Tahoe Z71 4wd, high mileage, tire wear, front end rattle

[mattt]

2004 Tahoe 4wd Z71, stock suspension with around 200k miles. Been dealing with poor tire wear for the last 2 years plus. I guess it's time to deal with this issue. For the last year or so, I can hear a rattle coming from the front end when I go over a speed bump in a parking lot, or when going street speed over lane divider bumps(Stevie Wonder bumps) and have a window open. The rattle is not a loud, deep clunk type sound, it's more of a medium tone rattle, not a tinny high pitched rattle either. The same Stevie Wonder bumps sometimes make for a shifty, loose feeling front end when changing lanes and driving over them. Anyone before me figured out what this rattle is?

I realize the one way to deal with tire wear and this rattle is to just replace all of the front end wear parts; control arms, tie rod ends, pitman, idler, shocks, etc, however, I wonder if ALL of the parts really need replacing, or if there is one in particular that is a worse offender.

Anyone before me in a been there, done that situation and know what took care of MOST of the problem? Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions to clean up the front end, steering feel, and quiet down the rattle.

 

[dubyagee01]

I would check the upper control arm bolts, tie rod ends and ball joints by jacking up the corner you want to check under the lower control arm. Wobble the wheel up down and side to side. That usually will show you whats loose.

 

[mattt]

Thank you for the suggestion. I did that recently....nothing is obviously loose. I suspect it might be a culmination of a bunch of little slop all over the front end that once compounded makes for problems.

I have had the upper control arm alignment adjustment bolts come loose in the past....that makes a very distinct clunking sound when driving and turning. When I had the last alignment done last year, I asked that they go over all replaceable parts for what needs replacing. The shop came back with nothing and just did the alignment.

 

[aces-n-eights]

You might do some reading about the Intermediate Steering Shaft. Here's a link to a brief discussion on this forum…

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/tahoe-clunks-up-front-when-turning.74771/#post-940130

Good luck!

 

[mattt]

You might do some reading about the Intermediate Steering Shaft. Here's a link to a brief discussion on this forum…

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/tahoe-clunks-up-front-when-turning.74771/#post-940130

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that. I'm not sure the intermediate shaft problem would cause poor tire wear though, but I could see it causing a rattle.

I'm also wondering if there is some sort of bolted in place subframe that could be loose? I'm reaching at straws with that one...

Any and all other suggestions are appreciated.

 

[mizzouguy]

What kind of tire wear?

 

[mattt]

Tire wear where the outside edges of the front tires are wearing quicker than the rest of the tire.

I had a few alignments done last year, and every time it was out of spec after a short period of time(months) since the prior alignment. Toe is mostly what is going out. You can feel it in how it drives crappy after a while too. Doing a U turn, you can feel it buck against itself as you turn.

 

[thymer]

Tire wear where the outside edges of the front tires are wearing quicker than the rest of the tire.

I had a few alignments done last year, and every time it was out of spec after a short period of time(months) since the prior alignment. Toe is mostly what is going out. You can feel it in how it drives crappy after a while too. Doing a U turn, you can feel it buck against itself as you turn.

Tire pressure too low? To high and the centers will wear early.

 

[dubyagee01]

When you do a uturn do the wheel return to center or stay at lock until you turn the wheel back.

 

[mattt]

This is not a tire inflation problem. I know what under and over inflated tires wear like, this is not that. The wheel will slowly return to center, but it prefers to stay in place. This IS an alignment issue and some part(s) in the front suspension is exacerbating the alignment not holding after driving.

 

[mizzouguy]

Assuming camber plates are set correctly, wear on the outside edge of the tire could be from two things:
Camber issue: Loose ball joints or loose control arm bushings, causing the tire to "lean" to the outside edge during a turn. Jack the truck up so that one front corner is off the ground, put a big pry bar under the tire, and try wedging the tire up and down slowly, watching the upper ball joint for movement. Then watch the control arm bushings for slop. Tire wear will be smooth/even.

Toe in/out issues: Will cause a tire to feather. Kind of looks like a saw blade, all choppy. Is it like that?

Either that or you make a lot of 90 degree turns lol.

 

[mattt]

Thank you for the suggestions. Most times I've had it back in for an alignment check, the camber and caster were marginally in spec, but the toe is always out of spec.

By what you said, replacing the upper control arms would make sense as they come with new bushings and ball joints. I make a lot of U turns....have to to get into my work parking lot.

 

[mizzouguy]

Control arms/ball joints wont help toe in/out unless they are in really bad shape or bent, toe is adjusted by tie rods/idler or pitman/gear box/rack and pinion, depending on what set-up you have. They can all be checked for wear, a competent alignment shop should be able to find the issue.