Losing tires almost every trip

[awright42]

I've moved up to load series E tires. Added a TPMS system. Always fill to max cold pressure. Drive 70 or lower. And still lose a tire or two almost each trip. The tires go abruptly like a delamination. I now carry 3 spares.
I've noticed when using cross chocks. That the spacing between wheels is different on each side. Am I looking at an axle alignment problem or does the suspension shift over terrain?

[aceinspp]

Need little more info as to what type camper. What brand of tire. Yep might be checking axle alignment and possible over loaded. Later RJD

[Crusadernoob]

Always the same location? How's the tread worn? Crawl under that thing and look at the hangers, springs, check the center bolts in the springs, one may have broke.

[Oaklevel]

Something is definitely wrong. We need more information to help. Probably suspension issues, could be overloaded, but not enough info to hazard a guess.

I have owned 5 campers over 35 years and never had a flat.

[PSU Turf]

As mentioned before, get under the trailer and look for broken / damaged components. You could also park the trailer on a flat paved surface and measure the distance between axles on both sides to get an idea if the alignment is grossly out of whack.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by PSU Turf

As mentioned before, get under the trailer and look for broken / damaged components. You could also park the trailer on a flat paved surface and measure the distance between axles on both sides to get an idea if the alignment is grossly out of whack.

Also pay close attention to tire wear patterns. Run your hand across the tread from inside outside and then in reverse. Most tires will show a sharper edge on the ribs on one side or another. If sharp edge is on outside the tire is running with excessive toe-out. If inside, excessive toe-in. If the same on each side of the same axle, sharp edges on outside or inside on each, the axle itself needs alignment. If the wear patterns on all four tires are opposite of each other on front to rear axles then the axles are probably not parallel.

Mis-alignment usually only affects tire wear but it could also cause excessive heat buildup under the right conditions.

When people have a bunch of tire failures it might be good to go back and look for times when there has been "curb hopping" (like when parking at home in a side yard etc), or hitting the end of a curb when entering a gas station. Potholes are a way of life in some parts of the country and they take their toll. Construction zones are notorious for having all kinds of hazards showing up in the roadway from small, sharp, pieces of broken concrete to nails and other metal parts. I picked up one of the sharp teeth that broke off a dropped (I assume it was dropped) circular saw blade in my Volt's tire after driving through a construction zone on the freeway right after I bought it. Luckily the TPMS gave me instant warning I had a tire losing air and I was able to pull over and "save the tire". Most people aren't that lucky, depending on the size of puncture and/or the timeliness of the warning.

Are the tires failing on the same axle? In the same position, are the replacements the same brand? If so, might be a good idea to change brands.

[Springerdad]

Following,,,,,

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Also pay close attention to tire wear patterns. Run your hand across the tread from inside outside and then in reverse. Most tires will show a sharper edge on the ribs on one side or another. If sharp edge is on outside the tire is running with excessive toe-out. If inside, excessive toe-in. If the same on each side of the same axle, sharp edges on outside or inside on each, the axle itself needs alignment. If the wear patterns on all four tires are opposite of each other on front to rear axles then the axles are probably not parallel.

Mis-alignment usually only affects tire wear but it could also cause excessive heat buildup under the right conditions.

When people have a bunch of tire failures it might be good to go back and look for times when there has been "curb hopping" (like when parking at home in a side yard etc), or hitting the end of a curb when entering a gas station. Potholes are a way of life in some parts of the country and they take their toll. Construction zones are notorious for having all kinds of hazards showing up in the roadway from small, sharp, pieces of broken concrete to nails and other metal parts. I picked up one of the sharp teeth that broke off a dropped (I assume it was dropped) circular saw blade in my Volt's tire after driving through a construction zone on the freeway right after I bought it. Luckily the TPMS gave me instant warning I had a tire losing air and I was able to pull over and "save the tire". Most people aren't that lucky, depending on the size of puncture and/or the timeliness of the warning.

Are the tires failing on the same axle? In the same position, are the replacements the same brand? If so, might be a good idea to change brands.

kinda like where you're going here Mike, with the feathered edge. if one set of axles don't have it and the other does with both "sharp edges" to the same direction/ side it would make me think the center lines of the axles arent parallel. Like an axle shifted. On a 6 yr old toy hauler, got anything like bent rims from where you might have hit a curb etc. What are you hauling vs. the payload capacity? How long has this been going on? They always say when you blow one on a side the other on the same side sustained damage due to the increased load carried. We're all speculators here, let us know what develops/what you discover.

[Joan]

You mention using cross-chocks. Are you using the x-chocks that go between the tires for stabilization? Ensure you aren't overtightening them as that may cause problems with your tires.

