Rotating Trailer Tires

[Vintage465]

I was getting some maintenance on my 4 GoodYear Endurance Tires. I told them to make sure they balanced and rotated them. The attendant said he would, but for my information he told me trailer tires don't need to be rotated. I assured him they do need to be rotated because only one set of tires(front axle)trails the tow vehicle on turns and the other one(rear axle)skids to some degree. So my question is; going forward, the front axle is the the trailing axle and the rear is the skidder, right? And in reverse the rear would be the trailing(even though it's leading now)and the front axle is the skidder....right? All this is assuming the WD hitch is set up so the front axle will have slightly more weight on it.


Thanks!

[deltabravo]

I replied to your identical post this morning in the ORV Facebook group.

Also, some trailer tires are out of round and should be balanced

[time2roll]

Mine rotate while I drive. I actually like all my tires to stay in the same position. This will indicate position of an alignment issue.

[jdc1]

Like Sandia Man said....

[Mike134]

some do, some don't!

Unsubscribed.

[JIMNLIN]

Having five trailers (non rv) on the road with 28 tires on the ground and rolling 24/7 for 11 straight years we never rotated a tire on any of those trailers using 14"
/15"/16" and 17.5" mostly LT tires. In this type of work we wear out sometimes two sets a year at sometimes 60k miles per set.

Tandem and triaxle and tandem dual axle trailer tires don't always pivot on the front set or the rear set or the center set. Depends on surface changes and level changes between the truck and trailer.
Watching the wheels on my 16k GN (7k axles) loaded triaxle stock trailer in my mirrors I've seen the last two axles scrubbing or the front two scrubbing or sometimes the center pivots and the rear wheels twist one way while the wheels on the front axle twists the opposite direction.

I also never rotate tires on my old '97 32' rv tandem axle trailer with 16" LT E tires trailer. The first two sets ran just over 50k miles and 7 years before I sell them and mount same brand/type new ones.

[Sandia_Man]

Your rig your tires, no need to validate your choices. We always balanced new TT tires but never had them rotated, in fact never would return back to Discount Tire until it was time for replacement 5 years later. Although rare, if a TT tire had a minor leak or other issue I would pop it off and just throw it on truck to take to Discount Tire.

We always used higher quality ST tires on our rig with never a blowout or even a flat, none the less we would change them out like clockwork every 5th year. We average 5K miles yearly so they had plenty of tread left, with often reported ST tire issues, our TT tire replacement might be premature, but you can't put a price on the peace of mind a new set of rubber delivers.

[Cummins12V98]

NEVER have rotated any of my RV tires and they have worn evenly. Biggest thing a person can do is have as close as possible axle weights.

[Timmo_]

Fact #1: When a tire is driven, the pressure and flexing motion circulate the internal oils through the rubber. These oils lubricate the internal rubber and keep it from drying and stiffening. So tires that are used less are often more vulnerable to aging effects.

Fact #2: Oxidation of rubber occurs much faster under high heat than low heat.

Fact #3: During rubber manufacturing process, each passenger tire require 5 gallons of butadiene and styrene oil and another 2 gallons of oil to generate the energy to manufacture said tire. For a total of 7 gallons of oil, commercial truck tires require 22 gallons of oil.

Like most of you, my TT spare tire is on my back bumper, wrapped in a black tire cover and receives direct sunlight most of the day. I recently replaced my TT's five tires and the unused spare tire looked remarkably worse than the 4 used tires. Hmmm, guess there is some truth in Fact #2.

IMO, if my spare tire was included in a tire rotation plan, the spare tire would age slower.

I have joined the rotate tire camp and we'll see what happens. Each spring I remove my tires and grease the wheel bearings and inspect the brakes. So, starting next spring my plan is to rotate TT tires using the "rearward cross" rotation pattern. Gotta take the tire off to grease the bearings, so why not? No harm, no foul.

[BB_TX]

Never rotated and never any uneven wear.

[Mike134]

I wear mine out before they age out so I rotate and balance. The front axle of my camper has a bit less camber then the back (a replacement) so I rotate.

[valhalla360]

dodge guy wrote:
No, both axles scrub evenly. Unless you have torsion axles and don’t have the trailer setup level. And they don’t stay on the trailer long enough to go bad, they should be replaced every 5 years.

So balance is all that is needed.

This.

The trailer rotates about the center between the axles. But really most RVs spend 99% of their miles going down the road where there is negligible scrubbing. Far less wear than a car in city driving.

As mentioned, you almost always age out a set of tires long before they wear out...so there is no harm in rotating them but I wouldn't spend money on it.

[dodge_guy]

No, both axles scrub evenly. Unless you have torsion axles and don’t have the trailer setup level. And they don’t stay on the trailer long enough to go bad, they should be replaced every 5 years.

So balance is all that is needed.

[Vintage465]

blt2ski wrote:
Correct. Reality for most of us, we will blow up the tires from age WELL before they are worn out.
BUT, if you do a lot of slow speed manuvering, backing turning etc, you will notice this sooner.
I did not notice this on with set of majority worn tires on my rv trailer. My equipment trailer which does not spend a lot of time on the freeway, one noticed the accentuated rear wear. When you literally jack knife the trailer half a dozen times in 40-50 miles of during, getting a bobcat, trackhoe or equal on and off if it daily, park it back at shop. This WILL be an issue. Did I notice this on tv tires? Yes after 50k miles vs 10-20 on equipment trailers.
You decision.
I also have never balanced a trailer tire, not dual wheels.
Personal choice on that on IMHO.

Marty

I have them balanced because at America's Tire/Discount Tire, you pay balancing as it is included in the mounting and also in the regular rotating. So since I paid for it I make sure they do it

[blt2ski]

Correct. Reality for most of us, we will blow up the tires from age WELL before they are worn out.
BUT, if you do a lot of slow speed manuvering, backing turning etc, you will notice this sooner.
I did not notice this on with set of majority worn tires on my rv trailer. My equipment trailer which does not spend a lot of time on the freeway, one noticed the accentuated rear wear. When you literally jack knife the trailer half a dozen times in 40-50 miles of during, getting a bobcat, trackhoe or equal on and off if it daily, park it back at shop. This WILL be an issue. Did I notice this on tv tires? Yes after 50k miles vs 10-20 on equipment trailers.
You decision.
I also have never balanced a trailer tire, not dual wheels.
Personal choice on that on IMHO.

Marty