Tires Wearing Out on TOAD

[johay]

I was wondering if anyone has had a problem with tires wearing out from being pulled. We pull a 2007 suburban behind our 40ft Itasca Ellipse. We have pulled it about 10,000 miles and the front tires have worn down to the steel belt on the inside. We also pull a 2001 suburban but have had no problem with it. We took the suburban to 2 different allignment places, 1 said the towing wouldn't do that unless it was out of allignment. The 2nd place said it would even if it was in allignment. We had it alligned but they said it was not bad. We were wondering if anyone else has ever run across this problem.

Bert & Joanne

[texnet]

Had the same problem on a 2008 Ford Escape after about 25,000 miles. Put new Michelins on it and had a 4 wheel align done. So far about 4500 miles and the tires are wearing evenly.

[RickO]

Welcome to the forum! We have the same coach as you and I've certainly noticed that all of the tires on the toad seem to wear quickly but then again the towed miles aren't being registered and between a Jeep Grand Cherokee and our current Ford Explorer we've towed 40,000 miles.

Is the angle of your tow bar correct? If it's not as close to flat as possible I would think there could be unusual forces being placed on the front tires. If the base plates mount differently resulting in different angles on your two toads it could explain it ... maybe?

Good luck and we're glad you found us.

Rick

PS Nice Coach

[Stevegd007]

OMG equipment tires on our cars and trucks are generally made of softer materials to aid in a softer ride and handling (an there generally cheaper for the manufacturer to purchase for new cars). When my toad tires wore out, cause just like you it was towed a lot, I paid a little more for harder tires (read really high mileage @ 80000/mile wear out) to replace the OMG tires on the toad. Worked for me.

[johay]

Thanks for your answers. We are taking all of them into consideration. The Suburban had Bridgestones on it, we had always used Michelins until this last time when my husband decided to buy Bridgestones. We had it alligned but sure hate to hook it back up and find it is still wearing. Will also check out the tow bar and see if it could be the problem.
We appreciate any ideas that anyone can give us on this problem.
My husband has been looking at a new CRV to pull instead of the suburbans, maybe that would be an answer.

Bert & Joanne

[garym114]

We have the Tahoe. Front tires wore badly on the inside, dealer said the alignment was in spec and they couldn't do anything. Took it to an alignment shop, showed them what it was doing. They realigned it and it wears evenly now.

[wa8yxm]

There are two things that will cause rapid tire wear when towing (one when driving)

One: Ignition in LOCKED instead of OFF position.. This tears up the front wheels.

2: And this is suspect #1 here. Alignment. Make sure the alignment shop knows you tow it, this affects (as I recll) Castor.

NOTE: Inflation will do it too but not the patteren you reported.

[Healeyman]

One thing that you MUST be aware of and keep in mind is what your toad is doing while you are driving slowly and turning sharply.

Highway driving and turns are not a problem, but you must remember that your toad does NOT follow your RV... It follows the REAR of your RV.

Picture driving your RV with the toad behind and you are stopped at an intersection...

When the light turns green, you want to make a RIGHT turn. The light changes and you crank the wheel around and start your turn. Because your RV pivots on the REAR wheels and the overhang distance from your rear axle to the front wheels of the toad, your toad must make a HARD LEFT turn. As your straighten the RV out of the turn, your toad must suddenly change direction and make a hard RIGHT turn in order to follow the rear of the RV.

That is usually not a problem for toad IF you make the turns slowly and maintain enough forward roll to give the toad front wheels time to caster (think grocery cart) from side to side to follow the REAR of your RV.

Failure to think about the gyrations the toad is going through can cause you to drag the toad sideways or change directions with the wheels pointing in the wrong direction.

This can cause SEVERE premature tire wear, because of front wheel camber, especially on the insides of the front tires.

I'd suggest that if you are the first one at a light ang going to turn, you stop as far back from the crosswalk as you safely can.

Tim

[Mr_D]

The alignment is set for the toad to be driven under it's own power, when it's towed it's not correct although that's usually on front wheel drive vehicles.
but it's and alignment problem when towing, a GOOD front end shop should know what needs to be changed.

[Francesca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Healeyman Tim

Hi, Tim

Not to go off topic, but...Yikes!

What's with your "double-width" Avatar???

Or am I the only one seeing that???


Francesca

[Healeyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francesca What's with your "double-width" Avatar??? Or am I the only one seeing that???

Hmmmmm I'm not sure... I don't see it.

When I chose an avitar, I just uploaded a pic, thinking that the forum software would resize it. Maybe not???? I'll check into it.

Thanks for letting me know that there might be a problem.

Tim

PS.. Oops. It just popped up on me. Now... How to fix it....

[Francesca]

All fixed!

I'm glad it wasn't just all in my head...

Francesca

[georgeblack]

I am having a similar problem. We pull a 05 Malibu and after our first long trip started
getting a wheel bump from a set of reasonably new tires. The funny thing is that it
seemed to be on one of the rear tires. I mean I could feel an uneven surface on one of the rear tires. I rotated the toad tires and it seemed to help a bit but there is still
a substantial tire bump. I don't want to put a new set of tires on the car if towing it
is destroying the tires. One of the threads suggested that maybe the wheel alignment should be different for a towed vehicle. Any comments

[She and I]

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgeblack I am having a similar problem. We pull a 05 Malibu and after our first long trip started getting a wheel bump from a set of reasonably new tires. The funny thing is that it seemed to be on one of the rear tires. I mean I could feel an uneven surface on one of the rear tires. I rotated the toad tires and it seemed to help a bit but there is still a substantial tire bump. I don't want to put a new set of tires on the car if towing it is destroying the tires. One of the threads suggested that maybe the wheel alignment should be different for a towed vehicle. Any comments

Hey georgeblack, Sounds like you have a bad tire...the cords are starting to separate. You say they are reasonably new..take them in for warranty,but I would get that tire off the road............its a maypop.
Richard