Axle alignment:

Has anyone had tire wear problems from axle being out of alignment? Took my 2011 2800rl to dealer yesterday, now waiting on Reply from Heartland and Lippert! Right front tire worn on outer edge after 3200 mile trip... Tom

We had some strange tire wear, but ours was on the inside edge, and not all the way around. Originally I thought it was a bad tire. I was unimpressed with my dealer's assessment of the frame and axles: "No issues noted" was the comment.

But then at a campsite, we noticed the rig leaning to the off-door side (3 slides on that side). Also the tires seemed closer together on that side. We took it to a Big-Rig trailer shop, they told us our springs were undersized for the weight, and flatter on that side than they should be. Out of warranty, so we replaced all 4 (4-stack) with 6-stack 3300lb springs, new u-bolts and shackles. Rig sits like it did when new, pulls better and tires are aligned.

E

Axles can be bent easily escpecially if you hit large pot holes or turn 90% on pavement. Check the springs as the poster above noted. Measure the distance between tires after you have pulled the trailer straight for a several feet if you have recently turned sharply. Could be an axle, spring, or hanger.

I would be leary of dealer assessment----go to a truck place or someone who does alignment with trailers/rv's---we took ours to Hendersons in Grants Pass, or----they do a good job and familiar with trailers
al

I have replaced many springs on my previous trailer and alway replaced them in pairs on each axles. Its often an alignment problem if the springs on one side are weaker then the other. And its true that measurement of the spacing is an indicator of misalignment.

On my previous trailer I was wearing the rear tire on one side and did everything to try to prevent the wear including turning the axle end for end and replacing the springs and aligning the axle to the front axle. When I finaly got mad and reinforced the wimpy shackles I observed that my problem was the front axle alignment.

As of now our unit has been great on tire wear and on the first sign of problem I will reinforce the welded on spring anchors. I still cannot believe that the same shackles used on 3500Lbs axles are used on 7000Lbs axles. I observed an SOB unit smaller then mine has a very well made setup with cross bracing on the spring anchors.

bwbrewco said:

Has anyone had tire wear problems from axle being out of alignment? Took my 2011 2800rl to dealer yesterday, now waiting on Reply from Heartland and Lippert! Right front tire worn on outer edge after 3200 mile trip... Tom

Click to expand...

Any update? I just posted about the same thing on my 2011 26SRL and the right rear wheel. I have less than 1000 miles on the tire and it must now be replaced. The wear is on the edges. I feel that it is a warranty issue, but haven't approached them yet.

We had unusual tire wear on 2 of our coaches and started checking out about alignment problems. Our dealership suggested putting on Reico-Titan Correct Track II which corrected the problem. There is an article that Trailer Life magazine did on the system - www.trailerlife.com/trailer-how-to/trailer-tech/rieco-titan-correct-track-2/. It has been well worth the $$ and haven't seen tire on our new coach at all, traveling well over 1500 miles in 10 months.

bwbrewco said:

Has anyone had tire wear problems from axle being out of alignment? Took my 2011 2800rl to dealer yesterday, now waiting on Reply from Heartland and Lippert! Right front tire worn on outer edge after 3200 mile trip... Tom

Click to expand...

I had this very problem. Took my trailer to a tractor trailer shop, and had them straighten my axles.

We had some tires ruined last year due to a bent axle. Dealer replaced it under warranty and did not like what they saw and replaced the other. Had to jump through a couple of hoops but dealer and Lippert came through. Lippert even payed me $65 per tire for five new tires. My wear was on the inside edge of all the tires-RR was the worst-down to the cords.

I`m having tire wear problems with the Goodyear 235 85R-16 G614 tires after a trip home from AZ. this spring. I will be getting in touch with Heartland as soon as get done with this post. Got in touch with Goodyear and they will see what they can do. As soon as I replace the tires an axle alignment is coming too. 2011 Big Country with expensive tires should last longer than this.

had the same problem with my 2009 Big Country it wore the right rear tire off in 3000 km had an alignment down at Kal Tire been fine since . It was cheaper than fighting with the dealer i bought it from. Acually tows alot nicer now thought it was my truck at first but they told me the toe in was really out of specs.

