Tirewear/axle question

Hi all, My rig 90 XJ Laredo, 4.0/aw4/NP232 4.5 RE lift. I swapped in a new front axle a couple months ago. I have noticed that this axle (scavanged from a boneyard) has my tires pointed in tward eachother at the top (like this / \ , this causes the inside of both tires to wear out VERY unevenly.

As I understand it there are 2 possible causes, 1 - ball joints, 2 - Axle tube bendage. What is the simplest way to diagnose this? Are there any other possible causes? I am putting up on stands tonight and beginning to inspect but not sure where/what to look for. Any advice anyone can provide woudl be much appreciated. I definatly dont want to ruin another set of tires on this. thanks

~monkey.

Before you jump to any premature conclusions, have an alignment shop take a look at it. Tires that are toe'd out can cause the bottom of the tire to be pulled outwards and conversly the top of the tire to lean inwards. This can happen even with a perfectly straight axle. You see the tire, not the rim, so your eye is fooled. Alternatively you can use a level indexed against the rim, not the tire to make sure of the camber. Another quick way to make sure this isn't happening is to jack one side up so the tire is off the ground and then lower it back down again. This allows any lateral pressure that is deforming the tire to be relaxed, giving you a better view of what is actually happening. You should also do this before trying to set the toe in using a tape measure.

Running with excessive toe out will also cause the insides of the tires to wear faster, in fact it causes it to wear much faster than camber.