2012 Keystone Passport tire wear problem (with pics)....

[molardog]

Hi ryone....thought I'd ask everyone's opinions on this tire wear issue....back axle tires are balding on the inner tread stripe with approx 15k miles on them. Search function tells me this can result from overloading, not towing level, or alignment issues. Unsure as to which applies to our situation....aside from about the last 8k miles towing with 4 bike rack at rear of camper (I no longer run with them back there for various reasons)? Is it possible that the bikes caused enough overload to wear both back tires like this? See pics:

Dr side


Passenger side


Is the axle bent?


Tires are the PowerKing's that came with it new btw.

Do these tires still have useful life left? I am considering rotating the fronts to the back as a test to se if the wear happens again (now that we aren't carrying bikes on the back) vs just out right replacing them and risking premature wear on a brand new pair! Any suggestions/tips are much appreciated!

[molardog]

the bear II wrote:
Curb strike knocked the camber off... You indicate alignment can't be the cause, have you had the alignment checked ? I had similar wear and it turned out the factory failed to install cross pieces between the spring shackles which allowed the rear axle to move out of alignment side to side by about an inch.

My mistake....I meant to say I have not had the alignment checked. Would a curb strike affect both sides? I try to be careful about those, but have scrubbed a curb a time or two.

[phenrichs]

The photo may be deceptive but I would put a level or some other straight edge on that axle. Looks like a curve in it to me. But again it could be a photo deception and not actually bent. Pictures are not always perfect.

[the_bear_II]

Curb strike knocked the camber off... You indicate alignment can't be the cause, have you had the alignment checked ? I had similar wear and it turned out the factory failed to install cross pieces between the spring shackles which allowed the rear axle to move out of alignment side to side by about an inch.