Tire failure due to axle alignment???

I have read numerous post on the forum about tire failures but have yet to see were anyone attributed the cause to axle alignment. I have experienced 5 tire failures in the 10 years I've owned 4 different trailers. All with China made tires that will remain nameless.

One I know was a defect because the manufacture did warranty the tire, one was probably underinflation from a puncture.

I did not know it at the time but now looking back I suspect my problem with one or two of the other tire failures could have been due to axle alignment with that trailer. I'm going to base my assumption on the fact that I replaced two other fairly new tires on that same trailer that had extreme tread wear only to the inside.

When we bought our Heartland trailer and it had the Correct Track axles it made me realize that could have been my problem with the other trailer.

Mike,

Now that you are all moved into your RV, you need to make an appointment with any dealer or service center that is trained for it and have your Correct Track system aligned. Heartland merely orders the frames with the systems on them. But the customer needs to load their RV for typical travel and therefore load the frame - then take the unit it to have the system dialed in.

Not all find their systems out of alignment. Some find theirs well out of alignment. Make the appointment soon. It will cost you about an hour of labor.

Jim,

I did the self test I read about on the forum were you drop a plumb line from the king pin and use a tape measure and it seemed to be OK.

Would you still recommend a visit to a dealer?

Maybe Heartland should start by AT LEAST balancing the tires on the RVs they sell!

Correct Track will only correct 1 type of axle misalignment (axle skew?). I had Correct Track installed/adjusted at the Goshen Rally, and then later learned from both MorRyde technicians and truckers that I met at truckstops that my rig had visibly noticeable wheel misalignments. I went to a good alignment shop in Nebraska (referred to me by another Bighorn owner who had trailer wheel alignment done there). That alignment shop used a computerized laser alignment system and a 10 ton jack/bending rig to bend my axles/wheels into correct alignments. It cost me $175 per axle. I believe there were 4 measurements per wheel that had to be within the computerized system's specs.

mbowden said:

Jim,

I did the self test I read about on the forum were you drop a plumb line from the king pin and use a tape measure and it seemed to be OK.

Would you still recommend a visit to a dealer?

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I suggest you give Sonny Dismuke at Mobile Outfitters a call (574-312-6654). Give him your test setup and results detail. Let him guide you. My guess is that you did great but worth the call to confirm.

Birchwood said:

Maybe Heartland should start by AT LEAST balancing the tires on the RVs they sell!

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I agree - it would be nice to have this done.

Normally I would think that whom ever mounts the tires on the rims should be the one to balance the tire. I don't know for sure, but think the tires and wheels come to Heartland already mounted.

Jim M

jimtoo said:

Normally I would think that whom ever mounts the tires on the rims should be the one to balance the tire. I don't know for sure, but think the tires and wheels come to Heartland already mounted.

Jim M

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Our tire and wheel supplier, Tredit Tire and Wheel do the mounting. I would imagine they have the capability to balance them - not sure.

wdk450 said:

Correct Track will only correct 1 type of axle misalignment (axle skew?). I had Correct Track installed/adjusted at the Goshen Rally, and then later learned from both MorRyde technicians and truckers that I met at truckstops that my rig had visibly noticeable wheel misalignments. I went to a good alignment shop in Nebraska (referred to me by another Bighorn owner who had trailer wheel alignment done there). That alignment shop used a computerized laser alignment system and a 10 ton jack/bending rig to bend my axles/wheels into correct alignments. It cost me $175 per axle. I believe there were 4 measurements per wheel that had to be within the computerized system's specs.

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100% right.Correct Track will only fix part of the alignment problem...Don

When I had 3800 miles on my trailer I happened to put my hand across the tread while checking the air pressure in that tire. Inside edge was well worn, down to the cords I found after I put the spare on. Checked the other tires and they were worn also but not as bad. Limped the last 1200 miles home and contacted my dealer. Told them my problem and my conclusion it was either bearings or axle or both. Bearings bad at that point but dealer took pictures, sent them to Heartland and Lippert sent a new axle--the old one was bent. Put it one, did not like the looks of the other axle, sent pictures and measurements and Lippert sent another axle. I thank the dealer and Lippert for taking care of the problem. Over 10k on the new tires/axles and no sign of any wear. As Jim suggested, get it to a good dealer or alignment shop soon. And check your other tires for wear. By the time I got home, I had 5 ruined tires and Lippert sent me $65 per tire when I sent them a paid bill for new tires from Costco. Paid a little more for the new tires but better tires than what was on before. Sure glad that none of the tires blew.

Similar to Manzan, I discovered unusual wear on one tire, inside edge. (We had the infamous TowMax, so I watched them carefully, had them balanced, etc) Not long after, we decided to upgrade our entire running gear from 6K Lippert to 7K Dexter at our expense. Not sure what caused it, but we had a bent axle, and I wasn't going to put the same thing on again.

Since the upgrade and new Maxxis (balanced) tires in August 2011, we've probably put more than 25k miles on the coach. We had our alignment checked at the Goshen Rally. We were within 1/8" of perfect, and no tire issues yet. (Knock in wood).





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wdk450 said:

Correct Track will only correct 1 type of axle misalignment (axle skew?). I had Correct Track installed/adjusted at the Goshen Rally, and then later learned from both MorRyde technicians and truckers that I met at truckstops that my rig had visibly noticeable wheel misalignments. I went to a good alignment shop in Nebraska (referred to me by another Bighorn owner who had trailer wheel alignment done there). That alignment shop used a computerized laser alignment system and a 10 ton jack/bending rig to bend my axles/wheels into correct alignments. It cost me $175 per axle. I believe there were 4 measurements per wheel that had to be within the computerized system's specs.

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Doesn't sound like the tape measure test gets the job done... I'm on the dealers waiting list to get some other work done and I think I'll follow Jim's recommendation to have them check my alignment.

A tale tale sign of tire scrubbing (caused by axle misalignment) is that the edges of you tread will be rounded by the wear. Not all four or six tires will wear evening together. Which other factors could contribute to different wear between tires as well though.

Tires are wearing properly the edges on you tread will have some type of edge to them. May not be as shape as they were as new tires. But obviously more so then a tire that is scrubbing.

Axle alignment and Axle Crown are two different things. Correct Track will fix your axle alignment 100% if the alignment is within its capable range of adjustment.

An axle that loses its crown or bent is not an alignment issue. It's a bent axle. Your axle should have about 1/4" to 1/2" rise in the center of it without the full payload. If tires are wearing on the inside its one of two things. No crown(bent axle) or bad wheel bearings.

I would say more trailers leave the factory with misaligned axles then properly aligned. As that seems to be why they or HT is now offering Correct Track as a standard option. Or I suppose Lippert is.

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Tires will definitely fail faster due to alignment issues as will the wheel bearing on the affected hubs. Depending on the degree of scrubbing the life expectancy will vary. Just watched a Mobile Suite's Coach get a new set of tires in Oakley KS a couple days ago due to axle alignment issues.

This Spring on way back from Florida I had one Towmax tire going down and 500 miles later another one blow out on 2012 Big Country with about 6000 miles on rig. After I got home I took rig into an alignment shop and was told trackage was off, front 2 5/16 to left, aft 1 1/2 to the right. I had read threads about the Towmax tires and was sure that was my problem til I got the alignment figures. I wonder why new owners can not be assured of correct alignment out of the factory!

Tredit Tire & Wheel has the capability to balance wheels but maybe not much experience. I bought new tires and wheels from them about 6 years ago and had them do the balancing. About a year later I found a wheel weight wedged next to gas line and checked for weights on wheels and they were all gone.