Removing tires
Hey guys, I am putting 4 new tires on my camper this weekend and I have a question. It will easier for me to take the tires and rims off, and take them to the tire place, two at a time. My question...
Forum Discussion
myredracer wrote:
Many tire shops won't do travel trailers at least around here. That's what I discovered when I wanted to install new valve stems for our TPMS. The only place I could find was one that does trucks and was too far away and ended up taking 2 into a shop at a time.
The method of pulling an axle up onto ramps is a good method and the safest. I would take a wheel off on each side and that way if heaven forbid, something goes wrong, there is still a tire on each side. If using a bottle jack, you need so make sure the weight is properly supported directly under the two U-bolts with a piece of 2x4 or 2x6. They can split so have additional pieces with you on a longer trip. With a wheel off, put some wood blocks under the brake drum (but not on the backing plate) to keep the axle high enough off the ground for the jack to fit back under the U-bolts. Never, ever support wt. directly on an axle tube or lever on it to raise it.
A ramp may not be feasible if you need to install the spare after a flat or blowout on a roadside tho. I just bought a dual stage bottle jack as they collapse down to just 6" and extend up to 14" (Torin - $24 on Amazon). Will get under an axle if the tire is flat. Am going to make a saddle from metal so I don't need wood blocks.
On rotation, if you ever look at your wheels while making a tight 90 degree turn like in a CG, you will see the tires on one axle being tilted way off-camber. Trailer axles each have a different turning radius which forces the tires on one axle to be literally dragged across the ground. Not sure if you'd ever notice a difference in wear from this, but since the wheels will be off, I'd rotate them on the same side only.
That "tilting" of the tire is a visual signal of the lateral loading going into the tire structure. This side force, which is a function of trailer axle geometry vs the center of the turn radius is what results in the abnormally high "Interply Shear" force. This is the force that is trying to tear the belts/tread off the tire body and can lead to the tread detachment seen in many TT tire failures.
If you want to learn more about Interply Shear simply GOOGLE "Tire Interply Shear"
