Uneven Tire Wear

[navyAZ1]

Hi All,

Well all has gone well so far until we arrived back in south TX from north GA and I noticed the right rear tire on our BH has excessive wear on the outter edge. Until now the tire wear has been pretty even and the other 3 tires seem to be wearing even. We are sitting on a oil field gate right now and can't take the coach to a RV repair location. Do any of you have an idea as to what I might check to determine what the cause is? If it is major I'll take it to a RV repair after we leave this gate. Also, does anyone know of a reliable RV repair in the south TX area? We are about 100 miles SW of San Antonio, about the same NW of Corpus Christi, and about 80 miles north of Laredo for the major cities, but we are only about 25 miles south of Uvalde, TX which is a fairly large city. Thanks for any help you can give, and we'll see y'all at the Rally!

Ron

 

[branson4020]

Mine was caused by a flat leaf spring.

 

[cookie]

Can you jack that side up and see if the wheel wiggles? You may have lost a bearing.

Peace
Dave

 

[lwmcguir]

You need an alignment shop that can handle the height/length of your coach. Bearings, springs, hangers and so on can all cause mis-alignment and the uneven wear. You could have bent an axle as well. First thing to check are the obvious, hangers, wheel bearings and u bolts.

 

[slmayor]

The not so obvious thing to check is the tire itself. When we ran the tread off of a tire this summer, we had the coach aligned when we got home. It was out of alignment, but just a tiny bit, and in their opinion, not enough to eat the tread off that fast. Turned out to be the tire, with inside plies separating. A tire should be easy enough to check and rule out and any good tire shop.

 

[dewwood]

I had the same problem last year. I discovered the springs on one side(the heavy side) were flat and one set was actually bent. I replaced all four sets of springs with heavier springs and then made an appointment with Lippert in Elkhart to have it checked out. The tech said I had already solved the problem with the springs. He explained that when the springs flatten out they become longer thereby putting pressure on the axle. This in turn caused the tire on the opposite side of the trailer to wear on the outside like you described.

 

[Nabo]

We had a similar problem with the right rear tire. After checking the springs and found them ok, we started checking into the situation of maybe the axle was out of alignment. Our dealer (RVS for Less) had an axle alignment kit made by Reico-Titan and after installing the kit, we found out that the axles were out of by over a 1/4 of an inch. This kit is put on by measuring the distance of the axles with a laser light. Now we can recheck the axles and adjust if they get slightly out of sort anytime.

 

[westxsrt10]

All the advise above is great and could be your problem....since you are out on the road I'd take Cookie's advise first. Pop the axle nut cover off and see if the outer bearing is loose (one turn of the nut or more) go ahead and tighten it up by hand only and replace it as soon as you can.

 

[caissiel]

Uneven loading can also cause the spring to flaten more on one side then the other. Also oneven road will make the trailer slope to the curve side more and loading the spring on the side pushing the axle sideways. I found that when one axle is out of line the rear tire gets the wear because it tries to follow the front axle.

I had a previous trailer wearing the rear tires and found that the front axle was out of alignment by 5/8" right from the factory.

 

[navyAZ1]

Thanks for all the input. After doing a short inspection I found that the springs appear to be fine and I grabbed the ends of the springs and tried to get them to move and all seems to be tight. It is suppose to be a little warmer this week end so I plan to crawl under there and jack up the axles and check the bearings, this is something I was going to do anyway since it is time to repack the bearings. I hope it is as simple as an outter bearing, but I'm going to attach a plum bob to the hitch pin and measure the axles to check alignment also. I don't think it has anything to do with uneven loading since when we had the coach weighed in Nashville there was only a 50 lb. difference from one side to the other.

Thanks Again,

Ron

 

[caissiel]

Looks like a good plan.

 

[navyAZ1]

I had the same problem last year. I discovered the springs on one side(the heavy side) were flat and one set was actually bent. I replaced all four sets of springs with heavier springs and then made an appointment with Lippert in Elkhart to have it checked out. The tech said I had already solved the problem with the springs. He explained that when the springs flatten out they become longer thereby putting pressure on the axle. This in turn caused the tire on the opposite side of the trailer to wear on the outside like you described.

Just curious how much did it cost to replace the springs? I just went out and checked the springs again and after a closer look they all do look somewhat flat (I guess). If you drew a straight line from the shakle bolts and then measure down to the top spring I would say there is only about 1½" to maybe 2", I would think there should be more than that much space?

Ron

 

[SmokeyBare]

If you have close to 2 inches drop from a straight line between the 2 shackle bolts, the springs should be fine. Those I have seen that were considered flat, you could draw a straight line between the shackle bolts and the top of the springs.

I had a serious wear problem on our old (SOB) fifth wheel. I was able to get the alignment taken care of at a shop that specialized in RV Alignments.

Good Luck,

Marv

 

[caissiel]

I did replace my 4 springs on our new BC for nothing but the U-Bolts were all loose at the time. After receiving the springs and mounting them everything looked the same. My Lippert 3500Lbs springs have a flat section in the middle compared to the curvature I was used to. They will look ached down but it could not be helped because the bottom ply is perfectly straight when unloaded.

I think its this way because of the over the axle saddle application. If the bottom ply was curved the spring plate being above would be stressed and straighten the springs anyway. I also included 9/16" U-Bolts when I did the change.

 

[dewwood]

Sorry I did not see your post on cost, I had replied to your email. Here is the text of that reply.

I do not remember the exact cost but it was around $225 installed. That included new six leaf springs and larger u bolts replacing the four leaf china springs that were on the unit. I have extended coverage which covered most of the cost and the unit is out of warranty so it was a no brainer to upgrade. I went from 2500 lb springs to 3500 lb springs and there is definitely a difference. I should also mention I have a large box on the back of the unit that I carry my generator and other things, it weighs total about 500 lb.

The OEM springs were completely flat and even bent, I am surprised they did not break. If you are having issues I would not hesitate to replace the springs. We have a local trailer supply depot(Quality Trailer Products in Angola, IN) that I got the springs from and they also installed them. They can ship them anywhere.

 

[lwmcguir]

Most uneven serious tire wear is due to alignment issues. The plum bob will help you determine if the trailer was built correctly with the axles positioned as they should be. the spacing between the axles measured at the center caps is critical as well. If the coach pulls straight it most likely is OK. An alignment machine will tell you if you have a bent axle.

 

[Gary521]

NavyAZ1, I have the same years and model Bighorn that you have. My springs went flat. I replaced them with 3300# springs. Whatever you do, do not replace the springs with Lippert springs unless you make sure that they are US made springs first. It seems that some folks have recently purchased springs from Lippert and they were made in the US by EMCO. Prior to this, all the springs that Lippert supplied came from China. There are a couple of places on the internet that sell the EMCO springs. There are also other US manufacturers. I purchased my springs from a local trailer shop and they are US made. IF you do replace your springs, get the wet bolt kit too. Also, get a couple of extra bronze bushings. My Equaflex bushings were shot. The factory does not grease these bushings nor is there any way to grease these unless you use the wet bolt kit. Buy new shackles too. The old ones are probably worn. The trick is to press the bolts into the shackles before you attach to the springs and equalizer.

As I write this, I recall that the previous poster ( don't remember his handle ) said he purchased springs in Angola, IN. Just for the record, I grew up in Coldwater, just up the road. The local shop that I purchased the springs from ( Denver, CO ) had springs made in the US and China, so be a bit careful. Just because they are made in China does not necessarily made them bad, but why risk it.