Travel Trailer Wheel Allignment Question
Just wondering... Do any of you folks have your TT wheels aligned... much like you would with a car/truck front end alignment? I just figured you would watch the tires for uneven wear, which hasn't...
Forum Discussion
Another problem that can happen is that the spring hanger brackets can be welded in the wrong location front to back relative to the opposite side. I've read about this happening and having to cut the brackets off and weld them back on where they should be. This should not be overlooked if you're having tire issues.
Plastic bushings in the leaf springs could be totally worn out allowing play in the suspension.
Axles can be either under-sized by the manufacturer or they can be faulty. I read a thread the other day on another forum where Lippert had a run of bad axles in around 2010 used on one specific make and model of TT. Owners were all having tire issues and it wasn't until people started to post their problems that they realized all were traced to the same root cause.
Here's a whole other cause of tire problems that I doubt many know about. Weak frames can cause alignment issues. Some frame designs are inherently weak. The frames that have fabricated I-beams made from 3 pieces of sheet steel welded together lengthwise have a LOT of flex in them. The cross-bracing from one I-beam to the other is often 2x2 welded at the vertical mid-point of the beam. Some frames use 6" tall spring hangers as opposed to 4" tall. Some of these frames have no re-inforcement in the area of the spring hangers. This is all a recipe for constant and excessive movement of the bottom of the spring hangers from side to side from side force as in cornering or lane-changing. Then the spring hangers move from side to side, the axle tubes are forced to bend and the wheels go way out of camber. Axle tubes are very thin and bend easily.
Here's three pics to illustrate what can happen with one of these weak frames. In one photo, the side of the trailer is being pushed by a forklift to simulate side (lateral) forces while towing and the wheels go way out of camber. The 2nd is making a tight turn out of a CG. The last pic shows distortion and damage in the bottom of the I-beam from the spring hangers continually moving side to side. The spring bushing were all totally shot. This is in a brand new unit! Note that there are no gussets or 2x2 tubing welded to the underside of the lower flange as on some frames. The only mileage was almost entirely from plant to dealer. This amount of flex will cause uneven tire wear. Not sure what it would look like but maybe the center would look okay and the inside and outside areas would be worn?
One thing that can be done to reduce side to side frame flex is to install cross-bracing between the right and left side spring hangers. You can either make your own or buy the kit that Mor/Ryde has. If you do have a lot of frame flex and don't address it, you may very well end up with serious frame cracks down the road. Fixing it is waaay beyond an alignment job and if it's bad enough, it never can be made right like it should have been to start with. I've seen these weaker frames on about 6 different makes and models of ultra-lites now and they do it all for the sake of saving a few miserable lbs of weight. Some of the frames out there can barely support the factory dry weight when standing still.
Plastic bushings in the leaf springs could be totally worn out allowing play in the suspension.
Axles can be either under-sized by the manufacturer or they can be faulty. I read a thread the other day on another forum where Lippert had a run of bad axles in around 2010 used on one specific make and model of TT. Owners were all having tire issues and it wasn't until people started to post their problems that they realized all were traced to the same root cause.
Here's a whole other cause of tire problems that I doubt many know about. Weak frames can cause alignment issues. Some frame designs are inherently weak. The frames that have fabricated I-beams made from 3 pieces of sheet steel welded together lengthwise have a LOT of flex in them. The cross-bracing from one I-beam to the other is often 2x2 welded at the vertical mid-point of the beam. Some frames use 6" tall spring hangers as opposed to 4" tall. Some of these frames have no re-inforcement in the area of the spring hangers. This is all a recipe for constant and excessive movement of the bottom of the spring hangers from side to side from side force as in cornering or lane-changing. Then the spring hangers move from side to side, the axle tubes are forced to bend and the wheels go way out of camber. Axle tubes are very thin and bend easily.
Here's three pics to illustrate what can happen with one of these weak frames. In one photo, the side of the trailer is being pushed by a forklift to simulate side (lateral) forces while towing and the wheels go way out of camber. The 2nd is making a tight turn out of a CG. The last pic shows distortion and damage in the bottom of the I-beam from the spring hangers continually moving side to side. The spring bushing were all totally shot. This is in a brand new unit! Note that there are no gussets or 2x2 tubing welded to the underside of the lower flange as on some frames. The only mileage was almost entirely from plant to dealer. This amount of flex will cause uneven tire wear. Not sure what it would look like but maybe the center would look okay and the inside and outside areas would be worn?
One thing that can be done to reduce side to side frame flex is to install cross-bracing between the right and left side spring hangers. You can either make your own or buy the kit that Mor/Ryde has. If you do have a lot of frame flex and don't address it, you may very well end up with serious frame cracks down the road. Fixing it is waaay beyond an alignment job and if it's bad enough, it never can be made right like it should have been to start with. I've seen these weaker frames on about 6 different makes and models of ultra-lites now and they do it all for the sake of saving a few miserable lbs of weight. Some of the frames out there can barely support the factory dry weight when standing still.
