Forum Discussion

rvshrinker's avatar
rvshrinker
Explorer III
Aug 01, 2021

uneven tire wear

I have a 2017 Outdoors RV with about 12,500 miles on it.

Last summer I saw the left rear tire was prematurely wearing. The other 3 tires look great.

This summer after a 2500 mile trip, the tire is really worn. It needs to be replaced. The other 3 tires look great.

The wear is even, in the center/broad middle of the tire.

These are Goodyear E rated trailer tires, not some cheap off brand tire.

From reading on line the causes of unequal tire wear include:

1. bad axle/spindle -
2. over/underinflation - I fill to exactly 80 psi before every trip and the tires hold their pressure well
3. uneven loading - this trailer has the pantry above that area. Food is food, doesn’t weigh 500 pounds or anything. Opposite side is the refrigerator which wouldn’t seem substantially lighter
4. just a bad tire

Other thoughts?

I need to replace the tire and plan to use the spare to do it, which should have at least a couple more years of life on it based on age. Then I’ll replace all 5 tires.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 02, 2021
    OP, 1 of 4 tires wearing badly generally = something bent.
    1 of 2 axles wearing poorly generally = axle misaligned.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 02, 2021
    HappyKayakers wrote:
    rvshrinker wrote:
    HappyKayakers wrote:
    Wear in the middle of the tire normally indicates overinflation. You said you air up all tires to 80 psi. The load that tire is carrying may just be too light for 80 psi. There are some places that do individual wheel weights, instead of by axle. You might want to check it out to see if you need to adjust tire pressures.


    I wondered about overinflation, but it is the only 1 of 4 tires with this problem and there’s really not that much variability in the weight. Also everything I read said blowout resistance was best at 80 (max) psi for trailer tires, nothing said anything about reducing inflation for reduced loads.


    Someplace that weighs each wheel individually will tell you exactly instead of guessing. At the very least, it would prove or disprove conclusively one possible problem. Here's a link to the Goodyear load/inflation chart. Please note this chart is for towable RVs, as in ST tires. https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf


    That’s a new one on me.
    Barring some really unusual situation, like the equalizer being hung up on a leaf spring tandem axle, or a torsion axle tandem trailer that is significantly nose up or down, how would one get a significantly different load on one tire compared to the one just ahead or behind it.
  • Roger10378's avatar
    Roger10378
    Explorer II
    Aug 02, 2021
    rvshrinker wrote:
    Roger10378 wrote:
    It could be a bent axle. If it is bent so that there is a lot of toe it can wear evenly across the tire. Put a strait edge on the tire and see if it is parallel with the one in front of it.


    Can you explain what you mean? see if the second tire is askance from the first?


    It is hard to explain with just words but I haven't figured out how to add a drawing so I will give it a try. If you look at the tires on an axle from above and they are closer together at the front than the rear that is toe in. If they are closer at the rear that is toe out. In most situations there is a very little toe in. If there is too much toe the tire is dragging down the road which will wear it out sooner than it should. By placing a strait edge along each tire it will show if there is a large difference in toe. If that is the case you need to take it to a trailer service center where they can correct the problem.
  • Dusty_R's avatar
    Dusty_R
    Explorer
    Aug 02, 2021
    I bought a new tandem axel trailer and after pulling it many miles discovered that the u-bolts on one end of one axel were very loose, which caused bad tire wear.
  • HappyKayakers's avatar
    HappyKayakers
    Explorer III
    Aug 02, 2021
    rvshrinker wrote:
    HappyKayakers wrote:
    Wear in the middle of the tire normally indicates overinflation. You said you air up all tires to 80 psi. The load that tire is carrying may just be too light for 80 psi. There are some places that do individual wheel weights, instead of by axle. You might want to check it out to see if you need to adjust tire pressures.


    I wondered about overinflation, but it is the only 1 of 4 tires with this problem and there’s really not that much variability in the weight. Also everything I read said blowout resistance was best at 80 (max) psi for trailer tires, nothing said anything about reducing inflation for reduced loads.


    Someplace that weighs each wheel individually will tell you exactly instead of guessing. At the very least, it would prove or disprove conclusively one possible problem. Here's a link to the Goodyear load/inflation chart. Please note this chart is for towable RVs, as in ST tires. https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf
  • rvshrinker's avatar
    rvshrinker
    Explorer III
    Aug 02, 2021
    HappyKayakers wrote:
    Wear in the middle of the tire normally indicates overinflation. You said you air up all tires to 80 psi. The load that tire is carrying may just be too light for 80 psi. There are some places that do individual wheel weights, instead of by axle. You might want to check it out to see if you need to adjust tire pressures.


    I wondered about overinflation, but it is the only 1 of 4 tires with this problem and there’s really not that much variability in the weight. Also everything I read said blowout resistance was best at 80 (max) psi for trailer tires, nothing said anything about reducing inflation for reduced loads.
  • rvshrinker's avatar
    rvshrinker
    Explorer III
    Aug 02, 2021
    Roger10378 wrote:
    It could be a bent axle. If it is bent so that there is a lot of toe it can wear evenly across the tire. Put a strait edge on the tire and see if it is parallel with the one in front of it.


    Can you explain what you mean? see if the second tire is askance from the first?
  • Roger10378's avatar
    Roger10378
    Explorer II
    Aug 02, 2021
    It could be a bent axle. If it is bent so that there is a lot of toe it can wear evenly across the tire. Put a strait edge on the tire and see if it is parallel with the one in front of it.
  • HappyKayakers's avatar
    HappyKayakers
    Explorer III
    Aug 01, 2021
    Wear in the middle of the tire normally indicates overinflation. You said you air up all tires to 80 psi. The load that tire is carrying may just be too light for 80 psi. There are some places that do individual wheel weights, instead of by axle. You might want to check it out to see if you need to adjust tire pressures.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Aug 01, 2021
    Bent axle can. At four, almost five years old, replace them all. How they look is not the best way to determine tire replacement. Time is.

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