Community Forums

clawsonbob · 01-12-2022, 05:46 PM

Hi folks. Posting this here in the Newmar group because there is a lot of good experience & wisdom here. We tow a 2018 Ford Edge FWD behind our DS 4369. We have a professionally installed Blue Ox base plate, use a 10k lb Blue Ox Tow Bar and an AirForce 1 brake system. New tires on toad about 4k ago. Had aligned as well. All work well and we towed about 5k miles last year with zero issues. Rig tows like a dream.

So heres my questions:

-do front tires on toad wear at a faster rate than rears when being towed? Eyeballing mine, it seems they do.

-what do y’all do for toad tire rotations? X pattern, front to rear or skip it and just buy new front tires sooner than rears ?

Thanks all in advance!! Any/all input and experience appreciated.

Dutch Star Don · 01-12-2022, 05:59 PM

Modern radials should only be moved front to back on the same side. The tire angle changes some when being pulled versus being towed. To compensate, I rotate my tires every 5K. I still do oil changes at 5K and have them rotate the tires at them time.

Kxbronco · 01-12-2022, 06:21 PM

I’ve got 27k miles on my toad tires plus another ~15k being towed. You can’t tell the front from the back. They’ve been rotated religiously every 5k.

wildtoad · 01-13-2022, 11:20 AM

Might want to go beyond “eyeball” and check with tire guy to confirm your suspicions. Is your toad in fact tracking as it should?

Hurricane-TX · 01-13-2022, 11:33 AM

Measure the tread depth and see if the are wearing faster. Like others, I change the oil and rotate tires on the dinghy every 5,000 miles.

Kxbronco · 01-13-2022, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildtoad

Might want to go beyond “eyeball” and check with tire guy to confirm your suspicions. Is your toad in fact tracking as it should?

Not sure if this was in response to my comment, but if it was I just had the toad’s tires rotated and balanced. Tread depth was the same on 3 tires and 1/32” deeper on the 4th.

alank · 01-13-2022, 05:39 PM

So Bob, a couple questions about alignment.

Do you know anything about alignment and what settings you need?

Did you tell the alignment tech you towed the vehicle and needed
it to center better while towing?

Did you get the feeling the alignment tech would know what to do get
better centering?

If you want the tow vehicle to track better, you need to increase the trail (caster) setting. To get the coach to drive better, you need to decrease the trail setting.
I'm convinced the front wheels of my toad only turn about half as much as they need to around corners, the hitch assembly just drag the front tires sideway to make up for what they don't turn. I don't see that as any big deal since I don't drive any extended distance cornering.