Well THANK-YOU Goodyear tire for stepping up to the plate. As usual the manufacturerer won`t stand up to help for this type of problem. Passed it off to Lippert Guess the warranty was over after the first year. Taking it in this morn for an alignment, will see how far out it is, of couse Heartland says it won`t help to get an alignment, as in an alignment won`t fix the problem. Lippert sent some drawings for me to fill out measurements on the frame and axle placements etc. Will have alignment place do those as well. I don`t think things should be covered years after the warranty but this shouldn`t be happening within the first 1-2 years, cover things like the car companys do for the first 3 yrs. I have less than 10,000 kms (6000 miles) on this thing.

How much have you traveled with the new alignment. I have the same problem with one rear tire wearing on the inside. Dealer no help but an alignment specialist for trucks says he can re-align it. I have 10K on my 2011 Big Horn and don't know how long it has been out of alignment because I noticed it about 400 miles from home on the last trip.
Thanks,

All it takes is hitting a curb on a right turn to possible throw off the alignment. Same as a car. If fact if you read these forums it's often one of the right side tires that starts to wear unevenly. Most dealers are not equipped to check and adjust alignment. Their solution is usually to replace the axle. A good heavy truck/trailer alignment shop can correct the problem usuall for around $100-150.00. Don

We noticed excessive tire wear on our 2011 Landmark Rushmore on our way home from AZ on the left rear tire. We had the tire changed by GoodSam emergency road service who suggested we have a specialist on springs/axels check our unit as the distance between tires was siginificantly different from left to right side of unit. We went to McBrides Springs in Albuquerque, a Dexter repair center. They found the springs were flattened, u-bolts loosened and let the axels shift. They replaced the 4 spring unit with new 6 leaf springs, u-bolts , equalizers and installed greaseable fittings . We contacted Dexter about the issue and McBrides sent the damaged parts to them for inspection. This all happened in April. We have made several calls to Dexter who keeps telling us their labs are testing our returned parts. We had to replace the one tire which they say they will not reimburse us for since we did not keep the tire to show them. This unit was only 18 months old when all this happened. We notice a big difference in towing with the heavier 6-leaf springs-probably what should have been used in the first place. Why do these manufacturers put the bare minimum in the most important parts of our units? This repair cost us over $1000.00!!

I at the Gillette rally we got information that has authorized Mobile Outfitters to use the new Correct Track system to align axles. They advised us to go to Camping World, a Mobile Outfitters dealer, and you can pay $49 to have your alignment checked with their laser system. If you need adjustment, they will sell you the Correct Track system. $$$

But hey, Lippert has finally realized the problem, and now has a solution.

I just had new tires installed at Camping world on I 5 south of Portland. I was going to have them lazer it but the main part of the service is checking brkaes tires etc, I just had that done the day before and I had new tires put on there. I also asked how they would fix the alignment if they found that it was required. they said they would use the correct tract from Mobile.. they also said it would tak a full day and $800. for labour to do it at another time as it takes more than 6 hours to place the correc ttract. since they have to drop the axles. I found this strange as it took 2 hours or so for the 7k axels to be replaced with the 8k axles. We had reservation 116km away so we are now camping.

If anyone knows of a place in white rock or Langley BC let me know, it is only 500km from where we are now.
Don

Yes, same thing on a Greyston 32 RE. Took it to a spring and axel and they say the wheel bearings wheer loose and needed repacked and the alignment was out. 9300 miles and a few months out of warrenty but it was submitted to Lippert anyway. Haven't heard back. Oh wait, was that a belly laugh I just heard.

Jeff

So, you took it to your dealer or an alignment shop? Did they do an alignment of your axles? Cold bend?
You should have talked to Lippert before having anything done to your axles.

Peace
Dave

If you travel to Florida visit Josam in Orlando as they are the experts aligning trucks ,motor homes and trailers.