Alignment or ?

[cocaseco]

I have a 2011 26SRL that I purchased new in March 2010. Last fall I noticed significantly more wear on the rear passenger side tire. It was rounded and almost worn through at the edge, with still good tread in the middle. i am good at always checking tire pressure, and that tire has never required more or less air on average than the others. What could be causing the problem and is this something that should be covered under warranty? the warranty issue is important as it obviously has been wearing for quite some time.

 

[Rmcgrath53]

it could be a bent axle or the wheels not squared up with the kin pin center. Sorta like a trianle with sides not equal there is a product called Rieco-Titan Correct Track II to correct that. I am havein my axles replaced rite now then they are goin to alin it wit the correct track 2.

 

[Invizatu]

Or it could just be a bad tire. My first set of bias ply chinese tires all wore in crazy different patterns and started to crack etc. I got a free replacement set of Radials (paid $18 each for upgrade to radial) and had them "BALANCED". They are performing excellent and not showing any signs of irregular wear.

 

[GOTTOYS]

My guess is the problem comes from alignment. Doubt that your under warranty as it only lasts for a year. The right front wheel is the one that will most commonly hit a curb when turning right. You can either replace the axle or for a lot less money..go to a heavy truck/trailer shop and have it aligned. An RV dealer is not equipped to do this so they will only sell you a new axle...An alignment should cost in the $100-150 dollar range and it will only take a couple hours. I'd bet you a cold adult beverage that this is the problem..Don

 

[pegmikef]

I have a 2011 26SRL that I purchased new in March 2010. Last fall I noticed significantly more wear on the rear passenger side tire. It was rounded and almost worn through at the edge, with still good tread in the middle. i am good at always checking tire pressure, and that tire has never required more or less air on average than the others. What could be causing the problem and is this something that should be covered under warranty? the warranty issue is important as it obviously has been wearing for quite some time.

I have exactly the same problem, but on the rear driver's side wheel after about 10K miles. There are no weights on any of the trailer tires so I am thinking it may be the balance since everything else looks ok. If your North Trail is like mine it probably has ST tires that are only rated for 65 MPG (I run around 60 so that is probably not an issue). Interestingly I just read up on ST tires on the Discount Tire web site and two statements caught my eye. 1) The trailer ST tires are not designed to wear out and are only rated for 10 to 12k miles. 2) ST tires should be replaced every three years regardless of how they look because they can lose up to 2/3 of their strength through aging. It goes on to discuss use, care, storage, etc.

Now I don't know if this was a ploy to sell tires, but I am going to do more research because I had never heard this three year thing before. The only time I have changed the tires on my boat and utility trailers is when I start seeing little tiny cracks and that is normally after seven or eight years. The tread always looks good when I replace them.

 

[Nabo]

check out this article from Trailer Life magazine March 2011 - www.trailerlife.com/trailer-how-to/trailer-tech/rieco-titan-correct-track-2/. We also had unusual tire wear on 2 of our other coaches. After talking with our dealership and understanding the difference on the axles from the basic frame (Lippert) to the load box (the coach), it makes sense that there would be a difference in stress weight. He suggested the Rieco-Titan system and we haven't had a problem since, being able to re-align the axles which we now check yearly.

 

[Sumo]

Glad I found this thread. I was getting my trailer ready for spring and noticed outside of my front right tire was wearing out. All the other tires look great. Going to take "GOTTOYS" advice and get an axle alignment and the tires balanced.

 

[Manzan]

I reported this in another thread. My NT 21FBS had unusual wear, like down to the cords, on the right rear tire after 3600 miles. The other tires showed wear also but not as bad. Dealer replaced first one axle, did not like what they saw and replaced the other. Bent. Had to jump through a couple of hoops but Lippert took care of them. The place that does the alignment should be able to determine if the axle is bent or just out of alignment.

 

[Sumo]

Thank you for the info.. Headed to the dealership today.

 

[TeJay]

Hi,
When dealing with a TT since the frame is a rectangle and the two axles are supposed to be mounted at right angles to the frame rails if a tire(s) show abnormal signs of wear it can be coming from low/high tire pressure. If the tire is pressure is to high the tire will wear in the center. It's not likely that a tire has to much pressure unless you don't know how to air up a tire or your gauge is faulty. If the pressure is low it will wear on the outside edges but usually equally. If for some reason the axle is to far left or right but still at right angles to the frame it won't cause tire wear but it will look funny. In the alignment business it's called "dog tacking". If either axle is not parallel to the frame rails then serious tire wear will occurs. One axle is going straight and the other axle is being pulled at an angle to the other. This causes scuffing and tread wear on the edges. You can picture in your mind exactly what it is doing to your tires. The amount of axle misalignment from 90 degrees to the frame rail does not have to be very much (1/2 of a degree) to cause tread wear. It is very difficult to measure difference this small with a ruler. I'm familiar with car alignment but a good frame shop might be needed to align a TT because there are probably differences in procedures and some alignment shops might not know how to or want to fool with a TT. Don't be fooled. It's just as important to get the axles aligned correctly as it is to do caster, camber and toe. I'd also be a little concerned if the TT dealer was going to align your TT if they didn't have the equipment. You can get it close with a ruler but not right on.
Hope this helps. I'm only trying to help so you go to the right place, get the work done correctly and don't waste your $$$.

