Horrible tire wear in 2 years

[thrillhouse]

I bought a forest river v cross 28 vbh 2 years ago this month. Today I went out to do my summer maintenance and noticed horrible wear to the inside of my tires 3 of the 4 tires is bald on the inside, one is down to the threads. What could have caused this? And is it possible it would be covered under warranty even though my trailer had a one year warranty?

I'm worried about what it might be, we have done very limited driving the last 2 years as family events have limited our camping time. I would say we maybe put on 3500 miles in 2 years and I bet that is stretching it.

[opnspaces]

Definitely call the manufacturer. Also read this post by emmysdad. Link

[Ozlander]

Cost you a lot more than 2 grand to trade trailers.

[thrillhouse]

B.O. Plenty wrote:

thrillhouse wrote:
Just talked to the dealer. They aren't willing to do anything, they won't even look at it. My tires absolutely are rated for 7040 pounds, I never even thought about that. It's just unbelievable to me what a blatant disregard for the safety of others stuff like this is all to save a few bucks.
I'm going to try to contact Forest River see what happens with that, if that doesn't work I might just slap some new tires on it and trade it in for a new trailer. I like ours, but don't see the point in spending more thousands of dollars to get new axles and properly weighted tires. But in a few days I may feel different.

Not all the weight is carried on the axles. You need to allow for the tongue weight. Sounds like your axles should be adequate. This is standard industry practice. It wouldn't cost thousands if you were to replace the axles. They usually cost less than $500.00 each. Probably not needed. Just get a set of quality tires and have it aligned as earlier suggested. An alignment at a heavy duty truck/trailer shop should cost around $200.00 RV dealers can't do this.

B.O.

You guys have made me feel a little better. All said and done if I did upgrade my axles (I have 2) plus 4 new tires, I am talking almost 2 grand. That's a lot to swallow after spending 20 grand on a brand new trailer 2 years ago. I know travel trailers are money pits and need to be babied which I feel I have done as far as maintenance.
What gets me is taking into account the tongue weight, my tires/axles are within 50 pounds of not being adequate. If this were the case with my tow vehicle everyone on here it seems would be attacking me for not having a bigger vehicle, but for some reason it's ok to be that close on the trailer axles? It's just a recipe for disaster in my opinion and now I know in the future to look out for stuff like that if/when I get a new trailer.

Hopefully, someone looking to buy a new trailer might read this and make a point to check the tire/axle ratings for the vehicle and make sure they are at least 20% over what the trailer weight is. (although, i'm now sure this will be hard to do)

[B_O__Plenty]

thrillhouse wrote:
Just talked to the dealer. They aren't willing to do anything, they won't even look at it. My tires absolutely are rated for 7040 pounds, I never even thought about that. It's just unbelievable to me what a blatant disregard for the safety of others stuff like this is all to save a few bucks.
I'm going to try to contact Forest River see what happens with that, if that doesn't work I might just slap some new tires on it and trade it in for a new trailer. I like ours, but don't see the point in spending more thousands of dollars to get new axles and properly weighted tires. But in a few days I may feel different.

Not all the weight is carried on the axles. You need to allow for the tongue weight. Sounds like your axles should be adequate. This is standard industry practice. It wouldn't cost thousands if you were to replace the axles. They usually cost less than $500.00 each. Probably not needed. Just get a set of quality tires and have it aligned as earlier suggested. An alignment at a heavy duty truck/trailer shop should cost around $200.00 RV dealers can't do this.

B.O.

[B_O__Plenty]

donn0128 wrote:
Bent axles from jumping a curb or a big pot hole can do you in easily. Have the alignment checked by a reliable semi trailer repair shop. They fix stuff like this all the time. RV dealers dont

X2!!

B.O.

[Bruce_H_]

jpk wrote:
Where are the tires made? Just could be cheap China junk.

My trailer came with cheap tires made in China and after one year one tire (single axle trailer) began showing excessive wear on the outside edge. Replaced them with Maxxis tires and two years later, the tires are still wearing evenly.

Get rid of the junk tires and improve your safety profile; it may also solve the wear issues.

Bruce

[thrillhouse]

Just talked to the dealer. They aren't willing to do anything, they won't even look at it. My tires absolutely are rated for 7040 pounds, I never even thought about that. It's just unbelievable to me what a blatant disregard for the safety of others stuff like this is all to save a few bucks.
I'm going to try to contact Forest River see what happens with that, if that doesn't work I might just slap some new tires on it and trade it in for a new trailer. I like ours, but don't see the point in spending more thousands of dollars to get new axles and properly weighted tires. But in a few days I may feel different.

[djsamuel]

thrillhouse wrote:
I just checked my axle ratings they are 3500 lbs. I have 2 of them totaling 7000 lbs. my trailer is 6400 dry and gvwr is 7675. Doesn't it seem that forest river installed inadequate axles to begin with? After my research online and now learning about this I'm convinced it's my axles.

Also, assuming the load rating for the tires is 1760 pounds, that would be a 7040 pound limit. So it looks like both the axles and tires are overloaded.

[hddecker]

You can try the axle manufacturer, there was another post in the last week or so from someone who has a similar problem. They contacted the axle manufacturer and they were replacing the axles and tires for them. It's worth a try.

If your dealer won't provide any assistance take your camper to an alignment shop yourself. If you leave it for the dealer to send it out, they will be adding a hefty fee to the bill.

[chevor]

It would take about 1,000 miles before the tire wear was noticeable. Driving a trailer 1750 miles in 3 days I could see the problem.

[thrillhouse]

I just checked my axle ratings they are 3500 lbs. I have 2 of them totaling 7000 lbs. my trailer is 6400 dry and gvwr is 7675. Doesn't it seem that forest river installed inadequate axles to begin with? After my research online and now learning about this I'm convinced it's my axles.

[chevor]

I would call Forest River directly. They know of the this issue. Most people don't drive Campers long distances so these new trailers with the bad axles didn't get fixed.

[thrillhouse]

Sorry I forgot to add its a 28 footer with a dry weight of just over 6000 pounds and gvwr of 7600 pounds.

[thrillhouse]

I'm sure it was probably china. They are trail express tires. Also, it seems I have fairly small tires for my camper. They are 205 75 14's so I don't have the option of going with LT tires. Anyone used passenger tires or is it best to stick with trailer tires?

[jpk]

Where are the tires made? Just could be cheap China junk.