[MilCop4523]

get your axles measured for spacing's and alignment. buddy of mine found his axles were installed on his FR trailer UPSIDE DOWN!


mine were out of alignment by over 2 inches and tracked way off causing issues. no accidents in either sitrep.

[Springerdad]

Originally Posted by Joan

You mention using cross-chocks. Are you using the x-chocks that go between the tires for stabilization? Ensure you aren't overtightening them as that may cause problems with your tires.

I doubt that. Think about the impact a tire receives running down the road. Or the several thousand pounds they are supporting just sitting there. I can't believe any human could tighten an X chock enough to do damage.

[dufferray]

Our last RV was a 39' 5th wheel and we had LOTS of tire problems. Over a 18 month period and approx. 12.000 mile life we lost 16 tires. 5 by "blow out" and 11 by partial cord issues. We also lost 4 wheel bearings and their seals. During this time the manufacture installed 2 new axles, but we continued to loss tires every 2,000 miles. Manufacturer was NO help. WE researched the internet and found a company in Orlando, FL. that checked for alignment with the front "pin box" and axles using lasers, they did the service work for Disney World's transportation dept. They found that the front axle was 7 degrees going to the left and the rear axle was 5 degrees to the right. So the axles "fought" one another as we drove and put so much heat into the "scrubbing" tires that they destroyed the tires each mile we drove. We confronted the manufacturer with the print out data and they asked if we could "measure with a tape measure the axles from side to side" We had been doing that for 18 months, so I "lost it" and screamed at them and said I just got done towing my unit to Orlando to have it laser checked and you want to use a hand measure tape??? Back to Goshen, Indiana and the factory with my unit (and 2 more tires during the trip from Orlando to Goshen) The manufacture found out they had welded the axle mounting points in the wrong locations, SORRY. Cost us thousands of $$$ between tires, hotel rooms, damage to trailer from blow outs and gas.

[transmission_doctor]

Please post Tire brand, Size, Manufacture date, Tire model.

[boatpaddle]

Following

[dufferray]

To answer your question. Of the 16 tires we lost, half were "normal" junk travel trailer tires, but half were Goodyear or other "best in class" expensive $200+ What I learned was: If the axles are misaligned, as they where on our RV, then it does NOT matter what tire is under the trailer because tires are made to roll and not be constantly going a little "sideways".

[dieselguy]

Apparently the OP is pretty busy as we've not heard anymore from him since he inquired late yesterday. So far we're all just guessing. I will respond to his last observation … if you turn or back into a site or your driveway and don't give the RV a few feet of straight line travel … the spacing between axles is always going to be off a bit just because of the dynamics of tandem axle trailers in a turn. Hopefully we'll get more info on his issue.
Dufferray … your point is well taken, but around the 2010 - 2016 timeframe … Goodyear "Marabombs" were disintegrating off the larger fivers and TT's every day. I had a brand new fiver with freshly aligned axles that had a set that was junk. Reading posts back then on different RV websites will show I was not alone.

[ard58]

Following X3. To OP, please let us know what you find.

[bplantcjf]

following

[IsleDog]

subscribed

im curious how this turns out

[drelec]

Originally Posted by dufferray

Our last RV was a 39' 5th wheel and we had LOTS of tire problems. Over a 18 month period and approx. 12.000 mile life we lost 16 tires. 5 by "blow out" and 11 by partial cord issues. We also lost 4 wheel bearings and their seals. During this time the manufacture installed 2 new axles, but we continued to loss tires every 2,000 miles. Manufacturer was NO help. WE researched the internet and found a company in Orlando, FL. that checked for alignment with the front "pin box" and axles using lasers, they did the service work for Disney World's transportation dept. They found that the front axle was 7 degrees going to the left and the rear axle was 5 degrees to the right. So the axles "fought" one another as we drove and put so much heat into the "scrubbing" tires that they destroyed the tires each mile we drove. We confronted the manufacturer with the print out data and they asked if we could "measure with a tape measure the axles from side to side" We had been doing that for 18 months, so I "lost it" and screamed at them and said I just got done towing my unit to Orlando to have it laser checked and you want to use a hand measure tape??? Back to Goshen, Indiana and the factory with my unit (and 2 more tires during the trip from Orlando to Goshen) The manufacture found out they had welded the axle mounting points in the wrong locations, SORRY. Cost us thousands of $$$ between tires, hotel rooms, damage to trailer from blow outs and gas.

Wow. I feel your pain. We have had two bearing failures and only one blow out in over 6 years. I don't know if I could have kept towing with the number of failures you had. I think I would have been a nervous wreck looking over my shoulder waiting for the next failure! No fun at all.

What brand of fifth wheel? And was it a Lipert frame? You think the manufacturer would have a laser alignment system at the factory to verify their build quality or lack of.