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Rotating Trailer Tires

Vintage465
Nomad
Nomad
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!
V-465
2013 GMC 2500HD Duramax Denali. 2015 CreekSide 20fq w/450 watts solar and 465 amp/hour of batteries. Retired and living the dream!
14 REPLIES 14

deltabravo
Nomad
Nomad
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
2009 Silverado 3500HD Dually, D/A, CCLB 4x4 (bought new 8/30/09)
2018 Arctic Fox 992 with an Onan 2500i "quiet" model generator

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
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
Explorer II
Explorer II
Like Sandia Man said....

Mike134
Explorer
Explorer
some do, some don't!

Unsubscribed.
2019 F150 4X4 1903 payload
2018 Adventurer 21RBS 7700 GVWR.

JIMNLIN
Explorer
Explorer
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.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides

Sandia_Man
Explorer II
Explorer II
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
Explorer III
Explorer III
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.
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

Timmo_
Explorer II
Explorer II
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.

Tim & Sue
Hershey (Sheltie)
2005 F150 4x4 Lariat 5.4L 3.73 Please buy a Hybrid...I need your gas for my 35.7 gallon tank!
2000 Nash 19B...comfortably pimped with a real Queen Size Bed

BB_TX
Nomad
Nomad
Never rotated and never any uneven wear.

Mike134
Explorer
Explorer
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.
2019 F150 4X4 1903 payload
2018 Adventurer 21RBS 7700 GVWR.

valhalla360
Nomad III
Nomad III
dodge guy wrote:
No, both axles scrub evenly. Unless you have torsion axles and donโ€™t have the trailer setup level. And they donโ€™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.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Explorer II
No, both axles scrub evenly. Unless you have torsion axles and donโ€™t have the trailer setup level. And they donโ€™t stay on the trailer long enough to go bad, they should be replaced every 5 years.

So balance is all that is needed.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

Vintage465
Nomad
Nomad
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
V-465
2013 GMC 2500HD Duramax Denali. 2015 CreekSide 20fq w/450 watts solar and 465 amp/hour of batteries. Retired and living the dream!

blt2ski
Moderator
Moderator
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
92 Navistar dump truck, 7.3L 7 sp, 4.33 gears with a Detroit no spin
2014 Chevy 1500 Dual cab 4x4
92 Red-e-haul 12K equipment trailer