Took my 2011 21 FBS to the dealer this morning. Discovered the left rear tire was quite worn on the inside edge while checking tire pressure. Checked the right rear and it was much worse. Put on the spare and the RR was worn down to the tire cords. Kind of scary. Figure it is loose bearings or poor alignment or both. A little under 3,800 miles on those tires so something is radically wrong. Other minor problems-remote stopped working and the tongue jack blows fuses when raised all the way. (Sounds like a 5er!) Remote turns on but that is all it does. Not really major problems at all except for the tire wear. Really happy with this trailer. Looks like the dealer is getting more into Heartland trailers-several North Trails on the lot--I think ours was the first one they had ever sold.
Tires bald on the inside edge
- Thread starter Manzan
- Start date
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Having had the tire wear myself, I'll tell you what I was asked:
Have you had the tires balanced? Have you had the alignment checked? Do you check your tire pressure every trip? Have you weighed to see if you are overloaded? Have you driven on bad roads? All of these are contributing factors. Or, it could be defective tires. What brand of tires do you have, and when were your tires manufactured (should be stamped on the sidewall)? You may be able to get a prorated reimbursement by contacting the tire mfg., as long as you did all the right things to take care of them (balanced, aligned, properly inflated, not overloaded, not hit large pot-holes or curbs, etc.). Unfortunately, RV Salesmen do not typically tell you about this maintenance. (Lots of new owners end up finding out the hard way, after the [tire] damage is done.)
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Have you had the tires balanced? Have you had the alignment checked? Do you check your tire pressure every trip? Have you weighed to see if you are overloaded? Have you driven on bad roads? All of these are contributing factors. Or, it could be defective tires. What brand of tires do you have, and when were your tires manufactured (should be stamped on the sidewall)? You may be able to get a prorated reimbursement by contacting the tire mfg., as long as you did all the right things to take care of them (balanced, aligned, properly inflated, not overloaded, not hit large pot-holes or curbs, etc.). Unfortunately, RV Salesmen do not typically tell you about this maintenance. (Lots of new owners end up finding out the hard way, after the [tire] damage is done.)
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GOTTOYS
Well-known member
Balancing the tires will not correct this. Your answer is right..Poor alignment most likely, possibly loose bearings. Bring it to heavy duty truck trailer shop and get it aligned. An RV dealer usually doesn't have what is needed to do this. The front jacks are designed to blow the fuse if you bottom them out. This will prevent damage to the somewhat fragile gearbox in them. Put a mark on the legs about an inch from the end of travel and stop there when moving them. Good luck, Don
Nabo
Southeast Region Director-Retired
We also had tire wear on 2 of your HL coaches (Sundance-Big Country 3250) in the past and it's expensive replacing tires. We invested in the Correct Track by Rieco-Titan and haven't had any problems since then. We like the Correct Track so much that we put it on our new BC 3650. The website is www.riecotitan.com. Well worth the $$ and cheaper than replacing tires.
Took delivery of the trailer March 1, 2011 so still under warranty. Tires are balanced, have not hit any curbs or big chuck holes, checked the date on the tires when we bought the trailer and there were made late last year. Had the trailer weighed and we were running 400 lbs below maximum. The dealer has a new shop but I don't know if they can do alignments. Asked them about moving the springs to the top of the axles which they can do and they also work with a truck shop that does axle work.
Ours is a TT and it is a tongue jack that blows the fuse. Read the info on it and it says there is a clutch that protects the gears. Worked fine until we started out on our last trip. It would not be difficult to mark the jack and may just do that.
Ours is a TT and it is a tongue jack that blows the fuse. Read the info on it and it says there is a clutch that protects the gears. Worked fine until we started out on our last trip. It would not be difficult to mark the jack and may just do that.
A large pot hole or just jacknifing on pavement can bend light weight axles. And it sure could have came that way from the factory. There is no doubt you have at least an alignment issue. Good Luck and do as the other poster says, get it to an alighnment shop. The dealer won't be able to do that for you.
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
One more thing, if you have Lippert axles and you suspect bent or out of alignment from the factory, they have worksheets for the repair shop to use. It may be covered under warranty. Contact Lippert to start the ball on a potential claim, before you have any work done. Visit their website for documents here.
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TandT
Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
I know balancing is an important aspect of maintaining tires. I have been guilty of not getting mine balanced yet. I have about 8000 miles on them. They are wearing pretty evenly.
My question... Why are they not balanced from the get-go before the customer takes delivery? I do not see any weights on any of my wheels.
TravelTiger
Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Good question, but I guess it's not a priority in the industry, since these are "recreational" vehicles. Getting trailers built and out the door is the top priority.
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We have had this problem on our Landmark.A suspension specialty company told me they replaced the axles
on 40 trailers last summer.This has been ongoing for the last 5 years and blames it on the poor quality
of steel used by axle manufactures.Its going to be a challenge to to keep tires on these units but in your
case at less than 5 K miles someting is really bent and the issue has to be addressed.
on 40 trailers last summer.This has been ongoing for the last 5 years and blames it on the poor quality
of steel used by axle manufactures.Its going to be a challenge to to keep tires on these units but in your
case at less than 5 K miles someting is really bent and the issue has to be addressed.
There just isnt enough of a margin in the weight of the axles they install. Saving a few bucks per unit. It is sure best to upgrade before you take ownership of a new coach unless you are already in the high dollar end where they come with 17.5 tires/wheels and heavy axles.
