Rear Tire Wear

[Badger55]

Pulling an Alumascape 30RKD with a Chevy 2500HD, 4WD and the rear tires have worn down substantially more than the front tires. Have the rears at 80 psi and the fronts at 50 psi per information in door jamb and on the tires (LT245/75R16). Truck also has air bags on the rear axle. Any thoughts on why this is happening.

[Badger55]

Pulling an Alumascape 30RKD with a Chevy 2500HD, 4WD and the rear tires have worn down substantially more than the front tires. Have the rears at 80 psi and the fronts at 50 psi per information in door jamb and on the tires (LT245/75R16). Truck also has air bags on the rear axle. Any thoughts on why this is happening.

[450Donn]

Too much weight on the rear axle!
Until you actually get the truck and trailer on a set of scales and get some accurate numbers, there is no way to tell what is going on.

[Fulltimer]

How many miles pulling are you talking about? Is it a TT or FW? When was the last time you rotated your tires?
You may have no problem at all so dont worry.
Yet.

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Badger55:
Have the rears at 80 psi and the fronts at 50 psi per information in door jamb and on the tires (LT245/75R16). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The door jam tells you to pump up the rear tires to 80 psi?

The 80 psi shown on the tire is the MAXIMUM air pressure for that tire, not necessarily the "recommended" pressure.

I'm thinking that 80 psi is way too much pressure and that's why you're seeing the wear.

Have your rig weighed with the fiver attached. Then get the tire inflation charts for your brand of tires and set the pressures according to the weight on the axles.

[CD]

I completely agree with LindaH. I was going to post something similar. A sign of too much pressure is more wear in the middle of tread as compared to edges. If you truely need 80lbs. and use PU for heavy hauling a small percentage of the time, then you should consider lowering pressure when not hauling. 80lbs. also rides hard when empty.

[Ray,IN]

I don't rotate truck tires for a few valid reason. My old Dodge 2500 wore down a set of rear tires towing a 10K# 5er throughout the Southwest, during the fall months. The heat and pavement traction really ate up the rubber on the rears. Yes, they were worn more in the tread center, and running at 80psi to carry the load of a 10K# 5er pin weight.
Show me anyone who complains of handling issues and I'll bet they run less than maximum air pressure when towing.

There is a great mis-conception about those touted load/inflation charts for tires. When you read the fine print it says that is the minimum acceptable air pressure for the corresponding load not the optimum pressure.
Anyone remember the Ford/Firestone tire failure debacle? The final result was that Ford was recommending lower air pressure to obtain a soft ride, while ignoring Firestone recommendations for those particular tires on that particular vehicle.

[WAKY]

My Dodge 2500 HO diesel eats the rear tires twice as fast as the front. I rarely tow. I don't "hot rod" I don't know if it's the torque or what?

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ray,IN:
Show me anyone who complains of handling issues and I'll bet they run less than maximum air pressure when towing. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The fifth wheel noted in my signature, when traveling with a full tank of fresh water (which we don't do except for the very shortest possible distance...which usually means we wait until we're at a campground to fill up), weighs 15,000# with a 3,475# pin weight. We air up our truck tires to 60# psi in the front and 65# psi in the rear (duallies). We have had no handling issues and in 25,000 miles, have no unusual wear on any of the tires.

We DO keep our fifth wheel tires at their maximum 80# psi pressure only because we running right at, or slightly below, its GVWR.

[diandtom]

My tires on my 06 Chevy 2500 4X4 did the same as Badger55. I got 25,000 miles out of mine. I had a 03 Chevy 2500 but with 2wd and the tires went 40,000. I wonder if Badger had Bridgestone as I did on the 06. I replaced them with Michleins and also went up to the 265 size. I run 80 psi when towing and 50 psi when not towing.
Tom

[xc-mark]

Ok First off I will point out I own a 31 cks (travel trailer )holiday ramber , I really dont your exact weight your putting on the truck. I will say I think your putting about 2200# on the bed witch is very close to max Gross rear axle weight but thats not really what wears out your tires. The amount of power that you have to put to the ground to pull your 11,000lb trailer is much more then any one really thinks. I would say normaly that you need 45~60 HP to cruise down the highway at a normal speed and keep up with traffic but to pull your 5th wheel at highway speeds on a flat road you need almost 200 Hp to maintain the same speeds . Adding all that forward force to the tires chews them up big time ! My duramax crew cab runs about 8200~8300 lbs every day , and weekends when it pulling the travel trailer its 17500 lbs combine with only 500~600 lbs under the max rear axel weight. BUT I have 500lbs of tools and a heavy fiberglass cap on the truck so you may still be under your max axel weight ratings. Tire wear is basicly a product of high tire temps and putting a lot of forward load on the tires. Larger cooler running tires like a Michelin will make them last longer , My stock bridgestone 773 AT tires lasted about 30K and they where junk at that point. My new Bridgestone Revo's have 25K on them now and the rears will only make it to 40K but thats about it..... Michelin LTX AT-2 is my favorite tire bar NONE , traction in any condition and my best set went 103,000 miles on a 1993 C-2500 with a 6.5turbo diesel. Weight your truck and trailer hooked up on a truck scale , find out your exact weights for each of the 4 axel I think you will find your very close to max rear axel weights but not over.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Badger55:
Pulling an Alumascape 30RKD with a Chevy 2500HD, 4WD and the rear tires have worn down substantially more than the front tires. Have the rears at 80 psi and the fronts at 50 psi per information in door jamb and on the tires (LT245/75R16). Truck also has air bags on the rear axle. Any thoughts on why this is happening. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Ray,IN]

LindaH, I agree; my current dually is getting excellent tire wear compared to my old Dodge SRW.

[Hitchhiker]

My current truck seems to be doing real well with the factory Goodyear's, I rotate all 7 (including spare) every 6K miles and maintain the pressure at the amount shown on the door placard for maximum GVWR. I have 20,426 miles and the tires still look new, any wear is even.