineers do include tire wear in their suspension settings development. Pure Bunk...

Best,
Phil

 

[Jake]

My 2019 still has the stock Hankooks. After 35000mi they measure 6-7/32" tread. Rotated every 10000mi. I could probably get another ~10k if I wanted to.

 

[D Fresh]

Just got an alignment after my lift.

Ford's alignment specs are NOT "aggressive."

Your service writer is talking out of his ass.

 

[AdamHarris]

Some of these “service advisors“ will say just about anything to folks it seems like.

if you raise the front end of our trucks up any, there is still a noticeable amount of positive camber, it’s still within the spec range (or at least mine was) but it is noticeable. I have no adjustment left to reduce positive camber, but like I said it is technically within specs but would be nice if I could take some more of it out. This is why people buy thousand dollar upper control arms (UCAs).

 

[Jbroke]

They just want you to wear your tires out quicker so they can get more money from you, went to a dealer for an oil change since I still had some ford points. They said my front tires were "in need of a replacement asap and asked if I wanted to replace them" come to find out the measured tread was 7/32 when they gave me the paperwork after the service was completed. I feel bad for the people they screw over daily

 

[Jason B]

They just want you to wear your tires out quicker so they can get more money from you, went to a dealer for an oil change since I still had some ford points. They said my front tires were "in need of a replacement asap and asked if I wanted to replace them" come to find out the measured tread was 7/32 when they gave me the paperwork after the service was completed. I feel bad for the people they screw over daily

A dealership wouldn't be my first choice for tires unless there was a hell of a deal.
For example, my brothers knows one of the service writers at the dealer. Whenever they pull off
a set of tires from a new F150, he will sell them to my brother for about $500 for the set.

 

[Jbroke]

A dealership is the last place I'd go for tires.

What do you mean, they also offered a "great sale" that week as well

 

[Jason B]

What do you mean, they also offered a "great sale" that week as well

After thinking about it, I edited my response

 

[Fitzmotor]

I had mine aligned at 1700 miles, the toe was way off, tires were already suffering from outside tire wear, because I drive hard I had them set the camber as close to zero as possible, instead of at a positive setting, I would have gone with a negative setting but that makes the front end hunt, the $20 to the tech got me a good alignment.

Yeah I know who would spend money on a warranty repair, I started as a front end tech at a Ford dealer in the early 80's, warranty time for a alignment was poor then and I know it's worse now, I wanted him to nail the numbers not just get it in the spec range, the specifications are pretty loose, money well spent in my opinion.

 

[Msfitoy]

My first set of Falkens lasted nearly 50K...still wear enough for another 10K but didn't look the part on an off road truck lol...my new Coopers are near 40K and should easily pass 60K...

How's your driving style? I'm pretty gentle around corners...cars pile up behind me when I go through clover leaf at 30mph...but then I make up for this by leaving everyone in the dust once the turn straightens out... ?

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