Excessive Tire Wear?

[Phillip]

We have 19,000 miles in 11 months on our 5.0. Tires seem to be wearing unevenly. Rear passenger side is wearing the most -- outer edge is wearing out. Is this an issue worth getting axle straightening, or tire rotation going to solve this, or??. It looks like to me the edges will be bald in another 10,000 miles. Some folks tires last 6 years or more. There is similar problem on driver side to lessor extent -- outer edge of front tire. Opinions?

[Ron in BC]

The major reason that some folks tires are still good at 6 years of age is that they haven't used the trailer much. It's miles not age that wears out the tires.

There have been many cases of bent axles, including mine, that have been replaced by Dexter. Their warranty is very good.

On a bumper pull it's quite easy to do some measuring and determine if the axles are parallel and the wheels are pointed straight ahead versus the wheels on one axle pointed off to one side or the other. I've also put a straight edge across the tire and aimed a laser straight ahead to a board and then repeated it for the other axle. The laser should hit very close to the same spot.

Don't know how you could get a good front reference point on a 5.0. Maybe hang a plumb bob. It'd be worth doing some simple measuring and see if the tells you anything.

Ron

[Rockhead]

Have you checked for bearing play in the wheels

[D&L]

You may want to measure the distance between the axles on each side and see if they are the same. I would also check the axle bolts to the frame and make sure nothing has came loose. I hope this helps.

[Randy in Maine]

Originally Posted by D&L

You may want to measure the distance between the axles on each side and see if they are the same. I would also check the axle bolts to the frame and make sure nothing has came loose. I hope this helps.

Measure the front most point of the rim of the forward ax;e to the front most point of the rear axle. Compare that to the other side of the trailer. They should be the same +/- 1/8 th inch. Report back your findings.

[Ron in BC]

Definitely one of the first measurements that should be done.

I prefer to use the c/c hub measurement.

Ron

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Rockhead

Have you checked for bearing play in the wheels

This is often a cause of wear. King nut should be tight enough to have pushed the thrust washer against the outer bearing to seat in the bearing cup but still allow the wheel to spin freely. I think it’s 5 to 8 lbs torque on the nut. Hand tight with a nudge with a socket or snug to the point of resistance to the wheel spinning freely and then back it off till wheel gets free. Usually about 1/8 turn. If you can wiggle the whole tire and wheel side to side or up and down when it’s jacked up, it’s probably too loose. Then it rides “laid over” and wears the tire badly. Make sure your side to side loading inside the trailer is even if possible.
Iowa. Dave

[CharlesinGA]

Late to the party. Is the trailer perfectly level when hitched up and ready to travel? Your back tires are suffering the most wear, and if you are "nose high" with the trailer, you are putting more weight on the rear axle, as the two axles operate independently of each other, unlike leaf springs with equalizer arms between them.

You could also very well have axle issues also.

Charles

[noslo]

For what it's worth, I just noticed excessive inside tire wear to a varying extent on all four tires of my 21C. After reading Iowa Dave's post, I checked the "play" of the wheel bearings and sure enough all were "sloppy". In one case I had to tighten the king nut by more than a quarter turn. Reset and lubed (EZ lube) all the bearings and rotated the tires. Will revisit in a 5000 miles.

[Phillip]

No, have not checked bearing play.

[Phillip]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

Measure the front most point of the rim of the forward ax;e to the front most point of the rear axle. Compare that to the other side of the trailer. They should be the same +/- 1/8 th inch. Report back your findings.

Interesting that it appears that right rear tire is angled to the left a bit. Distance between axles is about 5/16" less on the right side than the left and a straightedge laid across tires indicate this. All frame-axle bolts are tight. Distance between axles is real good, appears Escape got them on there straight, which is what I expected of course, but wanted to be sure.

So got with Dexter and they are building us a new axle and shipping it to our RV repair shop.