Tire wear on North Trail's wide axle

[campntn]

Mike, I have this question from another forum that I posted on. Do you have any insights?
Thanks!
Mark


Nice looking camper..
Wont those tires scrub pretty good on turns? I know for me, and our rig, we get into some very tight spots in the mountains(many 75-90 degree turns)I bet we would de-rim one of the tires first time out from a rock.
A 42 inch spread axle is actually quite a bit.. I cant help but think you will have some added tire wear.
But I'm sure it would tow a bit better with the spread. My mom and dads '98 pace arrow mh had a spread of about the same amount on the rear. They got about 15000 miles out of 10 ply truck tires on the rear axle. From my hitch experience, our lil rv tires wear much faster than that, as they have a pretty soft rubber compound.
That is the only issue I would have with your model. So what did the dealer tell you about that issue?

 

[Mcreech]

campntn,
Sorry its taken so long to get back with you. I was out of town. Anyways, On a very small scale, they guy is right, you will drag the back tire a little bit more on those 75 degree turns but lets step back for a second. On a 1000 miles trip how many miles are you pulling forward with the family in the truck? I'd say 999.98 miles. The Wide Trax is designed with safety in mind, you have more control over your trailer when driving 60-65 miles an hour 99.9% of the time. So in reality the guy might be right in that limited aspect of camping ( Backing into a tight spot) but I will take safety of my family every time...

 

[chrispitude]

I also suspect that many times, trailer tires get replaced due to age (sidewall cracking) than due to treadwear.

- Chris

 

[pmmjarrett]

Many semi trailers (especially flatbed and step decks) are running 9' spreads and getting 100,000 - 150,000 miles out of a set of tires and no problems breaking the bead while turning.

Poor tire wear is usually due to improper inflation. If you bust a sidewall loose doing a turn, most likely it was under inflated.

Out of the 70,000 miles (35,000 under a load) I have run since January while towing RVs this year the very few hard U turns I have had to make were due to poor route planning, poor decision and inattention to detail.

Rules I try to follow to stay out of trouble

1. Get a motor carriers road atlas plan your trips and follow the truck routes, you will be good on height clearances (99.999% of the time). If you blindly follow a GPS you WILL get into trouble..... Having to back up 2 miles down a twisty mountain road because of a low 10' railroad overpass is not fun....... Been there, done that.
2. No U turns...... go around the block or find a BIG parking lot
3. Use truck lanes at truck stops to fuel, RV lanes if available like at most Flying J truckstops..... Stay out of the small gas stations, they will get you into trouble with no place to turn and low canopies
4. Stay out of restaraunt parking lots unless they have RV/ Truck parking..... Having to back out of the lot into the street because you can't turn around is not fun.... Don't ask me how I know.