I forgot about the knocking noise I've had in the past, which went away after torqueing the crap out of the shock mounting bolts. So far as the tire wear, talk to a good alignment shop for another opinion. IIRC, bad shocks tend to cause "cupping" of the tire tread. What you're describing sounds like a toe-in adjustment problem (though I am NOT a front end guy). Karl Wolz the van, got out, put his hands on something in the area I described, and was able to produce the same noise by shaking it. He said that he routinely uses Bilstein shocks, but the ones I have are some kind of non-Bilstein heavy duty shocks, which are not recommended. I really don't know anything about this stuff. The mechanic also said that he couldn't be sure of what the problem is until he puts the van on a lift, which is a good thing. He also said that by feeling the tires, he could tell that the shocks should be replaced. He said that when you run your fingers over the treads, they should be smooth going either from left to right or from |
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