Need to get shot

[4x4ord]

So I towed the trailer into the mountains last weekend with the bike on the lift. The wind was blowing and the trailer towed terrible. Especially going down hill the trailer would push the truck around making for a very stressful drive. Anyway we got out there and it was really nice to have the bike along. My intentions were to have my wife tow the trailer home and I was going to ride the bike to avoid another stressful drive going back home, but .... I wore the back tire off the bike and decided I would feel more comfortable driving an unstable truck back then riding a motorcycle back with a tire that looked like it could pop any second.

Well the drive back was very nice. Little wind and the truck felt much more stable. I got thinking about why there was such a profound difference between the way the 5ver towed going out vs coming back. I think the wind was responsible for some of the unstableness but what may have made the biggest difference is the fact that we used about 40 gallons of water over the weekend. That 40 gallons was moved as we used it from the fresh tank to the black and grey tanks. The fresh tank is over the front trailer axle the black and grey water is stored about 4 feet ahead of the fresh water. I think moving that 40 gallons forward 4 feet shifted about 100 lbs from the trailer axles to the trailer pin.

So in the future i would like to have a few sacks of shot positioned in the bedroom or poured into the kingpin hitch on the trailer to add some ballast to the pin weight.

I weighed the truck and trailer on the way home:

front truck axle .......4960 lbs
rear truck axle ........5440 lbs
trailer axles ..........14440 lbs

Tare weight of truck rear axle is 3480 lbs.

Any ideas on where to get a cheap couple hundred pounds of shot.

[Allworth]

Side note:

A rib design will wear less on a "trail" axle than any block design tread.

[WaterJosh]

Me Again wrote:

WaterJosh wrote:
Sounds like the axle is out of alignment, if anything the right side should wear slightly worse due to crown in the road

He is not in England, and drives on the right side of the road \|, crown of a road would wear the left side of the tire.

Doh you're completely correct, been a long week at work....

[Me_Again]

WaterJosh wrote:
Sounds like the axle is out of alignment, if anything the right side should wear slightly worse due to crown in the road

He is not in England, and drives on the right side of the road \|, crown of a road would wear the left side of the tire.

[WaterJosh]

Sounds like the axle is out of alignment, if anything the right side should wear slightly worse due to crown in the road

[fj12ryder]

Something ain't kosher. Notice any kind of pulling to the side, or having to put pressure on the bars to keep it straight?

[4x4ord]

I don't understand why the tires are wearing so much more on the left side but the front tire has the same milage on it and is doing the same thing. The tread depth on the left is 3/32" where as the tread depth on the right is 3/16".

[Cummins12V98]

I put US Made Dunlop’s on my 09 Electra Glide, 5k later they look great. I ride fairly hard most of the riding was in 90-100 temps.

[fj12ryder]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You must corner hard only one direction? 6k on a MC tire says you are a gear head!!!

Yeah I thought that too, but figured it must be the angle of the picture.

Depending on the compound of the tire, and considering the weight and torque of the bike, 6,000 miles isn't totally out of line. My stepson is constantly trying new tires on his bike trying find one that will last on his H-D Streetglide.

[Cummins12V98]

You must corner hard only one direction? 6k on a MC tire says you are a gear head!!!

[ppine]

Keep your poweder dry. Any time you need "ballast" and you are not on a boat you need to revisit the physics of your tow rig.

If I needed to add weight I would use a few bags of sand.

[WaterJosh]

I sold my 05 Kawasaki Nomad when we started trying to adopt a baby, but about 2 years before that I went to the "Darkside", and was running a Goodyear Tripletread Car tire on the rear, had 12k on it and it was just getting broken in, guessing it would've lasted 30k'ish... Got tired of buying $250 Metzlers

[4x4ord]

WaterJosh wrote:
Wow you got lucky on that tire, I've made a few trips that ended like that on a tire myself tho. As far as ballast goes, this may sound a little simple compared to everyone elses ideas, but remember the old Lucile Ball movie, the long long long long trailer... didn't she collect rocks?? Rocks are pretty easy to find, and free

I replaced the tire last night. The Dunlop was even more done than I had realized:

[blofgren]

Slownsy wrote:
My comment. Dexter makes 6000lb axles with disk brakes as I had them on my FW. They also have different sise bearings for different weight. I would not be sure that axles are 8000lb as hubs can be interchangeable. Find numbers on axles and contact Dexter with numbers and they will give you all the details re axles brakes and springs. Shifting axles may not be a option as previous comments re slides etc but definitely better if possible than adding extra weight op front as well.
Frank.

They are definitely 8,000 lb axles; I just went through this exercise with a Dexter dealer to get the hub. There are a few ways to tell including the brake configuration on these trailers. I have the same model trailer as the OP.

[4x4ord]

That would work. 4x5 gallon pails of gravel stored in the bedroom closet should add about 250 lbs to the pin.

[WaterJosh]

Wow you got lucky on that tire, I've made a few trips that ended like that on a tire myself tho. As far as ballast goes, this may sound a little simple compared to everyone elses ideas, but remember the old Lucile Ball movie, the long long long long trailer... didn't she collect rocks?? Rocks are pretty easy to find, and free