Tire rotation 2 axle

On a trailer, I don't think it's THAT important to rotate tires. But, some folks do. It not so much the pattern, as long as it's the same pattern and you do at regular intervals. Determining miles on a trailer is a little harder than in a car or truck with an odometer. But your best guess would be every 1000 miles, 2000 miles, 3000 miles, as long as you are consistent with your intervals. Anticipate 40 thousand miles on your tires? Then you'll need to rotate them 5 times so they'll all be equal. That means every 8 thousand miles rotate. Take your own option for a pattern: click here.

I rotate front to back on my triple axle, but I don't rotate the spare in. Probably should.
Tires that don't get used, rot faster than tires that do get used.

On my tandems, the rear axle tires always wear faster than the front. You can do a 5-tire rotation with the spare since most trailer tires do not have directional tread (easier to do than 4-tire). My spare sits inside and I do not rotate it in to use, but I do rotate front to rear tires once a year. For me, this is about 7500 miles between rotations and I wore the original tires out after 4.5 years.

Trailer tires seldom wear out, they age out. Rotate if you want but it will have no effect on the inevitable old age.

Most common recommendation is six years for replacement.

The spare was down about 20lbs from the rest, so I figure it has never touched the ground.

Go to www.michelinrvtires.com so read what they state about spares. We carry two spares and every couple of years rotate them into the mix.
For five tires you could rotate them CCW and put the spare in the right rear location. The left rear tire would be come the spare.

Dick_B wrote:
Go to www.michelinrvtires.com so read what they state about spares. We carry two spares and every couple of years rotate them into the mix.
For five tires you could rotate them CCW and put the spare in the right rear location. The left rear tire would be come the spare.

Thanks

RideSlow wrote:
The spare was down about 20lbs from the rest, so I figure it has never touched the ground.

I used my spare for the first time last weekend. I was a little nervous since that tire hasn't been touched since the trailer was built in '08. I bought 4 new tires and now I'm thinking I should have replaced the spare.

When I towed trailers for a living I found my right side tire on the front axle received the most abuse mostly from making those short right hand turns onto another street/etc.
I never rotated tires on any of my multiaxle trailers but the right hand side front axle position would be a good choice.

I would avoid rotating at all. Much easier to spot a tire or alignment issue if you know the tire has been in the same position. All tires should wear the same and flat across the tread. The power, braking, steering, alignment, and cornering forces are virtually the same in all positions. Not like the tow vehicle where all is different.

As said above you will not get more life out of the tires for rotating the spare in with the others. Do carry a compressor to air up the spare if placed in service or cover for a slow leak until you can get in for repair.