So... here's the scoop.

About a year ago, when I first bought my explorer the steering had a
little wobble. I got the tires balanced and all was well.
About a 3 months ago I started to feel the wobble again. I have
aftermarket wheels so they had to use the glue kind of weights. They
told me that they might fall off. I assumed that's what happened.
About a month ago I took my car to get an oil change and rotation. The
wobble was not fixed so I took it in to get the tires rebalanced. The
tire guy told me that my front left tire was wearing badly and that I
probably needed an alignment. I had that done and they rotated the
tires so that that tire can straighten itself out.
The wobble seems better now.

My question is could the bad alignment make a noticeable wear on a
tire in less then 2 months? If not then it is a problem with the rear
end, because I just had them rotated. I have been informed that my
rear end is not alignable... is this true? On the alignment diagnostic
sheet they gave me is shows that the front wheels were not perfect,
but they were not bad. The right rear reading shows -.22 toe. Is this
reading accurate? If so what can I do?

Thanks for any help...

jim warman

The rear wheels on your 98 can't be aligned, in the strictest sense of the
term... however, loose u-bolts or a broken centerbolt could give alignment
issues (but this is something that wouldn't normally be a concern).

Improperly adjusted toe can scrub a front tire off in less than 100 miles.
Too much or too little camber can also wear tires badly but will generally
take a bit longer than toe discrepancies.

You could be right because the toe was the furthest off. Is there any
simple way to check if anything like you suggested is wrong with my
rear-end?

So are the rear-wheel readings on the alignment printouts incorrect?
Was the machine not set up to accurately measure them since they were
only doing the front? Could the repair shop have done something during
my tire rotation that could have knocked my front tires out of
balance?

Thanks so much for all of your help

jim warman

Even with a solid rear axle like yours has, there is a possibility of a toe
or even a camber concern.

A fairly easy and very accurate way to measure rear toe - make a chalk mark
about mid tread face towards the front of the car. Measure that as closely
as possible with a tape measure. Back up so that the tires make one half
revolution (the chalk marks now face towards the rear) and measure again.
The difference between the two measurements should be zero or very, very
close - 1/16th or even 1/8th of an inch difference is no big deal but we
should always be mindful of any uneven tire wear patterns originating on the
rear axle.

Rear camber, to have any meaningful measurement, should be done on an
alignment rack.

I like to road test the vehicle both before and after the alignment....
before to discover if there are any pre-existing conditions that I need to
consider.... and after to be sure everything is right and that the steering
wheel is centered.

The rear wheel measurements *should* be correct as long as the tech hasn't
fudged his machine set-up. Since you have rear numbers on your print out, we
know that the tech has selected a "four wheel, centerline" alignment. When
he attaches the alignment heads to the wheels he would have to perform a
compensation for run out - not a big deal, but the solid rear axle can add
some "fiddley fartin'" to perform the task - especially if it is a limited
slip.

For the wheel balance issue... there is always the chance that a weight has
been knocked loose or off..... this would be a problem with whoever
installed the weights. If the weights are securely attached, the tech would
have to be real "special" to knock them off during the alignment process.
FWIW, I do come across vehicles that have either the wrong style weight
used, stick on weights applied to a dirty surface (I like to add a strip of
duct tape if the weights are out of sight - just for peace of mind) or even
"old stock" stick on weights (the adhesive has a nasty habit of drying out
over time).

For toe being the biggest cause of premature or abnormal tire wear....
almost 40 years of experience tells me that this is an incontrovertable
fact.

shawn

The rear end is a straight "solid" axle. It is possible that the axle tube assembly
may be ****ed slightly. I saw a pickup that hit a tree root & knocked it sideways
a little.