Axle spacing oddity

[BruteForce]

I went home to measure the distance between tires on my 3 axle RoadWarrior 395 (because I was thinking about replacing the OEM Towmax with BFG Commercial TA's). I came away a bit puzzled. The front left tire and separation between the middle tire/axle is just over 3". All others (including the right side front and center) are all at about 2". How in the heck would that side of the axle be pushed forward a bit more than an inch?

 

[RollingHome]

James, I would inspect the tires very closely for unusual and abnormal wear pattern. I would also get your coach to a commercial trailer alignment shop. At the very least ask someone sharp to follow you for a few miles to see if your tracking is skewed.

 

[BruteForce]

James, I would inspect the tires very closely for unusual and abnormal wear pattern. I would also get your coach to a commercial trailer alignment shop. At the very least ask someone sharp to follow you for a few miles to see if your tracking is skewed.

Agreed. I've made a call to Alignment Specialists here in Salt Lake City. $79.99/axle. As for "someone sharp", I'm former Army - I only know dull knuckle draggers!

 

[1231ChaseB]

The spacing on my 3 axle Cyclone are different but the same on both side's ! The rear tire is a little closer to the center tire than the front one !
chaseb

 

[TravelTiger]

If the spacing is different between your tires, you may have a bent axle or other alignment issue. There are measurements you can take to check, and a form to document, from Lippert. See here.

Good luck!

 

[truknutt]

I went home to measure the distance between tires on my 3 axle RoadWarrior 395 (because I was thinking about replacing the OEM Towmax with BFG Commercial TA's). I came away a bit puzzled. The front left tire and separation between the middle tire/axle is just over 3". All others (including the right side front and center) are all at about 2". How in the heck would that side of the axle be pushed forward a bit more than an inch?

I had the same issue with my Cyclone and took it back for warranty correction. A call from the dealer to Heartland/Lippert customer Service verifing the accepted tolerances and a quick class from the technician was all it took to convince me there was no problem afterall. I have been running the original axles & tires since 2008 and, knock on wood, haven't experienced any abnormal tire wear or failure.

It has to do with the equalizers and the hangers and their relation to each other after moving the rig. Here is a Lippert drawing I borrowed so you can see how the parts work with each other. There are multiple moving parts and it's easy for a hanger to flop up on top of the equalizer and on only one side. The tech explained that you need to roll your rig back and forth a couple times to "settle the springs".

Give Customer Service a call and find out the accepted tolerances.

My 2 cents.

Dave

 

[truknutt]

If the spacing is different between your tires, you may have a bent axle or other alignment issue. There are measurements you can take to check, and a form to document, from Lippert. See here.

Good luck!

Hey thanks for the form link, Tony. That would have been very useful when we measured mine way back when!!