Tires ( cupping and wobble) questions..

Have you tried getting a 3-axle alignment? I had a wobble and uneven wear and that fixed it for me.

 

Leaf spring shackle bushings?

 

Def bushings

 

If you jack up the front axle do the front tires feel like they move top to bottom? if so its king pins...
If the steering wheel has play in it or it feels like its drifting from side to side while driving it is spring bushings...
But more importantly, are you running recaps on the steer axle?

 

I had cupping issues but I got those centramatic wheel balancers and keep a good eye on my psi on all 10 tractor tires and have no cupping on my current set for the last 8 months.

I remember my last set had one drive tire that had major cupping on it. I bought a used drive tire and that one did not "cup" at all. It seems like when the cupping starts it is hard to make it stop.

 

I had the same problem on my rear drive axle.It had Bandag caps on that axle and virgin Michelins on the rest of the tractor.
We got rid of the caps,put on new Michelin drives and a 3 axle alignment....problem solved.
I had one axle that was off by 17 degrees so the steers were working against the other drive axles to steer straight.
The truck drives way better and no more bobble trying to hold it straight on the highway.It is like driving a car now.

 

cupping is caused worn bushings and they dont have to be worn to the point they are not there just worn unevenly. Replacing them should solve the problem. Recaps are made with a different rubber compound than factory originals are due to the process. That is why they cup more often and faster. For the money difference and the rate of wear I go with new tires never recaps on the trucks. Recaps are fine for the trailers but not the trucks.

 

maybe I'm missing something, is this the steers that are cupping/wobbling or a drive? If this is the steers, another thing to look at it possibly a bad hub, that it's out of round. Had a problem where almost from new, mine had a wobble and ruined, flat spotted steers. It was aligned numerous times, tires balanced, rotated, etc., tire shop looked at it, king pins were replaced, didn't solve it, dealer had it three days before they diagnosed it as a hub that was out of round, miniscule amount, they replacd the hubs, problem solved.

 

I have got to the point where my trailer never gets caps either....I have had way less tire problems in the summer heat running all new rubber.
Some recaps have casings that are just too old to have been capped.Some campanys are capping casings that are well past their useable life......really old date codes on them.
In my case the bushings were fine,2011 model truck but the factory did a crap job of alignment when it rolled off the assembly line.