I agree with your margin of weight analysis as the RV manufactures seem to design the suspension
to travel from Indiana to the sales company.Many buyers are not using these RVs as park models
or hauling them to the lake on weekends.Two 7000 lb axles on a 16550lb GVWR Landmark does
not make sense.If our pin weight is 2550 lbs the axles are at the max.We have a CSA (Canadian
Standards Association) decal on our RV but that needs to be questioned.
to travel from Indiana to the sales company.Many buyers are not using these RVs as park models
or hauling them to the lake on weekends.Two 7000 lb axles on a 16550lb GVWR Landmark does
not make sense.If our pin weight is 2550 lbs the axles are at the max.We have a CSA (Canadian
Standards Association) decal on our RV but that needs to be questioned.
caissiel
Senior Member
There is an anology here,
I feel axles are much cheaper to repair then bend frames.
If the axles are over designed then the owner will just load the axle capacity and something else will break.
The fabricators have to do things right and I would rather have a flat tire or bend axle then a broken frame.
While traveling on the highways I see so many units with underinflated tires and bend axles driving or passing me at speeds over 20 MPH faster then me, so I associates speed as a factor of damaged axles and tires.
I have a utility trailer with 3500Lbs axle and I load as much in it as I load the truck and thats way over 4000Lbs and so far don't carry a spare tire and its been great. But I drive slower with a load then without. The axles are designed to hit obsticles at 60/65 MPH. Hitting obsticles surely cause more damage than the load it carries. Last spring I hit a pothole so hard with the truck that my tailgate dropped.
I feel axles are much cheaper to repair then bend frames.
If the axles are over designed then the owner will just load the axle capacity and something else will break.
The fabricators have to do things right and I would rather have a flat tire or bend axle then a broken frame.
While traveling on the highways I see so many units with underinflated tires and bend axles driving or passing me at speeds over 20 MPH faster then me, so I associates speed as a factor of damaged axles and tires.
I have a utility trailer with 3500Lbs axle and I load as much in it as I load the truck and thats way over 4000Lbs and so far don't carry a spare tire and its been great. But I drive slower with a load then without. The axles are designed to hit obsticles at 60/65 MPH. Hitting obsticles surely cause more damage than the load it carries. Last spring I hit a pothole so hard with the truck that my tailgate dropped.
Dealer called today, after I called them, and left a message on my answering machine and they are talking with Lippert. Lippert wants pictures of the tires and of the axles so things are on the way to resolution. Looks like it was more than loose bearings. Glad we do not have a trip planned soon.
I tow at 60mph or less--mostly the truck speed limit. I have weight receipts and total mileage for each tire, if Lippert would like that info.
I tow at 60mph or less--mostly the truck speed limit. I have weight receipts and total mileage for each tire, if Lippert would like that info.
peteatlarge
Member
Bought a new MPG 183 trailer in July '11 and have since towed it on many long range excursions totalling about 10,000kms. Well the inner tread on the tires is becoming worn more than the rest of the tread. I took it in for servicing and I mentioned the tires, they had a look and noticed the axle was bowed in the center. The axle is due to be replaced under warranty but my question is will this keep happening? I don't think I was hard on the trailer by any means. We took it on a few dirt lake roads but it was mostly highway driving. In addition this trailer is supposed to be an ultra light so I can't see what would make the axle bend unless the axle used is extremely light duty indeed.
I dropped my North Trail off this morning at the dealer. I have put Less than 1200 miles on the trailer and noticed the uneven wear. Drove it home, two trips and a drive back to the dealer it has only been 48 days that I have had it.
They work with a local truck repair shop that they say is realy good with axels.
Tire pressures were and are good, trailer not overloaded.
If I can I will get heavier axles put on not just the same size. Looking at replacing the worn tires with larger tires and working on the suspesion to try and get the trailer higher off the ground. It sets very low to the ground.
They work with a local truck repair shop that they say is realy good with axels.
Tire pressures were and are good, trailer not overloaded.
If I can I will get heavier axles put on not just the same size. Looking at replacing the worn tires with larger tires and working on the suspesion to try and get the trailer higher off the ground. It sets very low to the ground.
Had another call from my dealer. They put on the new axle and were checking things out and did not like what they saw. New front axle being sent from Heartland. I was not at home when the call came in so could not ask about the problem. At least they are talking to Heartland and getting things done. I am very happy that they found a problem with the front axle rather than having me discover it someplace down the road.
ncrebel8
Wesley and Niki Norwood
Nabo, I got questions-------- I looked at this product and am wondering, it appears that the correct track mounts in a fashion that is lower than the original spring hangers. How much height does this add to the camper? just wondering. It appears to be a good system that would allow for alignment corrections without much trouble. Im interested Also, did anyone else notice that the instaltion video shows the system being installed on a Bighorn?
Picked up my trailer today. Two new axles-the old ones looked like the letter u. New remote and and new shower assembly. They winterized the trailer and pressurised the system and checked for leaks . Found one. Did not have a way to get to the plumbing behind the faucet so Heartland sent one with a plate behind it so can now remove the faucet and get to the plumbing. I think they have done very well by me but they rather not service trailers they did not sell. Just have two service bays and they sell a lot of trailers. I think they are a great place to buy a trailer. Apache Camping Center, Everett. WA. A family operation, they have outlets in Tacoma, WA and Portland, OR.
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