Tire Wear vs Trailer Attitude?

[jwchenault]

Recently went on an extended trip 3500 miles with my TT, a 2012 Gulf Stream /Amerilite 255BH 28ft OAL and noticed excessive tire wear on the trailing axle. The lugs of the tread seem to be worn in a ramped pattern with the leading edge being normal and the trailing edge worn almost halfway to the wear indicator. Hitch was set up by dealer but the trailer is in a slightly nose down attitude with the coupler about 6 inches lower than the back bumper. could this cause the wear I described? if not what else could cause this kind of wear? The unit pulls well!

[myredracer]

"Hitch was set up by dealer...." Not a good idea. They often mess these things up, and sometimes badly too. Best to learn how to set one up yourself. It's not difficult. Read the sticky in this forum for excellent info.

Is top of the A-frame welded to the underside of the frame/I-beams? If so, with the A-frame being 5" tall, the 6" difference makes sense and seems like it is what it should be. If not, it's really set up wrong and could explain the tire wear. If the tires on leading axle are being excessively overloaded, that is not good and can lead to a blowout

As mentioned, the tire wear could easily be due to frame issues. I highly recommend taking the trailer to a frame & axle shop familiar with TTs. They could possibly find things wrong that you never thought could go wrong. (BTDT) If the dealer installed and set the hitch up so poorly it caused premature tire wear like that, I'd be looking for compensation from them. If you go to a frame & axle shop, get them to give you a written report what was done wrong. Maybe doing the same at a hitch shop familiar with TTs would also help. Then take the reports(s) to the dealer.

Could even be a combo. of bad installation and setup plus frame issues. ('Course, could be entirely due to China bomb tires too. :R)

[2oldman]

jwchenault wrote:
The coupler is welded to the tongue on my particular TT the tongue is equal to the top of the frame also the top of the rear bumper equals top of frame. the wear is definitely heel toe wear.

I think I was doing better before that explanation!

[jwchenault]

For those who need an explanation of my description of Nose down attitude, The coupler is welded to the tongue on my particular TT the tongue is equal to the top of the frame also the top of the rear bumper equals top of frame. the wear is definitely heel toe wear.

[APT]

The trailer should be level to slightly nose down based on a measurement of trailer frame to ground at front and rear on flat ground. The height of the coupler and trailer bumper is not significant, focus on the frame. You control the coupler height. You should have a shank like this that lets you move the height of the ball. Some allow the shank to be flipped over for more rise/drop. If you are at the highest position, then you may need a higher rise bar.

I'd start from ground zero with the WD primer I linked above. Restore the correct amount of front axle weight according to your tow vehicle. Then find out if you need the different shank.

[ScottG]

It sounds like you may be at near overload on the front tires because of the attitude. I would certainly correct the severe nose-down condition.

[2oldman]

APT wrote:
"with the coupler about 6 inches lower than the back bumper"

I have no idea what that means. .

It means the hitch (or trailer coupler/ball) is 6" lower than the back bumper resulting in a "nose-down attitude."

[APT]

Most double axle trailer tire wear is axle alignment related. I'd take it to a truck/frame shop based on your tire wear.
. I paid $99/axle for the service.

"with the coupler about 6 inches lower than the back bumper"

I have no idea what that means. You can reference this sticky thread for how to properly adjust a WDH. The goals are return some amount of lost weight to the front axle and trailer level to slightly nose down as measured by the frame. The amount of weight transferred from rear axle to front is adjusted by angle of the ball and number of links under tension for many WDH systems. Once that is close, setting the trailer levelness is done by the adjusting the ball height. Neither of those adjustments should cause the tire wear you describe.

[Old-Biscuit]

Any of these.....



Heel & Toe--------caused by excessive TOE

Feathering........caused by excessive TOE & CASTER

Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.