Fed up with 2009 Silverado!!

[Ufatz]

Front tires! Had to replace front tires late last summer. They had worn terribly on inside edge...obvious alignment trouble. Put all new tires on it two years earlier. Fixed. Put $500 worth of new tires on front. Less than 4000 miles and they are wearing again in same way. Take truck in. Frond end alignment. They said front struts bad. They say rear shocks "weeping". They service power steering unit. They want $1000 to do front struts.

Truck is nice truck, but I fear it is not going to stay around much longer in my shed. Who needs it if you can't keep tires on it!!

Anybody else?

[JOHNBIGDOG]

Sounds like you ave some loose parts other than "struts" I would possibly suspect ball joints? but without being there I dunno

On a side note, how often do you check your tire pressure, and have you rotated the tires at all. usually rotate 10k, but if your wearing them out in 4k, this seems excessive.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have to agree. The front struts won't cause a wear issue but a worn front end part would definitely cause them to wear fast.

Did you have the front end aligned when you put the tires on 4k ago?

[deadeye]

I have two of those for running parts at work and they both have eaten the ball joints a couple times (granted they also each have 150k+ but still). Had the same problem with the tires and all. My money is on those being shot.

[Ufatz]

Am good about tire rotations and use top rated tires. I am puzzled by the struts diagnosis but I'm no auto mechanic. And rear shocks "weeping" at 60K miles?

Am seriously thinking about dumping this truck and going back to Ford, even though I LIKE this truck. I might drop it at another shop and see what the technicians there have to say. I have no problem buying good tires from time to time, but the tires that came on the truck were total carp so I replaced them. The new BFG's didn't last all that long and so I replaced them. Now I have had to replace two more fronts.

Seems a little much to me. Thanks fellas.

Maybe I'll just get a Toyota Highlander and call it good. HA!

[Jeremy airjer W]

A silverado to a highlander? I think there may be a little disappointment in towing and hauling capacity!

[JOHNBIGDOG]

"weeping" is normal, leaking to were there is a drip on the fl0or is not. But hey, our dealership has some great deals on some $60K eco-boost king ranch f150's

[ChuckN]

Ufatz,

I had brand new BFG AT/KO tires installed on my F250 diesel and I requested an alignment because I had a violent front tire blow out on the highway. I wished I never got that alignment! This shop messed up my whole front end and both front tires were worn down on the outside edges in less than 10K miles. So much for a hi-tech alignment!

When I noticed something was obviously wrong I took it to another shop and they confirmed the alignment was way off and they fixed it. Truck drives much better too.

This beast of a truck goes through shocks, but at least they are cheap and very easy to fix myself!

Get a second opinion elsewhere. Unfortunately there are 2 businesses I will avoid in this area.

[Ufatz]

Okkay fellas, I'm going to take this truck to an independent shop and get an opinion on new struts and alignment. The truck DOES seem to steer and handle better since the alignment the other day, I'll give them that. What I question is the "needs new struts and probably rear shocks" assesment. That strikes me as trying to hustle the dumb old guy. And this old guy ain't that dumb.

I DO like this truck but I am not going to wrestle with new tires every few thousand miles and a thousand bucks worth of struts too. Shocks I understand but I see no evidence of leakingg shocks on the driveway or in the shed. If I conclude these guys tried to hustle me I will be annoyed and they will be off my list of Good Guys!

Oh. PS...this is not a FFM area shop I'm talking about.I am on the road for a few days.

[crothmeier]

Ball joints are a common issue on these pickups. Mine were replaced at 70k after chopping up the inside of the front tires. GM took the grease zerks out of them for some reason so I replaced mine with Napa Gold, lifetime warranty. Buddy that is a GM tech pushed me that direction over putting GM ones back in. Did that, then got her aligned, problem solved. He told me he's seen them go out anywhere from 30k on up.

those and the door lock actuators. (Just put one of them in too).