Strange tire wear pattern question

[deanjeep]

My coach has Goodyear G169 tires on it. I have had the coach 1-1/2 yr, the tires are 6 years old. The sidewalks look good, no sign of drying or cracking yet and still plenty of tread. They do however show a very strange wear pattern. Every tire, about 2" in from the outside edge of the tire had an area that almost looks like a river running along the tread. The recessed area is deep enough to see and feel and varies from probably an inch to an inch and half wide. Anyone seen this before? Here's a pic but it's not the best.

[Cougarkid]

Tough to tell from the picture, too much back light.

If it is "cupping", then that usually indicates worn/bad shocks. Do you feel any vibration when driving?

Check to make sure all the shocks are mounted tight on both ends. Look for signs of leaks (oils streaks). Never tried a bounce test (bouncing the corner and watch for number of bounces) on an rv. Doubt if it would work.

Replacing shocks is probably what will be required. Tires, depending on amount of cupping, may require replacement, too. At 6 years old , you are reaching the end of the "recommended" life of the tires (they say 7 years).

Have it checked by a mechanic you trust.

[jzick]

Goodyear motorhome tires are notorious on various rv forums for "rivering", supposedly caused by high speed driving on straight highways. Our motorhome's steer tires (Goodyear) showed it after about 15,000 miles (4 years) and were rotated to the inside duals. I never read where anyone had a solution other than changing tire brands.

[deanjeep]

Here's a better pic. Rivering seems to be an appropriate description.

[RVNeophytes2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzick Goodyear motorhome tires are notorious...

I just visited with a Rev owner next door at a campground who gave me a tour of his beautiful rig, only to lament that the tire wear was odd.

You can see this coming: Goodyears, similar wear albeit in the initial stages.

A moment ago, I put down my spoon and dashed out to the bus bay with the camera, took a pic of mine, as a point of reference.

The previous owner bought my rig with Michelins already on it; he amassed about 20,000 miles and I've put on another 7,000 this year. So, this tire has been in service nearly four years, has more than 27,000 miles on it.

[puttin]

deanjeep,
I wouldn't fool around with this if I were you. The wear pattern indicates a serious issue either with the tires or the rig. I'm not sure where you live but you can use this guide to find a shop you trust. Good luck with the outcome.
http://rvservicereviews.com/StateLis...h=&CategoryID=

[deanjeep]

Yeah we are getting ready to head south and I think I'm going to have them replaced before we go. I just don't trust them. Never seen a tire wear like this before.

[powerboatr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deanjeep Here's a better pic. Rivering seems to be an appropriate description.

looks like a suspension issue
how many miles are on the chassis

scary looking tire
my trailer tires started doing a weird edge thing.....then i lost one about 1200 miles later

[deanjeep]

133,000 on chassis. Recently had shocks and suspension checked. All checked out.

[brrving]

Same exact thing happened to my Goodyear G169 tires. And I have read this many time before with these tires. Too many occurring to be the coach, mine were on a Holiday Rambler. It is the tires but when my dealer replaced them he told me that it was not a safety concern.

[wa8yxm]

It appears to me you have two problems.. Possibly 3

The cupping I see on the left can be caused by several things.. Most all of which are addressed when you have an alignment done. Also tire balance is can be a factor. as are the shocks. Again, an alignment shop is your friend here.

The twin "Furrows" all the way down to the bead, can be either a manufacturer's defect or improper inflation or some "external" cause (Something rubbing against the tires) My guess is inflation..

NOTE: The pressure molded into the side wall of the tire is almost always the WRONG pressure for you to have in them.. Likewise the pressure on the sticker inside the motor home.

So how do you find the right pressure.. Get ahold of http://www.rvsafety.com, follow the link for weighing your rig and they will tell you the proper pressure, for a fee of course. (I am not connected with them in any way save... I once paid the fee)

[deanjeep]

You are right in the tire inflation. When I bought the coach there was 125 lbs in each tire, the max inflation shown on the tire sidewall. I had the coach weighed, looked up the inflation chart for these particular tires and let about 25 lbs out of the front and 35 out if the rear. It helped the ride but hasn't doesn't anything as of yet to correct the wear issue. After reading everything here and looking some stuff up on some older threads, this sounds like a common problem that is only rectified by replacing the tires. Hey, they're 6 years old already so it's not like I'm taking it in the shorts. Think I'll go with Michelins. I've always thought the rubber on the gooodyears is really hard. Makes for a rougher ride.

[ottffss]

Over-inflation (for the given load) will wear the CENTER of the tread. Under wears the edges.

I'm no expert, so FWIW I have not heard of river occurring on both sides of a tire AND at all corners. River wear is typically defined as affecting only HALF of either outside tread rib, not a full quarter of the tire on both sides. It is also typically a very smooth wear, albeit dramatic on that half rib. Yours have some strange cupping-like pattern going on - outer edge. But you might have an ultra-severe case of river and what you have might be how river manifests over a long time period. I don't know. River also typically - not always - manifests itself on the steer, you have it on all. Me thinks more is going on - unless you (prior owner) got a really bum batch of skins.

Me thinks you need to find a new chassis/alignment person. That irregular choppy wear pattern on the outside combined with the uni-directional feathering of the center tread snipes points to chassis/alignment issues. A top shelf chassis guy can read your skins better than us. A real chassis & alignment shop of a big name or find the "old man" of truck alignment in a good sized town - ask around at the truck parts places for the "old man."

Google "tire river wear" for some pics... Goodyear had a rivering problem on one model but they are not alone....

Did your chassis guy actually remove a shock and test it? Probably just looked at it, saw no leak and said fine. Did they actually examine all the joints? I'm not thinking so. Your tires are telling a bigger story that we just can't place from just the pic....

Good luck... I'd really hate to see you rip another set of skins if it's more than the tires themselves...

[Tom and Patty]

It is hard to tell from the picture, but have you had the thrust angle checked? Rear axle placement in relation to the front axle. It looks like the inside of the tire is wearing OK. River wear is a free rolling axle wear.

If it(your irregular wear) is caused by the air pressure being too high, and wear was already established, you could have rotated them to the drive axle. It would be best to reverse the direction of rotation of the tire. Doing that might have bought you some time.

My Bridgestone R260's have been on the front axle for 40K and are wearing fine. They started at 22/32 and now stick 19/32, the drive tires stick 16/32.

Check your air pressure daily!

Safe travels