Outside tire wear

[Mtlangst]

I have a single axle trailer and on both tires the outside tread is worn smooth. I always (try) to run at max pressure. I have put a lot of miles on the tires. I try to run as light as I can but wonder if that is why the outsides of the tires are wearing. Would towing with the trailer closer to it’s gvwr “even” out the tires and have more even wear? Or is there something else causing this?

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

does your axle have camber - or is it truly straight (when unloaded) ?

if it has camber, did someone truly flip it upside down for more clearance (and thus reverse the camber?)

are you running bias ply tires or radial tires

 

[Mtlangst]

Radial tires. I have AL-KO axles. I went out and measured and it does have camber to it. The camber is correct from what i can tell.

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

What size wheels? (rims)

 

[Mtlangst]

13” st185/80/13 carlisle radial hd

 

[Sjm9911]

How old are the tires, whats the weight range, and what do you think you have for weight on them? You could be right, running to light. Or too much rating on the tire for the weight.

 

[Sjm9911]

Or they could be misaligned, do you track straight?

 

[Mtlangst]

Camper specs:

Dry weight 1769

Ccc 883

Gvwr 2429

Recommemded tire

St185/80r/13/c

I have st185/80/13 load range D

I have weighed the camper and i am under the 883. And i have tried making sure I am light especially on long trips.

Age of tires:
Made on
12/18

They have over 40,000 miles on them easy.

 

[Sjm9911]

In this case, against everything I have always said on airing up to max inflation, I may put 5 to 10 pounds less in them.

Scratch that, 40 k miles. Lol. Better then some car tires. Count your blessings. But they might just be worn out. Get new skins and hope for the same results.

 

[xxxapache]

40k miles? You are blessed or lucky. Buy another set and roll on.

 

[Jkoht]

If it's the same wear on both sides I'd say you have an axle issue. Time to bring it to a shop to have someone look at it.

 

[Jim Whitehouse]

Could be wheel bearings. We peeled the tread off a tire, started on the inside, in 1000 km. Jacked camper up in campground and had a loose bearing. Changed to spare. Checked the other side, losse also. Bearings were ok just loose.

 

[xxxapache]

The OP's tires have wear on the outside. I would think loose wheel bearings wouldn't cause that.

 

[Jim Whitehouse]

The OP's tires have wear on the outside. I would think loose wheel bearings wouldn't cause that.

Probably not. Just relating my experience with uneven wear.

 

[brettstoner]

Outside tire wear is typically caused by too much positive camber. Most trailer axles come with a little positive camber so when a load is on them the axle flattens out and has a very slight positive camber. A little positive camber helps the trailer track straight and reduce sway. I would replace the tires, check the wheel bearings, and take it to an alignment shop or trailer shop. They should get the axle camber 0 to 1/4 positive camber when fully loaded. They can rotate the axle (possibly) or bend it on a frame machine.

Now if you want a bit more redneck solution, remove the tires, pop the bead, reverse the tire, and remount. Trailer tires are pretty easy to spoon on and off. So now the outside will have the tread and can wear down.

 

[Mtlangst]

 

[Mtlangst]

This what both tires look like.

 

[Sjm9911]

Looks ok to me. Meaning not bad at all.

 

[Sjm9911]

Probably just because your underloaded a bit. Get that credit card out and get some more gear!

 

[Mtlangst]

There actually is a trailer shop in my town so might see how much to check out everything for peace of mind. Although this year probably only doing one long trip due to gas prices (thanks Brandon).