Excessive Trailer Tire Wear

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

I'm late to the table but would echo some of the others;

- probably an alignment issue - could have been that way from new or pothole/curb, etc.

- rotating the tires doesn't solve the root problem but can certainly extend tire life

- I doubt it's the bearings

regarding tire inflation, I go by the inflation tables BUT adjust up for safety and because the downsides of low tire pressures are far worse than the downsides of too much pressure. My Endurance Load Range E's are rated at 80PSI max, I only need 45psi to carry my load but run the tires at 60PSI...note my 21RBS is smaller and lighter than your trailer - I'd be comfortable with the 70psi you and Cumminsfan have talked about.


2 cents,
Dave

Thanks for the input Dave. I'm still leaning towards the play in the bearings on that one wheel being a little bit too loose. Prior to this season we had put ~10K miles on the trailer and all the tire wear was fairly even - part of the reason I hadn't thought about rotation. I re-packed the bearings at the beginning of this season and when I noticed the uneven wear I started looking into potential causes. I found the play in that wheel to be noticeably more than the other 3 which I believe allowed the tire to run on the inner half of the tire enough to do the damage over ~4500 miles on our first couple of outings. Not sure why I didn't catch that when I initially re-assembled things - I'm not new to bearing maintenance. I corrected that issue but will still have the alignment checked to ensure there isn't something else involved.

So far after several hundred miles on the new tires and re-adjusted bearing everything looks good. The trailer rode better with the tires at 70psi so I'm going to continue to run with it there.

[Piros1]

My experience and what I have been told by tire folks is that trailer tires are not like automotive tires, they should be run at the full rated pressure. It has to do with the tire carcass design. My experience with a fleet of trailers is that stands as a good policy. Some will argue that the trailer rides harder and I’m sure if your tires are rated much over the load they carry that would be true. Just sharing what I have experienced and been told by commercial tire people.

[Mordecai]

I run my GY Endurance 15" load range E at 80psi. My loaded trailer is 6500lbs. 22k miles on the tires and I have slowly started swapping them out for new. Just going by tread wear I would say they could go another 12-15k before they reach the wear bars. I did just have new Dexter axles put on because of a road construction incident on I80. The tube diameter is stock but you can upgrade the wall thickness so that's what we went with. Interestingly, the sticker on the axle says it is unrated weight-wise. The stock were the standard 3500lb versions.

[LETMGROW]

That tire wear is far too much to be caused by a misadjusted wheel bearing. Either the axle is bent or the spindle is bent.

[ttavasc]

As promised, I have some additional follow-up details now that the alignment has been checked. For those of you indicating a bent axle/spindle, congratulations - it appears you were correct. The rear axle was off by 7/16" and the left spindle on that axle which is where the excessive tire wear was has a significant toe-in. The front axle measured at 3/16" which is 1/16" above their recommended tolerance.

After reviewing pictures I had of the old tires they are not recommending a replacement of the front axle at this time as tire wear on both sides appeared to be fairly even and normal. Periodic rotation can be used to address any potential wear issues there, though after over 14K miles there wasn't anything noticeable on the front tires. The loose bearing on the left rear hub may have exacerbated the problem but was not the underlying root cause.

I will be calling Dexter Warranty claims tomorrow once I have the detailed notes and the estimate to repair.

[Timtoolman]

Originally Posted by ttavasc

As promised, I have some additional follow-up details now that the alignment has been checked. For those of you indicating a bent axle/spindle, congratulations - it appears you were correct. The rear axle was off by 7/16" and the left spindle on that axle which is where the excessive tire wear was has a significant toe-in. The front axle measured at 3/16" which is 1/16" above their recommended tolerance.



After reviewing pictures I had of the old tires they are not recommending a replacement of the front axle at this time as tire wear on both sides appeared to be fairly even and normal. Periodic rotation can be used to address any potential wear issues there, though after over 14K miles there wasn't anything noticeable on the front tires. The loose bearing on the left rear hub may have exacerbated the problem but was not the underlying root cause.



I will be calling Dexter Warranty claims tomorrow once I have the detailed notes and the estimate to repair.

I was the same boat as you , mine was off 1/4” I had our local shop make a custom axle scheduled 40 pipe and received it yesterday, I paid more than a factory China one but it’s rated at 7000 lb not 5200lbs I’ll do the rear in spring

[Piros1]

Happy you got it figured out before you ruined another tire.

[Timtoolman]

Originally Posted by Piros1

Happy you got it figured out before you ruined another tire.

Me to I just put on brand new goodyears