Just an observation.Traveling south on route 81 from New York to North Carolina with our travel trailer. Within 100 miles I saw two large fifth wheel trailers with left rear tires shredded.?? Do fifth wheel trailers carry their weight evenly on both rear axles? It got me thinking and as I was traveling I started looking at fifth wheel trailers as I was traveling. Many seem tail heavy? Or is it just a optical illusion?

All, or any RV can be either balanced or one side heavy. It all depends on design. A properly designed RV should be pretty well balanced. Shredded tires normally is caused by,1, wrong tires,2, cheap ST tires run above rated speed,3, nails, screws, etc. In other words a flat tire,4, poorly maintained tires,5, out dated tires,And the list can go on. Bottom line, there is no way to determine what caused the tire failure.

donn0128 wrote:All, or any RV can be either balanced or one side heavy. It all depends on design. A properly designed RV should be pretty well balanced. Shredded tires normally is caused by,1, wrong tires,2, cheap ST tires run above rated speed,3, nails, screws, etc. In other words a flat tire,4, poorly maintained tires,5, out dated tires,And the list can go on. Bottom line, there is no way to determine what caused the tire failure... and #4 above includes tires without proper air pressure. Check your tires once in awhile, you'll save yourself some issues down the road.

There is a tremendous amount of wind pressure against the front of a high profile vehicle. Just look at the fuel mileage drop and know that much of that additional energy is pushing the rear down adding to the effective weight.

Lynnmor wrote:There is a tremendous amount of wind pressure against the front of a high profile vehicle. Just look at the fuel mileage drop and know that much of that additional energy is pushing the rear down adding to the effective weight.Love that theory!Way too many to a 5er nose high! It is either too much trouble, or too much money to bring it level. Towing nose high loads the rear axle more than the front, the equalizer can only compensate for so much.You really want your 5er to tow as level as possible. Getting to level could be as simple as adjusting the pin box or hitch height, or it might require flipping the axles, or building a sub-frame.I was lucky, pin box adjustment, then installed Correct Track system for 2" at axles and we are level.

A guy passed me today pulling a big 5er. I was in my car on the interstate going 78 MPH. He had to have been going 85, at least. I had about another 15 miles to go before my exit. I thought I’d see him on side of the road with a blowout, but I didn’t. He must’ve had good tires and a pocket full of money for fuel.

Fifth Wheel tire blow outs. | Good Sam Community

BarneyS
Explorer III
Oct 04, 2018
N-Trouble wrote:
Lynnmor wrote:
There is a tremendous amount of wind pressure against the front of a high profile vehicle. Just look at the fuel mileage drop and know that much of that additional energy is pushing the rear down adding to the effective weight.

Say what??? I hope nobody reads this and actually thinks there is any logic to this.

And?????????? Care to expand on your reasons for that comment?
Barney
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Oct 04, 2018
Road hazard damage is usually the rear tire as the front flips up the object and it damages the tire behind.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Oct 04, 2018
Axles only get loaded unevenly fore to aft if they are torsion spring axles. Leaf spring axles modulate the angle with wishbone connecting the springs together.
Within reason of course. One can look and see if there's more room for the Y piece to travel before bottoming out front or back.
Several inches nose high or low is fine with leafs, not fine with torsion axles.
N-Trouble
Explorer
Oct 04, 2018
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Road hazard damage is usually the rear tire as the front flips up the object and it damages the tire behind.

^^This^^
mkirsch
Nomad II
Oct 05, 2018
N-Trouble wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Road hazard damage is usually the rear tire as the front flips up the object and it damages the tire behind.

^^This^^

^^This^^

...and if I was a betting man, I would bet that both trailers hit the same thing, if they were on the same road heading in the same direction.
allen8106
Explorer
Oct 12, 2018
I run a TPMS with temperature and pressure on my 5ver and I've noticed the right side runs 8-10 degrees warmer than the left. This tells me the right side is heavier than the left. Front to back they seem about even.

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