Is wheel camber normal?

[Roadworker]

Today when back around a corner and up into a driveway, we notice the front wheel on the driver side axle and the back wheel on the passenger side axle changed camber to pitch way out at the top and in at the bottom. When we straightened out to get straight into the site, they went back to normal. Are they supposed to do that? We have a 2013 Surveyor 275 TT.

[garbonz]

Yes normal and its the tires not the wheels. ST tires are designed to take these loads without damage', if you keep the pressure at the ratings on the sidewall.

If it was the wheels that would be bad

[Roadworker]

Looked like the wheels because the pitch was at least 5 degrees, will have to recreate and make sure it is the tires, not wheels that are angled. Thanks

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Roadworker

Looked like the wheels because the pitch was at least 5 degrees, will have to recreate and make sure it is the tires, not wheels that are angled. Thanks

You will probably see black streaks on the road or drive also. Just don't leave the trailer parked with the tires in a bind. Pull forward and backward a couple of times to relieve the side loads.

[wilem]

Originally Posted by Roadworker

Looked like the wheels because the pitch was at least 5 degrees, will have to recreate and make sure it is the tires, not wheels that are angled. Thanks

probably more like 1.5 to 2.5 but it is quite noticeable and normal keep in mind it looks like 5 because one goes in and the other come out. it is normal and a major cause of tire wear. mine only has about 2000 miles on it and the outer tread bars are really taking a beating. the more curves in the park the more the tires wear. such is the life of a tandem axle trailer

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by wilem

probably more like 1.5 to 2.5 but it is quite noticeable and normal keep in mind it looks like 5 because one goes in and the other come out. it is normal and a major cause of tire wear. mine only has about 2000 miles on it and the outer tread bars are really taking a beating. the more curves in the park the more the tires wear. such is the life of a tandem axle trailer

Unless you are driving in circles, you have abnormal wear with only 2000 miles. I suspect you have bent axles. I would guess if you found a good level patch of concrete and take a carpenter's square and hold it up close to the tires and measure very accurately to the top and bottom of the wheel, not the tire, you will find your problem. I suspect the top of the rim is at least 1/16" + closer to the square than the bottom.

[wilem]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Unless you are driving in circles, you have abnormal wear with only 2000 miles. I suspect you have bent axles. I would guess if you found a good level patch of concrete and take a carpenter's square and hold it up close to the tires and measure very accurately to the top and bottom of the wheel, not the tire, you will find your problem. I suspect the top of the rim is at least 1/16" + closer to the square than the bottom.

Camber is not generally a cause of wear. My car has 2.5 degrees negative camber on the rear wheels with -3/32 of total toe.(out) The tires show no signs of wear with many thousands of miles. I have suspected bent axles but more on the lines of toe than camber in which case after higher mileage camber would only wear on the side to which the wheel was leaning. As toe toe will feather the tire all the way across. My tires are worn similar to that of under inflation yet they are not under inflated. I will still put a toe stick on them to make sure the axles are not bent in a fashion that would increase total toe and a digital protractor on to check for a camber variation from the vertical plane. I feel confident with all four tires exhibiting the same wear patterns it is from way too much parking lot maneuvering at the dealership. For all I know they used my camper as a demo/ show model. I have a pretty sharp eye when it comes to alignments and feel confident it likely does not have bent axles. But I won't know for certain until I put the gear on them. Every trailer I built I hand picked the axles and MANY of the axles in the bin were bent and easily observed to the naked eye. Sometimes that's is ok if you are gonna load to the high side of the weight limit as this will decrease the camber angle when loaded.

Ever watched them maneuver a camper with a tug....those guys think they can spin them like tops.