Trailer Tire wear

Low inflation even if the mfg says it isn't.
from procare.com
Under Inflation
This type of wear usually results from consistent under inflation. When a tire is under inflated, there is too much contact with the road by the outer treads, which wear prematurely. Tire pressure should be checked with a reliable pressure gauge. When this type of wear occurs, and the tire pressure is known to be consistently correct, a bent or worn steering component or the need for wheel alignment could be indicated. Bent steering or idler arms cause incorrect toe-in and abnormal handling characteristics on turns, however on a trailer it is underinflation or overload.

I'm sorry...I meant 80 lbs pressure as noted on the sidewall. OK ya'll. I remember when we first got the trailer we assumed it came with the correct pressure. The two trips we took, we never checked as it was shortly after our purchase. A year later when we went to the dealer for some repairs and upgrades I noticed the tires were at 45 to 55lbs. I immediately got them up to 80. I imaging the early miles at low inflation did the damage. Learning the hard way...thanks.

Chuck&Gail wrote:
Did you ever actually WEIGH your TT fully loaded? Classis symtom of overloaded tires. Are they the size listed on the plate on the TT sidewall? Are they inflated to the sidewall max pressure?

Yes, we had the trailer weighed. It was a about 200 lbs overweight and the pressure has been at 80. On earlier trips we may have had less but when we went full time we checked.

JCher wrote:
On May 1st I purchased a new 2011 travel trailer. I have taken three trips for a total of approximately 600 miles. I noticed last week that all four tires are showing abnormal wear on the inner and outer edges. The trailer came with ST205/75R14C tires. The MFG. date is 26-10. I inflate them to 50 PSI which is the recommended pressure on the sidewalls.

JCher wrote:
I did some more research and found the tires on my trailer have a weight capacity of 3520 lbs per axle, but the axles are rated at 3600 lbs. Should the tires have an equal or greater carrying capacity? The tires are brand name H188ST.

Hi JCher,

The tire placard on your camper states the axle rating. What does the axle rating say the limit is?

The TT manufacture is supposed to equip the TT with tires, springs and axles to meet the stated GAWR. (Gross axle weight rating) It is often times that the axles themselves are stronger. The springs may be as well. The tires may be the limiting factor. The weakest part in the suspension should reflect in the GAWR.

Now to your tire wear. If you weighed both TT axles on a scale along with WD engaged on the truck, the camper loaded as you go camping and that weight is below the GAWR as stated on the tire placard of the trailer, then something points to a suspension problem. What was the weight slip stating the weight was and what is your GAWR on the TT?

The turns a tandem axle trailer makes does add some wear to the other edges of a tire. However I have not yet seen is come on the inside from just turning.

To help better we need to see what the tires look like. Any chance of posting some pic's of the tire wear? Try to get pics straight on and in good light. Take pic's of all 4 tires and label them which position they came off of.

Yes, overweight can case the outsides to wear however there may be other suspension issues not right. TT's not being in correct alignment is more common then one thinks.

The axles can be made wrong, the hangers welded on wrong, they can even assemble them wrong. In my case I was the lucky one to get a frame with the hangers welded on wrong and the axles made wrong. I must say I did learn a bunch from this experience. I installed 2 new axles, corrected the hangers and aligned the system in my yard. It still shocks me if I can do this how this happen with all the modern methods of manufacturing we have today.

What make and model camper is this?

Hope this helps

John

I did some more research and found the tires on my trailer have a weight capacity of 3520 lbs per axle, but the axles are rated at 3600 lbs. Should the tires have an equal or greater carrying capacity? The tires are brand name H188ST.

I weighed the trailer and it is well within specs. The tires are correct per the sticker on the trailer. I know the tires have not been operated under inflated. I have two very accurate tire pressure gauges that I use to check the pressure in all my tires. The only problem tires are the trailer tires. Thanks everyone for the advice. I will discuss with the dealer.

On our last TT we had the same problem. It was an alignment problem. I got new axles from Lippert and Skyline reimbursed me for my new tires. If it's in the shop now, have them check the alignment. I still did not trust it so I went to a larger rim and higher load range tire.

I had the same issues with 2 Keystone 5th wheels. They were both weighed and were not overweight. The problem was out of alignment axles. Dexter paid for the 1st camper plus some tires and I paid for the second alignment before things went south.

LQuig wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:


From Trailer Tire Wear Diagnosis

The chart doesn't cover cheap tires with weak sidewalls, that "are" inflated properly..

Flabby sidewalls is more often related to putting passenger-type tires on trailers. A primary difference between ST tires and P/LT tires is that ST's have stiffer sidewalls. Tires designed for passenger-transport vehicles are actually an important component of the comfort/suspension system and are designed for a "softer" ride. That's inefficient on a trailer.

The tread patterns on passenger-transport tires are usually also wrong for trailers, which only need to follow the tow vehicle. They do so most efficiently with shallow, straight tread-designed tires. The deep, aggressive tread that's required for steer/drive axles interferes with a trailer's straight-behind following action. Fuel efficiency is also affected.

Did you ever actually WEIGH your TT fully loaded? Classis symtom of overloaded tires. Are they the size listed on the plate on the TT sidewall? Are they inflated to the sidewall max pressure?