Outside Tire Tread Wear

[gotlieb]

Got home from a short trip (150 miles) this past weekend and went to put my tire covers on and noticed one of the tires had significant wear on the outside edge. Only 1 tire and only on the outer most tread. Tires were properly inflated to 80 psi.

They are on a 2012 Greystone. Original from purchase, so yes, they are the Towmax Power Kings. From reading this thread I should get rid of them as soon as possible and that I'm lucky to have gone 7500+ miles in the last 3+ years without any problems.

So my question is, is there anything else wrong with my camper that I need to fix, or is it just the tires? Don't want to put new tires on right before it goes into storage if there is something else causing the wear. Only have 1 camping trip left before it gets winterized and put in storage.

Was reading that the bearings could be loose. I jacked it up and couldn't feel much play in the tire. Jacked up the other one on the same side and it felt the same.

Was also reading it could be a bad axle. How can you tell if the axle is bad? The front and the back look the same.

Thanks in advance!

 

[GOTTOYS]

One tire wearing on the edge is an indication of an alignment problem. You could just replace the axle and maybe the new one will be correct...maybe not. For a lot less money, you can bring it to a large truck trailer suspension shop and get a 3 axis alignment. RV dealers do not have the equipment or expertise for this..The suspension shop will check and adjust the tracking which is how square the axles are with each other as well as the frame, (mine were both out of square 3/4" from when it was new) they will adjust the toe which is how much the wheels are pointing in or out and they will check and correct the camber which is how straight up and down the wheels are. A replacement axle will not guaranty all these factors are correct. The highly touted Correct Track, if you have it on your rig, will only allow correction for tracking and by the time it is checked and adjusted it will probably cost more than a real alignment which will be in the $150-200.00 range. After you get it aligned then put on some quality tires and have them balanced when they are mounted. In my opinion an alignment will correct uneven tire wear 99% of the time. If there is a bearing problem the suspension shop will note it. Good luck...Don

 

[sjs731]

I had one tire wearing on the inside and it was an alignment issue. I took it to the spring and alignment shop in town that does all the work for the RV dealer here and they fixed the problem.


Steve

 

[gotlieb]

I called the local tire shop and they didn't say anything about it being an alignment issue. They said it was either the axle or the bearings and that they don't work on either of those things. They are a tire shop only, so I'm assuming they wont' work on suspensions either. Probably have to go a couple hours to find a place like that.

I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere, so don't have much options on where to take it. I'm going to call the nearest RV dealer and see what they say. I'm sure they'll say it's the axle.

Since the rig is over 4 years old, should I just have the bearings repacked anyway? It's never been done. Should I do this before I take it to get it aligned?

I'm mechanically inept, so any help is appreciated.

 

[gotlieb]

Just got off the phone with Camping World. The tech said it was probably a bent spindle or camber(?) issue. They said it probably wasn't an axle problem because that would impact both tires and I only have a problem with one.

Not sure how much it's going to cost to fix either of those issues. Think I'm just going to take it there since it's only a half hour away.

 

[gotlieb]

Heard back from Camping World this morning. They checked the axle, springs, etc. etc. Said they all checked out fine. Guess they finally checked the tire and said it had a broken belt that is the likely culprit.

Not sure if that is something that is easy to detect with normal inspection, but it sounded like they should have found it right away and it shouldn't have taken them a day to find the issue.

Having them repack the bearings while it is in there and going to replace the bad tire with the spare for the last camping trip of the year. Then will put all new tires on in the spring.

Thanks everybody.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I hope that the rest of the tires don't do the same thing or worse. I would not trust a Blowmax tire as far as I could throw them. BTW, the spare tire is as old as the rest of them.

 

[gotlieb]

I'll get another spare at the local tire shop as insurance for the next trip. But have less than 200 miles total to go before putting it in a shed for 5 months.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Then get a "Sailun" brand tire as a spare. That is what the new BH's have as tires now. They are not that pricey.