Tire problems

[TravelingLou]

Rockwood SS8288. Any axle problems out their. My two rear trailer tires developed wear in one area of tire. Had too replace both. They say the axle if you're looking from the rear of the coach should have a slight bow to it in a frowning position. When I looked at it the axle looked pretty straight across. Any suggestions or have had experience with tires that wear on the outside but in one part of the tire, not all the way around. It looks like the tires were bouncing.

[rockwood06]

Most people don't balance there travel trailer tires, but I do. When I first started towing I was like everyone else, but by reading some info on tires I decided to balance the ones on this camper from day one. Once you reach a speed between 25 to 35 mph the tires will start to bounce as the rotation increases, the higher the speed the more action you get. With this camper I noticed a difference in towing, It's much better I can fell a smoother tow at high speeds.
Unbalanced tires can effect not only the tire wear and the performance but the wheel bearings in some cases and the suspension is moving rapidly.
Now why the manufacture does not balance the tires, I don't know, but I do recommend it for control and safety reasons as well.

[Mr. Black]

Another thing that can cause this is skidding the tires with brake lock up. Sometimes people don't realize they drug their tires 50 feet down the road. This will flat spot the tire and creat wear problems from there on out. Yes it can happen on just one axle, or one tire, or all tires on the trailer.

Could also be balance.

What you are describing does not sound like a bent axle to me. Bent axle usually results in some form of edge wear. Believe it or not though, axles are fairly cheap if you need to replace one.

[LadyWindrider]

Tires that wear only in one spot is usually caused by them not being balanced. This "heavy" spot hits the road harder each revolution. The other thing that might cause this would be a bent wheel. Also the bend or bow in the axle you are referring to may be hard to see with the naked eye. You can go under there with a long straight edge, like a level, placed on the top of the axle, and see it. Take all your tires and get them balanced, cheap enough, and they should be able to tell if you have a bent wheel while they are doing it.

[rockwood06]

I had to replace an axle two years ago because of a bearing failure, and I don't think that $ 600.00 is cheap for an axle and I installed it myself.

[Mr. Black]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

I had to replace an axle two years ago because of a bearing failure, and I don't think that $ 600.00 is cheap for an axle and I installed it myself.

I am assuming this was for an axle drum to drum? That sounds right. All he would need would be an axle, no brakes or spindles.

[bobbysue]

My niece bought a new Cedar Creek 5th Wheel a few months ago. Since the beginning, they have had trouble with bucking and jerking when towing. They got a new hitch, no change; so they got an air ride hitch (per advice from the dealer). It still jerked and bucked. Next, they traded their 3/4 ton truck for a new Ford Dually. Still not change. They finally drove it to the dealer and had them drive it. They agreeded that something was wrong. They finally found a problem with the axle on the trailer. It was not the right one and had ruined the tires and the bearings. Forrest River is fixing it; but they should have known what was wrong from the beginning since I see that they have had similar trouble with axles before. They are fixing the axle, but this should not have happened. So, yes, there is other people having trouble with axles!!

[Gregad]

Spring mounted axles should have a bow to them, upwards in the middle. Torsion Axles do not have a bow in them. Another thing to look at is how level your trail rides on the hitch. If your too high in the front, your putting more weight of the trailer on the rear axle. I noticed my 8283 had the front axle lowered down on the mounts. Curious I had a dealer look at it and he said they usually do this to compensate for level ride. Beings mine sits down in the front more, Had to readjust that front axle to get equal weight on it. Put it on the scales and first weighed front axle leaving rear off scale and then did same for rear axle. Then balance the ride height so I had equal weight on both axles. