SEVERE TIRE WEAR- followed by tire blowout at 55mph

[Freemanbobj]

To recap, we were driving in Maine , near the end of a 2,000 mile, three week road trip, when a tire blew to shreds on my Jayco x23b. As the very nice AAA guy was putting the spare on my left rear of a dual axle set, he pointed out We Had a much bigger problem....all the other three tires were worn right down to the steel belt showing, all on the INSIDE of the tires. So, we crawled to a tire dealer in Harrington,Me, where we met another super nice and honest guy who ordered four Goodyear ST175/80r13's for next day delivery. His price was LOWER than the Walmart online price!
Then, we limped into Bangor,Maine, to McKays RV , a Jayco dealer, who said he could take a look the next day, so we once again overnighted unscheduled.
Mike Sr, another super decent and honest guy, told us we were ok to drive the remaining 600 miles to my dealer in Ontario, but that I should get new axles and new tires , under warranty , the two year one from Jayco, once we got back.

We drove back all the way at 50mph or so on the brand new Goodyears, without a problem, but presumably with the tires wearing unevenly once again.

So now my trailer is sitting at my dealer's,waiting for inspection . Questions I have, begging for feedback:

1. The Dexter axle manual says that when all tires wear out on the inside of the tire,it's due to 'loss of camber' and alignment is the remedy.Anyone else had something like this happen to them?

2. Steve, Mike's service manager told me they don't do alignment, they replace the axles. Has anyone had any experience with axle replacement? We are still in the two year warranty period.

3. I am fearing I am going to get told there's nothing wrong with the axles by my dealer, who is fairly small and is having a trailer axle guy from down the road look at it. Can anyone suggest what would be my next step?

4. I've done a lot of reading about this and it seems there are tons of measurements that can be taken, but with my pea brain, I find it hard to understand what's what. If I get given a bunch of numbers, is there anyone here who can interpret them for me? Or can you tell me what numbers I should be asking for, with respect to camber, axle bend, etc?

5. Overloading was not and never has been an issue with my towing. On the day when the tire blew out while driving, there was not more than 400 lb in and on the trailer, including propane tanks and batteries, and my side sticker says my max is 572 added lbs. We've never ever had enough extra weight in the trailer to get anywhere near that. Would anyone agree with me that when all four tires wear all evenly in the same place down to the belts exposed, overloading in this scenario is anyway highly unlikely ?


6. Ever since we got the trailer, I've noticed that the rear tires are tilted off-vertical when parked, especially when parked on an angle. I've always been told 'that's normal'... Anybody else ever noticed this degree of 'camber'?

7. Some would say, well you should have noticed that when you periodically checked your tires. A month ago when I was towing home thru my city, a guy followed me home to tell me he thought my tires were 'bent on an unhealthy angle' while driving. He and I both looked from the back and it was noticeable but not excessively while parked. We certainly didn't see any belts showing on the tires. I called my dealer the next day and was told 'that's normal. Also when I tightened all the wheel lugs before leaving for this recent trip , I never noticed any wear on the inside of any tire. Either it wasn't there or its in a place when you just can't see it without pulling the tire off. My question here is, how long would it take for all 4 tires to wear this badly... A long period of time, eg 10,000 miles, or could it happen in just a few hundred miles of driving?

Sorry for the length, but my reading of these forums tells me there are some very intelligent and knowledgable folks out there who can help me get through this. At the very least, we've all been there (or somewhere around there) and done something like this. If You are one of the experts on this, or have had a similar experience, please post?

[Oasisbob]

Please let us know how this plays out. How many6 miles do you guess is on the trailer?
We bent an axle and I replaced it. Was only bent 1/16 of an inch. Caused tread to scrub off and blow the tire. If your dealer does not find a problem,and they should, I suggest having a reputable alignment shop write you up a full detailed report and go to the factory. Glad you re all OK. Keep us posted

[kedanie]

So FastEagle, oops I meant CALandLIN, you're back to blaming all tire problems on the owner? You seem to jump to the conclusion that it is never the tire or axle's fault.

Same old FastEagle!

Keith

[CALandLIN]

Freemanbobj wrote:
To recap, we were driving in Maine , near the end of a 2,000 mile, three week road trip, when a tire blew to shreds on my Jayco x23b. As the very nice AAA guy was putting the spare on my left rear of a dual axle set, he pointed out We Had a much bigger problem....all the other three tires were worn right down to the steel belt showing, all on the INSIDE of the tires. So, we crawled to a tire dealer in Harrington,Me, where we met another super nice and honest guy who ordered four Goodyear ST175/80r13's for next day delivery. His price was LOWER than the Walmart online price!
Then, we limped into Bangor,Maine, to McKays RV , a Jayco dealer, who said he could take a look the next day, so we once again overnighted unscheduled.
Mike Sr, another super decent and honest guy, told us we were ok to drive the remaining 600 miles to my dealer in Ontario, but that I should get new axles and new tires , under warranty , the two year one from Jayco, once we got back.

We drove back all the way at 50mph or so on the brand new Goodyears, without a problem, but presumably with the tires wearing unevenly once again.

So now my trailer is sitting at my dealer's,waiting for inspection . Questions I have, begging for feedback:

1. The Dexter axle manual says that when all tires wear out on the inside of the tire,it's due to 'loss of camber' and alignment is the remedy.Anyone else had something like this happen to them?They assume the trailer is not or has not been overloaded.

2. Steve, Mike's service manager told me they don't do alignment, they replace the axles. Has anyone had any experience with axle replacement? We are still in the two year warranty period.

3. I am fearing I am going to get told there's nothing wrong with the axles by my dealer, who is fairly small and is having a trailer axle guy from down the road look at it. Can anyone suggest what would be my next step?

4. I've done a lot of reading about this and it seems there are tons of measurements that can be taken, but with my pea brain, I find it hard to understand what's what. If I get given a bunch of numbers, is there anyone here who can interpret them for me? Or can you tell me what numbers I should be asking for, with respect to camber, axle bend, etc?

5. Overloading was not and never has been an issue with my towing. On the day when the tire blew out while driving, there was not more than 400 lb in and on the trailer, including propane tanks and batteries, and my side sticker says my max is 572 added lbs. We've never ever had enough extra weight in the trailer to get anywhere near that. Would anyone agree with me that when all four tires wear all evenly in the same place down to the belts exposed, overloading in this scenario is anyway highly unlikely ? Propane weight is part of GVW at certification time. Water - all water, fresh, black, gray - is cargo.


6. Ever since we got the trailer, I've noticed that the rear tires are tilted off-vertical when parked, especially when parked on an angle. I've always been told 'that's normal'... Anybody else ever noticed this degree of 'camber'?

7. Some would say, well you should have noticed that when you periodically checked your tires. A month ago when I was towing home thru my city, a guy followed me home to tell me he thought my tires were 'bent on an unhealthy angle' while driving. He and I both looked from the back and it was noticeable but not excessively while parked. We certainly didn't see any belts showing on the tires. I called my dealer the next day and was told 'that's normal. Also when I tightened all the wheel lugs before leaving for this recent trip , I never noticed any wear on the inside of any tire. Either it wasn't there or its in a place when you just can't see it without pulling the tire off. My question here is, how long would it take for all 4 tires to wear this badly... A long period of time, eg 10,000 miles, or could it happen in just a few hundred miles of driving?

Sorry for the length, but my reading of these forums tells me there are some very intelligent and knowledgeable folks out there who can help me get through this. At the very least, we've all been there (or somewhere around there) and done something like this. If You are one of the experts on this, or have had a similar experience, please post?

It's hard to believe that during such a long time on the road you have not exceeded your trailer's cargo capacity. Carrying water, any amount, greatly reduces your trailer's cargo capacity. I'll guess that your axles are rated somewhere around 2200# - 2250#. You can look on the certification label to verify what was allowed by the manufacturer.

[pitch]

a 23b has torsion axles. I don't think that the forces applied by overload could bend them.

[K_and_I]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I am having severe tire wear on one tire only. I found this website which helps diagnose trailer tire alignment issues:

http://www.centrevilletrailer.com/how-to/trailer-axle-alignment-trailer-tire-wear/

The straight edge test showed I have a bent spindle. My axles are rated at 3000 lbs. I contacted Al-Ko with the axle number and was told that due to the buy out by Dexter, a number of axles are discontinued, including mine. They gave me a number for a direct bolt on replacement for a 3500 lb axle, and I am awaiting deliver of those to do it myself. You may find that your lighter weight axle is no longer made.

[ryanb-72]

I will throw my two cents in for what it is worth. We purchased a new 2011 Jayco X17Z and took it on our first long trip to Colorado the following summer. After getting back I noticed the tires were significantly worn on the inside. I contacted the dealer and they had the trailer checked for alignment. The axle was found to be off but not adjustable.
Jayco was contacted and stated they would send a new axle but would not pay for labor to install (they stood there ground firm). So basically Dexter replaced axle under warranty and Jayco was out nothing. Great two year bumper to bumper warranty!
I ended up having the axle sent to the dealer and when it came in I went and picked it up and installed it myself. After that I ordered larger wheels and a quality set of trailer tires installing those as well. I have not had any issues since. I suspect the biggest part of the problem is the tires themselves. I would really consider upgrading those when you do get your issues solved. The undersized tires the manufacturer installs on these trailers barely hold the trailer empty let alone when it is loaded for a trip.
Hope this helps some and wish you good luck on getting your issues resolved!

Ryan

[soren]

I suffer through the weak axle game with Fleetwood, with an '03 that repeatedly bent axles due to being under built. They worked hard to deny the warranty, but I had a little, honest dealer, who forced them to do the right thing. Three years later I bought the exact same trailer from Jayco, same size, layout, and within a hundred pounds of dry weight. That one had the same axle failure, drivers side rear would bend to the point that the top of the tire was leaning in, drastically, when you eyeballed dawn the side of the rig. Jayco's legendary warranty wasn't, and it took one heck of a battle for them to even get Dexter to ship an axle to the dealer at no charge. The dealer charged me more than the axle was worth, for installation, and I was still stuck with a defective product. Ah, the joys of RV ownership.

[Lynnmor]

As you are learning the hard way, many (most?) trailers are not ready for prime time. With water tanks that you dare not fill and load capacities so low that you can't bring clean underwear, they are not travel trailers. Since you actually want to use the trailer, the only choice is to upgrade everything below the frame. Your other choice is to trade it for another product that may turn out to be nearly as useless.

It is doubtful that you will get all the upgrades, that are needed, under warranty. I did all the work myself after getting hosed much the same way as you. An RV dealer is not the place to get suspension work done if you are paying for it. If you cannot do the work, take it to a heavy duty truck/trailer repair facility and have real mechanics do the work.

As far as rough roads, you need to slow way down, these trailers will not take much abuse. If you need to gridlock the entire city, so be it, you are just trying to use the roads provided.

[lenr]

You may have trouble getting either Dexter or Jayco to replace anything but the original, but you're going to continue to have trouble at 2200 lb. You need to get 3500 lb. on there--maybe you could talk them or the RV dealer into letting you pay the difference. Our first trailer had almost the identical dry weight as yours, but came with 3500 lb axles, and we ended up breaking a spring on ROUGH I-86. Even if you have 3500 lb. springs, they will not be too stiff with the weight that you are carrying.

[Freemanbobj]

Hi all and thanks for the feedback...let me try to provide some more. We not the trailer new January of last year. We estimate we have 12,000 miles on the tires, but the only noticeable tread wear is as reported, down to the belts on the inside. Overloading is the most obvious , but , say: 75 lb clothes , 50 lb dishes, 25 job food, 25 lb of drugs in bathroom, misc stuff in overhead bins , say 25 lb, 70 lb for propane tanks, 30 lb for batteries, we are at 300 lb , add in a small easy chair we added , say 70lb, and we are rated for 572 lb....which must surely have a bit of leeway on the high side, say 40 lb so we find it hard to get that high. Also, the question of how long it would take to cause this arises, being as if it's been going on since day one, well that's a lot trips to calc weight loads on, but we NEVER go far with anything in tanks before dumping, know that for sure.

One more pressing observation : this last trip we,we're just on that this happened on, we travelled through Montreal and those were the WORST HIGHWAYS EVER CONSTRUCTED... we could not believe the shaking and bouncing that was going on with the truck n trailer. Our troubles began about 700 miles later.......just wonderin' ?

Re axle stickers... I looked underneath and the Dexter sticker says 2200 lb, which according to one post may be severely under spc'd?

I did keep all 4 tires and they are stacked at the dealers beside the trailer. It being Labor Day wknd, nothing will happen until next week, maybe I am just doom and glooming for no good reason... There are posts that say Dexter is very good at replacing axles and Jayco has done it thru them with no problem, so maybe it will all work out.... No harm in gathering all this,info you folks are providing and I am learning a lot, and maybe it can help,someone else who may have had or is having problems like this?

[midnightsadie]

IF the axles are free?? let them do it and show you the # sticker. if not go to your local trailer shop and buy the right axles.

[randallb]

I purchased an 8x16 enclosed v-nose with 5000# axles for a 10, 000# carrying capacity. It was pretty much empty from East TN to Los Angeles by way of ND and the tires looked great when we got to LA. We loaded up our furniture, etc and took off back to ETN. When I bought my new tractor I asked if the dealer might be interested in buying the trailer since it was purchased for the single move, cheaper than renting a U-Haul after the sale. They said yes and that was when we saw the inside of all 4 tires were pretty much ripped off. We had severely overloaded the trailer but luckily the axles sprang back. Tire wear is usually caused by overload. Hopefully your manufacturer put enough axle under the trailer to allow you to load more than a loaf of bread.

[Lynnmor]

BTDT, don't let them put the same cheesy axles back on, upgrade to a stronger axle. The carrying capacity of a 23 foot trailer being only 572 lbs. is ridiculous. Since you will need new tires once again, get rid of the 13" junk as well.

[BB_TX]

Saving the old tires, or at least taking very good pictures of them, would have been good evidence to provide to the dealer/manufacturer of the problem.