Tire wear

[KCerling]

I am having some excess tire wear on the front tires of my tow car which is a jeep. My tire guy blames the fact that it is being towed. Have others had this?

[rgatijnet1]

kd7cxg-2 wrote:
My previous TOAD was a 2004 Jeep Liberty. The tires had over 65K ODO miles plus approx 20K tow miles when I replaced them. Tow equipment was all Roadmaster, base plates with Sterling towbar. The towbar was close to level. There was no abnormal wear on the tires. The tires were rotated at every oil change. The front end alignment was the same as it left the factory

Tom

With the tires rotated every oil change it would be difficult to tell if there was any unusual tire wear on just the front tires.

[kd7cxg-2]

My previous TOAD was a 2004 Jeep Liberty. The tires had over 65K ODO miles plus approx 20K tow miles when I replaced them. Tow equipment was all Roadmaster, base plates with Sterling towbar. The towbar was close to level. There was no abnormal wear on the tires. The tires were rotated at every oil change. The front end alignment was the same as it left the factory

Tom

[mtrumpet]

rgatijnet1 wrote:

mtrumpet wrote:


Then, would it be a correct assumption that the problem might be more prevelant when towing with a Gas coach which would typically have a lot more overhang behind the rear axle then a DP?

I have seen a lot of DP's with large overhangs. Even a DP with a tag axle will swing the rear end a lot which is why some will lift the tag axle to avoid scrubbing those tires during a tight turn.

That's true. I hadn't thought of that.

[rgatijnet1]

mtrumpet wrote:


Then, would it be a correct assumption that the problem might be more prevelant when towing with a Gas coach which would typically have a lot more overhang behind the rear axle then a DP?

I have seen a lot of DP's with large overhangs. Even a DP with a tag axle will swing the rear end a lot which is why some will lift the tag axle to avoid scrubbing those tires during a tight turn.

[mtrumpet]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I assume that you have had the front end alignment checked. If you have then the tire guy is probably right.
A lot depends on how well your toad tracks behind the coach and especially how it tracks during a tight turn. Some toads track fine and some tend to scrub the tires on a tight turn.
Remember when you make a tight turn the rear end of the coach is swinging out and causes the toad to do things a little different than just following in the tracks of your coach. This will increase front tire wear.
All you have to do is have someone do a tight turn with your coach while you watch what happens to your toad. You will see that it does not track right behind your coach but follows a different path.

Then, would it be a correct assumption that the problem might be more prevelant when towing with a Gas coach which would typically have a lot more overhang behind the rear axle then a DP?

[rgatijnet1]

I assume that you have had the front end alignment checked. If you have then the tire guy is probably right.
A lot depends on how well your toad tracks behind the coach and especially how it tracks during a tight turn. Some toads track fine and some tend to scrub the tires on a tight turn.
Remember when you make a tight turn the rear end of the coach is swinging out and causes the toad to do things a little different than just following in the tracks of your coach. This will increase front tire wear.
All you have to do is have someone do a tight turn with your coach while you watch what happens to your toad. You will see that it does not track right behind your coach but follows a different path.

[KCerling]

We have a Blue Ox tow bar. Yes it is level on the 2007 Liberty Jeep.
Takes about 2-3 thousand towed miles

[tropical36]

KCerling wrote:
I am having some excess tire wear on the front tires of my tow car which is a jeep. My tire guy blames the fact that it is being towed. Have others had this?

I've heard of it, but haven't experienced it.
Like said, what is your towing setup and equipment and are your tow bars level.
What Jeep and year? Is it equipped with a steering lock?
How many miles does it take to produce this noticeable wear?

[WILDEBILL308]

Ok the people having tier problems, what tow bar set up are you using?
Bill

[Herewego]

Used to tow a Jeep Liberty. An '04. The tire wear on that vehicle was horrible, towing or not, alignments, and pressures checked regularly. Baffling.

[KCerling]

We have the same set up we used on a wrangler for 3 years with no problem. When we bought the Liberty we noticed excess wear. We just got back from a 4500 mile trip and the wear is obvious. We had the wheels aligned and new tires before we started.

[Raist11]

dahkota wrote:
If you rotate your tires (per manufacturer's recommendation), the problem goes away. We do it every 5-8K miles and have no problems.

Rotating your tires wouldn't make the problem of excessive front tire wear go away. All that would do is mask the problem and spread it out over all your tires. I mean no disrespect, but this is like doing a burnout every time you leave the light, and rotating the tires daily and saying that burnouts don't wear down the rubber.

We're going to be towing soon and I'm curious too if front tire wear is normally a symptom of towing or just a bad towing setup?

[dahkota]

If you rotate your tires (per manufacturer's recommendation), the problem goes away. We do it every 5-8K miles and have no problems.

[jwmII]

Yes. On a 2008 Jeep Liberty. Right front tire wore down on the outside of the tread. Left side showed no similar signs at all. I replaced the right front with the same make tire, moved the then unused spare to the left front. Had front end alignment checked and it was found to be within spec. Since then been watching closely for any unusual wear patterns and so far nothing has shown up. It's been about 8000 miles since then with about a thousand of that being towed.
The tires are Goodyear Wranglers. They are what came on it new.