Trailer tire wear

[harski]

I have noticed excessive outer tire wear on my 25ft enclosed aluminum trailer and have some concern that I'm hoping others can help with. The tires are two years old and have about 3,500 + miles on them. They are R15 tires on aluminum rims and are mounted on dexter axles. I have been running 48-50 PSI in them and the max rating is 50PSI.

My question is, that the manufacturer couldn't answer, is this normal wear? They suggested to have them balanced as they are not from the factory. My other thought is since they are 3,500# axles is this just normal wear since I'm under max load capacity (only carring 2-3 sleds)? Not sure if these axles have cambar adjustment or not that could help.....

Anyway, thanks in advance for any suggestions or experiences!

Harski

 

[fatdaddy]

Thats normal from all the trailers I've owned, I have a 22 foot triton and one of the tires wears on the inside. I was told that its caused by the trailer turning sharp and somewhat dragging it. I also think its caused by uneven loads as well, I try to switch the loads from side to side to help with wear, my trailer is 7 foot wide so I stagger the sleds differently each time I load it,. When I had a smaller trailer the tires would always cup on both the outside and inside, i think thats caused by the trailer bouncing back and forth over time and then it just keeps getting worse. I rotate my tires from front to back to help spread the wear.

 

[bigvin]

Expensive to keep replacing tires

Just my .02cents worth,..

Look to see if the axles "are" camber adjustable,....
My Dad, and a friend had the same type of problem,.. and the axles were
just a bit off scue. Once they were adjusted,... problem went away.
Just think,... if they are off a bit,.. going down the road at 65mph (not completely straight), how that would put so much extra effort on them.

Hope ya find out the problem.

THINK * SNOW!

 

[toddspolaris]

Are all 4 tires doing the same? doesn't seem right to me, we have dexter axles on our trailer also with more miles than that and they don't show any wear. I would actually say we have been overloaded a few trips. But we did take off the 2ply polyester tires and put radial 6ply tires 6 years ago. I would think dexter should be able to answer questions of your sort. Good luck

 

[harski]

Are all 4 tires doing the same? doesn't seem right to me, we have dexter axles on our trailer also with more miles than that and they don't show any wear. I would actually say we have been overloaded a few trips. But we did take off the 2ply polyester tires and put radial 6ply tires 6 years ago. I would think dexter should be able to answer questions of your sort. Good luck

Bigvin, I agree it will be expensive to keep replacing let along stress on the axle etc...! I've noticed a little sway on the grooved concrete but it goes away on smoother surfaces. I was hoping it was just that.

Just talked to Dexter and they said I was "under load" and that the camber should be adjusted. Called a couple of places locally and have received quotes from $130-$200 per axle. The higher estimate place said I may have to replace the axles? They also suggested to call back Monday when the person most familiar with this axle would be back in to get a better estimate.

Having them adjusted should be the fix but I'd still like to hear of others past experiences and solutions.

Thanks again for the input everyone!

Harski

 

[Pit Grunt]

Had mine camber done and my trailer tire are looking great now.They had to bend my axles. Also trust them.. 7.5 X20 ft R&R .Cost about 150.00

 

[coldbear]

Carlisle tires

Harski...take your trailer loaded to a Tire Discounters and have them do a diagnostic on the axle. You'll be surprised at what you find. Manufactures make the axle but have no idea how much of a load it's going to be subjected to. Also buy nothing but a trailer tire. The stiffer sidewalls make trailering most enjoyable. I know this because I've been through it.

 

[harski]

Had mine camber done and my trailer tire are looking great now.They had to bend my axles. Also trust them.. 7.5 X20 ft R&R .Cost about 150.00

Pit Grunt, where did you go to have this done? The second quote I recieved was talked about bending them too which I guess will work. I hope it doesn't weaken the axle too much? I'm also in an R&R 7.5 x 20 x 6'6h.

Coldbear, no Tirediscounters in my area but I'll ask around at some other retailers to see what they offer.

Harski

 

[pistons]

I found that my trailer axles were not parallel with each other. A previous owner had put heavier axles under the trailer and the bolt pattern was different than the originals. So when he drilled new holes, they were slightly off, about a quarter of an inch different when measured between them on each side. I figured out the front axle was square to the frame and adjusted the rear to match.

 

[polarisrider1]

I hit a deer a few years back that was hit by the guy ahead of me, so the deer was down, I went directly over it but the trailer axle did not. The front axle hit the 185# deer and it bent the axle. Not sure how far I drug the deer since I did not know that I was dragging a deer at the time. Well the tires wore out fast on outer edge since axle got bent upwards. I never could figure out why the neighborhood dogs liked the bottom side of my trailer. Little by little I put it all together. replaced axle and tire wear went away. All that to ask you this, Did you run over something in the road? Trailer axles are for the most part much lower than truck axles. Proper aligned axles will NOT make the tires wear funny. Also are the side walls the correct rating for the load?

 

[stealthv]

My enclosed double-axle trailer has around 20,000 miles on it with the original tires and they still look like new.

Beyond the axles that others have mentioned, another is to check is the preload on the wheel bearings.

 

[catalac]

I bet anything the axel is bent from the factory. Took mine to a place that works on semi's. They had it done in no time, and it wasn't even a hundred bucks. The guy said he sees it all the time on smaller trailers. Good luck.

 

[tundra ron]

Had to replace the axle on my 2 place. It is a12ft triton with a fiberglass cap only a 2200 lb. axle tires were wearing on the inside. Trailer weight with 2 four strokes yamaha went 2500 lbs. Replaced with 3500 lb axle

 

[harski]

I hit a deer a few years back that was hit by the guy ahead of me, so the deer was down, I went directly over it but the trailer axle did not. The front axle hit the 185# deer and it bent the axle. Not sure how far I drug the deer since I did not know that I was dragging a deer at the time. Well the tires wore out fast on outer edge since axle got bent upwards. I never could figure out why the neighborhood dogs liked the bottom side of my trailer. Little by little I put it all together. replaced axle and tire wear went away. All that to ask you this, Did you run over something in the road? Trailer axles are for the most part much lower than truck axles. Proper aligned axles will NOT make the tires wear funny. Also are the side walls the correct rating for the load?

As far as I know the trailer has not hit anything. The only time I had not towed it is when it came delivered from the factory and when it went back for service work. I did double check the side wall rating it is a C at 1,820lbs which should be sufficent.

My observation is that all four tires have even wear so my guess at this point is it just needs to be adjusted. I was also thinking of making sure they are correctly installed on the frame (measurement from back of frame to axle mount). I had a pontoon trailer that was off about a 1/2" off which really made it sidewind(sp) down the road. She's all good now!

The tricky part in this will be finding someone that knows what they're doing! That's why I decided to put a call into Dexter in which they referred me to a place in Appleton, Wi and Rocherster, Mn. They've had good luck with these two dealers and had highly reccommended the Mn location. The aggrevating part is I was just up in Rochester Sunday thru Tuesday with the trailer... GRRRR. Oh well.

Thanks again for the other inputs in which they are duly noted!

harski

 

[Pit Grunt]

Pit Grunt, where did you go to have this done? The second quote I recieved was talked about bending them too which I guess will work. I hope it doesn't weaken the axle too much? I'm also in an R&R 7.5 x 20 x 6'6h.

Coldbear, no Tirediscounters in my area but I'll ask around at some other retailers to see what they offer.

Harski

Mark Sippel :: Brandon WI 920-346-5591

I had to take one axle out so he could bend it. His alginment rack was not wide enough .The Appleton place ,I have used with my race trailer. That was a 5th wheel. Good luck..

Iam going to New York in February so we will see how tire ware is..