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Old 12-13-2018, 01:13 PM   #1
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Unhappy Dually Tire Wear... learn from my mistake...

2014 Dodge 3500 dually is our primary tow vehicle. This is the first dually we've owned. When we tow, I diligently check the air in all tires on the truck and trailer to ensure they are properly inflated and monitor the TPMS as well.

I didn't think that having all four rear wheels inflated equally would be so important when running around not loaded/towing... boy was I wrong...

We haven't towed much this year and I let that slip a little... the right rear dual wheels weren't matched on tire pressure - the inside was about 9 lbs higher than the outside per the TPMS. I wasn't too concerned because we weren't towing and I thought - I'll fix it when we get ready to tow again, no big deal, the one with more air will just carry more of the load while we are running around not towing... so not only did I not inflate the tires to match, I didn't look for the reason the outside tire had gone a little low either...

The other day I discovered the outside tire (the under inflated one) had scrubbed itself bald in the center all the way around. This happened with less than 700 miles since the last time we towed. Didn't make sense to me at first as to why the lower pressure tire would be worn out but after a lot of research on the internet I found a couple articles regarding inflation of dually pairs and what happens when they aren't closely equalized. Apparently the higher pressure tire holds the lower one up just enough that it bounces and scrubs along the road rather than rolling normally causing fast, excessive wear. The articles attribute this to a 5 psi or greater mis-match.

So, I had the spare switched to the tire I ruined and will now be buying a new spare. Not a terribly expensive lesson, but one that would have been completely preventable if I had only followed the rules I knew to be true in general...

This may be obvious to everyone and I just had to learn the hard way, but i thought I'd share it in case anyone else out there doesn't fully appreciate the potential for rapid wear on dually tires.

Happy trails...
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Old 12-13-2018, 01:25 PM   #2
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Very good to know as I would agree with your initial reasoning.

Dually trucks, as I been told by a service tech are impossible to align as the are driven empty and with 4,500lbs on them. That changes the geometry of the alignment so they tweak the alignment to be middle ground.

On my dually truck I had the outside rear tires wear faster then inside rear tires. As if the axle was expecting weight to be level. Kinda like those long flat bed trailers that empty ride with a hump when emply but flat when loaded.

But for towing, you can not beat a dually truck.
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Old 12-13-2018, 01:25 PM   #3
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How often do you rotate your tires? I do mine every 3000 or so miles. I'm due. I'll be doing this over Christmas break. That's when I check all the inflation and I try to put them all equal as possible. I have had one get a nail before I I found that it would only leak down to about 40 psi and stop losing air. My guess is the other one is holding all the weight off if it so it's not being pushed out as much.


I did try running stem extenders. I started getting stem failures after putting them on sot hey all went into the trash. Accessing the dual stems can be a pain.
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Old 12-13-2018, 03:05 PM   #4
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Thanks for the good information. The only information I’ve seen on rotating the tires is outside rear to front on the same side. What has everyone else heard?
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Old 12-13-2018, 07:57 PM   #5
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I heard so many different ways that I decided to rotate just the fronts side to side and replace them when needed. On my dually truck I had 5,000lbs on the front two tires and 4,000lbs on the back 4 tires. Front tires carried twice the weight and did the steering.

I replaced the fronts at 28,500 miles. I traded the truck in with 36,500 miles. I never did rotate the back. At this time all tires were is good shape but the outside rears showed more wear than the inside rears which looked just about new.

If I ever buy a new dually I will probably do the same.

Oh, the fronts were rotated side to side at 6,000miles and 12,000miles but still cupped badly.
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Old 12-14-2018, 05:04 AM   #6
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Good info, thanks for sharing. I am also new to the dually world, so I appreciate the advice.
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Old 12-14-2018, 05:33 AM   #7
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It is a balancing act - $$$ spent rotating vs $$$ for new tires.