TeJay

 

[Nabo]

The dealer we used has a laser which he used to do the measuring. No ruler or tape measuring.

 

[TimDyck]

In the trucking business tire are a major expense so truckers go to great lengths to make them last as long as possible. For that reason truckers are not generally satisfied with a mere alignment but got to shops that "center line" their axels. This is done by finding the center of the vehicle and then aligning all the axels to it. As was pointed out a ruler and tape measure cannot do this but a proper machine using lasers will. Talk to the local truck shops and find were the truckers are getting their units done and even though a place like that will cost a little more up front you will save a lot in the long run.

 

[Sumo]

I have an appointment with a trailer shop. I'll show them the tire damage and let them tell me what needs to be done. After all they are the experts.

Thank you for all the input. This has been a great learning experience.

 

[TeJay]

Sumo,
Some of us who offer information concerning mechanical issues are retired and have been out of our fields for some time. Technology changes and what we may have learned may not be the solution to some of today's problems. It is always helpful, at least I know it would be for me to find out what the final solution was to the original concern. In other words we'd appreciate an update once the experts look at the problem.
Thanks,
TeJay

 

[Sumo]

I will pass on any knowledge I gain for the benefit of my fellow RV's.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Tejay is correct. As to a statement about balancing tire's...absolutely. BUT....tire balance will not make tires wear badly. It will only make tire's have a choppy look to them. Just a note on right side tires wearing on the outside edge. Most if not all roads have a "crown" to the right side on them. So....while towing you are always trying to pull the weight up hill. The right side drive wheels will always wear out before the left side. Ask any trucker which tires wear more. BTW, a left front tire will always wear faster than the right front. WHY?????.....because all left turns are made faster than right turns. Think about it.

 

[TeJay]

Bob,
I'm going to have to think about that one a little. Yes roads are crowned to provide for rain run off. Sometimes miss-alignment is also done to correct or allow for that but as far as I recall there is not an industry standard for that slight difference. It's mostly what the old time alignment guys did to compensate for the road crown. I'm still not sure about the speed of the left vs the right tire. Why are left turns made faster than right turns?? I guess I'm missing something or you've got me on that one. Maybe it's time for me to learn something new today. LOL

TeJay

 

[Invizatu]

Bob,
I'm still not sure about the speed of the left vs the right tire. Why are left turns made faster than right turns?? I guess I'm missing something or you've got me on that one. Maybe it's time for me to learn something new today. LOL

TeJay

Tejay, Maybe Bob is a retired NASCAR driver? lol I agree though... I make lefties faster than righties!

 

[caissiel]

My thinking about unbalanced tires while loaded would cause more damage to tire cords or belts then wear.
I dought it jumps but vibrates vilantly.
Just my observation open for coments.

 

[TeJay]

Ok, Here's some info on tire balance. Lets keep it simple. If a tire is to heavy in one area that has to mean that it was to light on another area. Lets just assume that a tire is to heavy in one spot and that spot is in the center of the tire tread close to the surface. That's a static imbalance and the tire will bounce up and down as the heavy spot rotates. More then less pressure will be exerted on the tire as it rotates. That bouncing up and down will cause accelerated wear at the heavy spot because of gravity and centrifugal force. Now lets move the heavy spot to the edge of the tire. That's called dynamic imbalance. Now the tire will not only move up and down but it will move side to side. It moves side to side an amount depending on wheel bearing play, tire flexing and steering/suspension wear. That will also create tire wear. I can't remember the exact term to describe that type of tire wear. When tires are out of balance they are probably always a combination of static and dynamic imbalances. Proper computer balancing and placement of the weights will correct those imbalances.

Weak/worn shocks will also cause tire wear. The tire continues to bounce when a bump is encountered because the bounce is not dampened by the shock. When I say bounce it does not really come off the ground. When you hit a bump first you get increased pressure then less pressure as the suspension, tires, wheels and unit rises up. Yes tire imbalance can and does accelerate tire cord damage by increasing bouncing forces and tire flexing.

TeJay