Effects of trailer brakes and sway

mike-s wrote:

JBarca wrote:

mike-s wrote:

JBarca wrote:
The reason for this is, trailer axles have a toe setting built in from the factory.

I'd like to see a proper citation to support that claim. Camber is often built in, I've never seen anything saying toe is.

In the link above in my reply you are quoting I typed out the Alko and the Dexter specifications they sent me when I called them.

Got it. You can't point to a reference, just what someone told you. And 2 of the 3 toe specs you gave were simply tolerances for no toe (e.g. Dexter - 0.25 degrees toe out to 0.25 degrees toe in).

Just reading the words on the screen, the context of your note sounds like maybe some disbelief due to a miscommunication of a verbal discussion. I told you where I received the manufacturing specifications for toe from both Alko and Dexter. They build the axles to meet that spec and their quality control checks for it.

Back in 2009 when I needed to change tires on my camper I had noticed a very bad wear pattern on the existing tires. Each tire had a different wear pattern. After seeing this I did not want to install new tires to only get worn in the same manner. I started a somewhat lengthy search for trailer alignment and specifications so I could back into what was wrong. At that time I could not find much of anything in a web search for technical details of what is declared as proper trailer wheel alignment to not cause tire wear. I did find a small amount on semi trailers as they too have tire wear issues when alignment is not correct. Same basic issue as our campers, but the semi trailers are built very different, very heavy duty as the loads are much higher.

I created a technical letter with pictures of my issues and emailed both Dexter and Alko. I called to follow up with both. Alko did not respond as well as Dexter but the Alko service manager told me their axle specs for toe. When calling Dexter, they where more helpful. The service manager told me their axle specs over the phone and emailed me cut sheets of their axle documentation and specifics. The cut sheet called, "Wheel Alignment Check Procedure - Trailers" listed the toe spec I had posted. I looked again this morning in their on line Applications Manual which has been updated since 2009 for this check, however the toe spec is still not listed.

If you want a copy, call this Dexter number http://www.dexteraxle.com/contact-us/contact-form and ask to speak to axle technical service. Sorry I can't link you the cut sheets with the specs but this is how I acquired them.

While you did not ask me, I did ask the Dexter and Alko service manager, what alignment specs do the axles and wheels need to be in to prevent the tire wear I was seeing? They pointed me to their specification and if the axles and wheels are mounted within their specification the tire will wear correctly. I corrected the trailer frame and axle issues to meet all the specs and ever since, my tires are wearing even on all 4 wheels as expected. I had a severe toe out condition creating the heavy wear. The further out of spec, the worse the wear.