Plus:

I always felt uneasy anytime I let some shop touch my dually. I really did not trust any kids to rotate the tires. Especially the tires that would need to be unmounted/mounted.
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Old 12-14-2018, 06:08 AM   #8
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Here's a thing from Discount tire. it's how I rotate mine. I'm getting very good/even wear doing this.



https://www.discounttire.com/learn/dually-tires




I'm not sure what thins means,



It is a balancing act - $$$ spent rotating vs $$$ for new tires


Purchasing my tires cost $2500, rotating is free. Not sure how that can be a balancing act.


I usually rotate mine myself. Any Discount tire will rotate and balance and repair any tire for free. You don't even have to buy it from them. Sure, it's a way of getting you in so they can try to sell you new tires. It's their business. Occasionally I'll let them do a rotate so they can also balance them again. Ive thought about getting a set of the auto balance rings but they are are expensive. About 1k a set. When I do let them rotate I always watch and I'll chat with the guy doing it. I'll ask him to please hand start the lug nuts and to clock the back stems so I can get to them with the tires on.


My 04 seemed to easily strip threads, even when I'm at home being careful. The 12 seems to not have that issue.
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Old 12-14-2018, 06:14 AM   #9
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Another tip that i share is I have always coated each rim mount surface with a good anti-sieze. It's cheap and it can save you a whole lot of trouble down the road. The steel wheels can stick to the hubs and they can stick to each other, especially in area where roads are being salted. The copper kind seems to work better for this application. I put a light coating on the mount surface and a very small amount on each stud as I'm putting the nuts back on. I call it very cheap insurance.



https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b.../4610182?pos=3
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Old 12-14-2018, 09:51 AM   #10
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Simple Gee I'm a tree will tell you the smaller diameter a tire, the more times it must rotate to go the same distance. Bolted together at center, they are traveling the same distance, and rotating same speed, so one must be slipping. The taller one will carry more weight, more friction, so the short one will wear.
And if you put a new tire next to what was the good one you will soon have the same problem.
2 new tires on the same end of the axle, your differential thinks you are turning all the time. Take a soft tape measure like they use to fit cloths, measure the circumference of each inflated tire at center of tread. Take the one that is farthest from average, that is spare. Of the others largest and smallest on front, then pair the others as close as you can for the back.
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Old 12-14-2018, 11:03 AM   #11
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I guess I did not trust discount tire to mess with my dually truck...but good to know that they might be able to rotate dually tires for others that trust them.

I am an old geezer and usually do not trust people younger than 30 years old.
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Old 12-14-2018, 12:25 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tuffr2 View Post
I am an old geezer and usually do not trust people younger than 30 years old.
For about a decade anytime I was asked my age "I can't be trusted anymore"
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Old 12-14-2018, 12:54 PM   #13
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I have had dually Fords and have driven 4 of them over a 1/2 million miles. Never have had the excess wear on any of the tires. All of the trucks were/are 4WD. Alignments at about 40-50k miles each, none needed much adjustment. My rotations are at 20-25k and 40-60k, whenever I find a competent tire shop at about the right mileage. Never got less than 70k per set, but the last 3 are 450s/19.5s. The set of '17s on the 07 dually were done for at 70k; the 19.5s are still looking good at around 80k but traction is less on wet pavement.
Having TPMS on the 450s, I have ended up running odd PSIs on the same axle, even towing. 5-6psi has never caused any odd wear; at around 10psi, I bite the bullet and get the compressor out. Tow a lot with 4K+ pin weight.
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Old 12-20-2018, 08:26 AM   #14
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WHile inflating tires is important as long as you are +/- a couple psi from your goal you should be good. (NOTE My recommendation for goal inflation includes a +10% margin. I also assume you are using a gauge you have checked against a good digital gauge at your tire dealer)

IMO the problem may not have been the 9 psi but the reason for the air leak. the OP may have had a much bigger difference but without data we can only guess.
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