New Travel Trailer Tires

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by DNA Dan

Anyone know the proper way to incorporate a single spare tire into the tire rotation on a dual axle trailer?

Have never known anyone to rotate trailer tires, much less the spare.

[5picker]

Unless you make a LOT of really sharp turns, being the trailer doesn't have steerable axle(s), I see no need for rotating the tires or the spare.

If I did rotate, this is how I'd do it.

[Chuck_S]

Trips to FL from PA mean taking pressure down and then back up during trips back and forth.

Huh? A seasonal change in "cold tire pressure" is a known effect but just driving from FL to PA or vv isn't critical. Check and adjust tire pressure every morning the trailer/truck moves if you're anal about this and you're fine. 50psi is 50psi (48 or 49 ain't). Same for 65psi. Since you should always run max cold tire pressure 65 psi tires should go on 65psi wheels. We want no sidewall flex whatsoever and that only happens at max pressure. Never personally seen a wheel on a camper blow up, but I've seen plenty of tires.

BTW LT tires of proper capacity are perfectly suitable in lieu of ST tires.

Rotate trailer tires???

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by DNA Dan

Anyone know the proper way to incorporate a single spare tire into the tire rotation on a dual axle trailer?

Simplest way would be to put the spare on the left rear position, move that tire forward, the LF tire to RF, RF to RR, And RR to spare. Follow the same pattern next time. Eventually the "spare" will have made it to every position and back on the spare tire holder.

Contrary to popular myth, radial tires can have their direction of rotation reversed.


Even if one does not rotate tires make sure you check the spare tire's pressure REGULARLY. May be a bit of a pain removing the cover to access the valve stem but it's an even bigger pain if you have a flat only to find that the spare is flat too

As for rotating being necessary? Maybe not. But it's a good time to lube bearings, check brakes, and give your tires a good close up inspection for small puncture items (staples are the worst), cracking, or the beginnings of a separation. While at it, press valve stem to one side or other (if rubber) and look for the beginnings of cracking where it passes through the wheel. If present this is a good time to replace with metal stems.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

I have no reason to rotate a tire that just goes round and round the same as all the other tires on the trailer and is not a steering tire subject to uneven ware. But we are all free to do what works best for us and no way is the wrong way in this instance.

Yes, the tires do just go round and round. However, not always pointed in the same direction. It's not unusual to see the outside edge of a front tire on a tandem axle wearing and the rear tire on the rear axle wearing on the inside due to axle mi-alignment. Other unequal wear combinations can also occur, depending on whether one axle is bent or both axles are "skewed".

If the wear is slow, rotation will somewhat equalize it on all tires allowing them to "age out" and save the price of an alignment.

[itat]

On another similar thread someone suggested rotating tires because of unbalanced loads across the tires. I'm 99% sure that on my 5er the rear drivers side tire has more weight on it than the others because it runs hotter when I check the temps. The first time I saw it, I immediately had a trusted shop service the bearings and brakes but it didn't make much difference so it must be the weight. If I'm right about the cause, then rotating the tires might be a good idea.

[babock]

Been towing trailers for all of my adult life which is over 40 years. Never had a trailer yet where one tire was wearing more due to an alignment issue. Of course rotating would mask an alignment issue if you had one so why not leave the tires where they are and if one tire starts wearing different, get the alignment fixed!

[babock]

Originally Posted by itat

On another similar thread someone suggested rotating tires because of unbalanced loads across the tires. I'm 99% sure that on my 5er the rear drivers side tire has more weight on it than the others because it runs hotter when I check the temps.

If you have normal axles with an equalizer, then both tires on the drivers side should have identical weight. If you have torsion axles, that means your trailer is not level which would be difficult to fix on a 5er.

[rlh1957]

Must be why freight trailers rotate their tires... uneven loads! NOT

[Jakieboy]

In the 45 plus years we have been towing trailers, we nave experienced literally dozens of tire failures. All of the failed tires were made in China. Some were branded as Goodyear, but were made under license in China and labelled as Goodyear "Marathon" Tires. Some were manufactured and installed years before they were mounted to the TT's we bought. We did not know then to check on the sidewalls for the correct manufacture date. Now we know.

Years ago Michelin manufactured trailer tires, and we had great success with those. They are sadly no longer available. We continue to equip our TV with Michelin LT tires, with great success, no failures, excellent mileage, and great performance.

[itat]

Originally Posted by babock

If you have normal axles with an equalizer, then both tires on the drivers side should have identical weight. If you have torsion axles, that means your trailer is not level which would be difficult to fix on a 5er.

My Rockwood Signature fifth wheel has the Dexter Torflex axles. I have the B&W Patriot 18K hitch at its lowest setting but it may be slightly nose high. It has 2 long slides mostly rear of the axles and a bed slide up front. So even if it was perfectly level, the rear drivers side tire would have the most weight on it. It's just the way that the floor plan distributes the weight.

[itat]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

Must be why freight trailers rotate their tires... uneven loads! NOT

Freight trailers run entirely different tires.

Look, I'm not saying the weight imbalance is a big deal but ST tires are much less robust than freight trailer tires. I have no way to check the weight on individual tires either. What I am saying is that it wouldn't hurt to rotate them (or even just swap front to back) if you have them off annually anyway to do the bearings and brakes. If you tow a lot of miles per year you'd notice any uneven wear (that might indicate an alignment issue) by the end of the season.