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Old 07-31-2018, 01:04 PM   #1
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Unusual tire wear pattern

I had a trailer tire exhibit an odd wear pattern: the outside edge of the tread had worn smooth but not the inside edge, as would happen if the tire had been underinflated. I rotated this tire out with another one, and the second tire is showing the same wear pattern. I'm sure this second tire has always been properly inflated. The location is the front passenger side. Does anyone know what would cause this tire wear pattern on a trailer?
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Old 07-31-2018, 01:06 PM   #2
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Check your bearing, if not seated it can cause abnormal wear....
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Old 07-31-2018, 01:38 PM   #3
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Bearing is not tight. Torque to 50ft lbs to seat the bearing and thrust washer and then back off till the nut gets loose and hand tighten and reinstall spring clip or if cotter key type tighten slightly to line up the hole through the spindle. The king nut uses A big crescent wrench or a 1 1/2 inch socket. While you’re at it get a Tape measure and closely measure top and bottom distances tire to tire right to left just to make sure axle is true. That’s where I would start
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Old 07-31-2018, 01:50 PM   #4
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We had this and showed it to Reace. He says that from time to time, the Dexter axles are not straight. I guess it depends on how many miles you have done, and therefore the amount of wear on the tire. We had it done enough miles for the wear to be an issues and it was covered under warranty.
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Old 07-31-2018, 02:03 PM   #5
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The measurements should allow you to determine whether or not the tire is vertical which would indicate the axle being straight
If there is a caster spec on this axle it should be referenced to see whether or not the axle is within spec.
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Old 07-31-2018, 02:14 PM   #6
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Thanks. I'll have it checked out.
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Old 07-31-2018, 03:55 PM   #7
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But if the axle is bent, would not 2 tires be out of whack vs just one tire?
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Old 07-31-2018, 05:52 PM   #8
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Not if the tire hooked something and bent the spindle. Like if it was backed into a curb stop at an angle and bent “down slightly. There’s a lot of force at a a single point sometimes.
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Old 07-31-2018, 08:20 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lewis View Post
I had a trailer tire exhibit an odd wear pattern: the outside edge of the tread had worn smooth but not the inside edge, as would happen if the tire had been underinflated. I rotated this tire out with another one, and the second tire is showing the same wear pattern. I'm sure this second tire has always been properly inflated. The location is the front passenger side. Does anyone know what would cause this tire wear pattern on a trailer?
I am interested in this because I am noticing the exact same thing but it is on the outside of the passenger rear tire, wearing down abnormally. The other three tires show minimal and even wear on the tread.
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Old 07-31-2018, 08:42 PM   #10
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On our 19 the right rear wore more than the rest. I couldn’t find that anything was bent. I took it as the tire that scuffed a lot as I backed into spots. Later when I checked the brakes it looked to me that this brake must have been dragging at times and maybe skidding the wheel by coming on first when brakes were applied. I changed out all the brakes as they were all getting down but then sold the trailer when we got the 21. The new owner reports no problems whatsoever. The original set of Matathon tires I replaced at 45,000 miles + - had 3/32 rubber right rear, 4/32 right front and left rear, 5/32 , left front. Never rotated these 4. The new endurance Goodyear’s on the 21 have about 10K on them now and I’m going to do a 5 tire rotation at 10k each time. Who knows? To each his own.
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Old 07-31-2018, 08:42 PM   #11
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We had the same problem. It was the bearing. Cheap and easy fix.
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Old 07-31-2018, 10:07 PM   #12
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At this point I would have the bearing replaced. If the bearing is the problem, it's probably stressed from not riding in the race properly. And replacing doesn't cost much more than cleaning and repacking anyhow. If the spindle looks fine and the new bearing is tightened properly, you can go on from there and see if the odd tire wear ceases.
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Old 07-31-2018, 11:56 PM   #13
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But if the axle is bent, would not 2 tires be out of whack vs just one tire?
Just repeating what Reace told us.
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:51 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Mike Lewis View Post
I had a trailer tire exhibit an odd wear pattern: the outside edge of the tread had worn smooth but not the inside edge, as would happen if the tire had been underinflated. I rotated this tire out with another one, and the second tire is showing the same wear pattern. I'm sure this second tire has always been properly inflated. The location is the front passenger side. Does anyone know what would cause this tire wear pattern on a trailer?
Did you ever figure this out Mike? Bearing or axle?
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Old 09-16-2018, 09:15 PM   #15
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Did you ever figure this out Mike? Bearing or axle?

I don't know yet; I'm still on the road. As the bearing isn't running hot I'm going to wait until I get home to have someone I know look at it.
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Old 09-17-2018, 06:49 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by TallyHo View Post
Did you ever figure this out Mike? Bearing or axle?
I have the same thing on one tire- the passenger side rear wears excessively, especially on the outside. I sent pictures to Reace and he said sometimes the Dexter axles are not straight and gave me the contact procedure for Dexter about an axle replacement. I took it to a reputable shop to have the bearings inspected and repacked first, and they said everything was properly tightened, the bearings all looked good, etc. So now the same shop is working with me and Dexter to get a replacement under warranty. We just started that process a few days ago, so I hope that all goes smoothly.

That said, I think Reace is correct that it is the axle. He said it has happened a few times before and that Dexter took care of it each time, and to stay in touch with him.
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Old 09-17-2018, 10:13 AM   #17
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Not to detour this topic, but is it a good idea to rotate the tires every 10K or so? If so, what kind of pattern is preferred?
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Old 09-17-2018, 10:42 AM   #18
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On a tandem axle trailer, Reace advises to only rotate front to back, not side to side.
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Old 09-17-2018, 10:48 AM   #19
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On a tandem axle trailer, Reace advises to only rotate front to back, not side to side.
Thanks! About every 6-10K miles would be OK wouldn't it?
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Old 09-17-2018, 11:07 AM   #20
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I have the same thing on one tire- the passenger side rear wears excessively, especially on the outside. I sent pictures to Reace and he said sometimes the Dexter axles are not straight and gave me the contact procedure for Dexter about an axle replacement. I took it to a reputable shop to have the bearings inspected and repacked first, and they said everything was properly tightened, the bearings all looked good, etc. So now the same shop is working with me and Dexter to get a replacement under warranty. We just started that process a few days ago, so I hope that all goes smoothly.

That said, I think Reace is correct that it is the axle. He said it has happened a few times before and that Dexter took care of it each time, and to stay in touch with him.
On our 19 the passenger side rear wears the outside edge. Last year when we first noticed it after about 9000 miles we did take it to a shop here. They worked with Dexter to measure all the tolerances for the axle, repacked bearings and determined that everything was fine. So we swapped in the spare. Now 8000 miles later, that tire has worn on the outside edge, same almost exactly to the first tire. Soooo, we are wondering where to go now. Perhaps the shop we used wasn't thorough, though they have a good rep. Reace advised to repeat last years process but we're wondering if it will come out any differently. If we rotate in all 5 tires we should be at the end of the useful wear.
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