tire cupping problems
 

I have a 2007 two wheel drive Escalade with 18,000 miles. At 15,000 miles the LF tire began cupping and alignment was found to be out just a bit on the RF wheel. New alignment and rotate and balance done, and at 17,000 miles LF was again cupping. Align check showed slightly out at LF wheel; realigned, again rotate and balanced, still cupping. Took it in to dealer, he says alignment is OK, no problems in front suspension, must be incorrect rotation procedure, wasn't crisscrossed front to rear. Goodyear tire says front to rear without crisscross OK. Who do I believe and why is tire cupping? Thanks from a new member.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Have seen it alot, no info as to why. You could raise air pressure 2-4 psi and see if it helps.You do need to check air pressure atleast monthly.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Hi Charlie - and welcome!!!!

Nine times out of 10 cupping is caused by wheel balance problems -

With the wheels on the escalde - not only have them check the standard circular balance - but also side to side balance - they can be picky -

They often put the wheel weights on the interior of the wheel at the wheel's center balancing point....

Worth a try - those are expensive shoes..

RE: tire cupping problems
 

You rotated the tires and the new the tire on the same location did it?
Any tire that goes on THAT location has a problem?
hmmm ... what do we think?

I KNOW, that location has a problem.
The tire may or may not, but THAT location has a problem.
caster, camber, toe in, toe out? who knows.
OR
you drive with serious extreme RIGHT TURNs putting some
serious extreme weight on that one wheel as the vehicle nose dives into the wheel.
IF that is so, that location still has a problem, driver related, but still a problem.
Get a stiffer suspension?

Look on the tires thread. side to side rotating is not what is recommended for radials.
front to back, back to front is about it.

NOW that I said all that, listen to Fox.
Fox is our suspension TECH.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Check the wheel bearings if it is in the same location... struts could also be a problem, but both of those are sort of unlikely with 18,000 miles.

Remember - once a tire starts to wear - it continues to wear the same way-no 'getting better' by rotating the tire to a new location.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

If cupping is your problem, anbd the tire is balanced, is there any way to check balance on the whole rotating assembly?

RE: tire cupping problems
 

We used to do on-the-car dynamic balancing but we found out that unless the guy doing it was a expert the ball-joints and suspenssion were are risk of being damaged. It is also somewhat more dangerous to the operator, probably OSHA regulated. Not sure who if anyone does that these days. Dynamic balancing then was done wheels on the car, spinning at speed.

In those days, some shops even "SHAVED" the tires round, then balanced them on-the-car ... that was some equipment.
Can you imagen now being told they have to "shave" your "Z" rated tires that cost $1,200 ?

Now dynamic balancing is done at a off-the-car machine,
The rotors are supposed to be well balanced and insignificant when looking at the whole picture.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

has anyone heard of, i think it is called "pressure balance"?

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Doesn't the "road Force" balancer take care of all those issues?

RE: tire cupping problems
 

no ....


BUT, once there was a tire balancer device sold by JC Whitney that would be installed as part of the wheel assy
and it would balance the wheels/tires in motion.

Now days there are "balancing powders", "glass beads", "ceramic beads", etc that go inside the tire
and hopefully balance tire.

This is offered as a historical note only. IMO, this is not the type of technology that our cars should use,
specially with tire pressure sensors and low profile tires.

A well equipped tire shop with well trained workers should do a near perfect job.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Foxpaws said it best
Remember - once a tire starts to wear - it continues to wear the same way-no 'getting better' by rotating the tire to a new location.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Aww, shucks. A good, long burnout can take that cupping out. I just can't get my Caddies to do burnouts. Traction control, ya know.

I once thought I had a bad wheel bearing on my '85 Z-28, left front. It sounded & felt exactly like one. I replaced bearings. Not fixed. I replaced rotor (races not perfect.) Not fixed. I replaced spindle (some pitting.) Not fixed. Swapped front tires, noise moved to right side. I still look at myself in the mirror and think, "Idiot."

RE: tire cupping problems
 

I believe that YES, you can .. disable the Traction Control, that is.

Ask Gary ..

RE: tire cupping problems
 

Tires can still be "trued" or shaved if you have stock car or scca racing in your area. Street Classes normally require street tires and tires with little or no tread perform better than tires with all their tread. Explaining to a concerned partner what happen to the new tire that now has very little tread can be challenging. You may find some one near your to "true" tire but when they're done tread depth is likely to be 1/16" lower than lowest point of cupped area. On car balancing went away with technology, 90% of the time modern spin balancers could do the job faster and with less operator training. I'm sure there are still a few place out there that can still do it using strobe light. I don't believe the old balancer head would stay on most aluminum wheels made today. Some lines a tire manufacture makes are more prone to cupping than others.GM has never stated info regarding tire cupping in trucks. It did show up as they softened up ride to be more like a car than a truck.In cars, when the front wheel drive car showed up with about 65-70% front weight distribution.Tire makers say to balance and rotate tires atleast every 6k miles, due tires go out of balance as they wear. In the olden days tire cupping was due to under inflation,tire balance, misalignment,and/or weak shocks or springs. Sometimes it was the type of tire. It also can be driver induced, if you tend over drive the suspension causing tire(s) to skip across pavement when turning.

RE: tire cupping problems
 

[/quote]

I believe that YES, you can .. disable the Traction Control, that is.

Ask Gary ..

[/quote]

I'm not sure about Ken's caddys. The Allante (93) was ahead of it's time. You can disable the traction control on the DIC for 11 ignition cycles. What a blast.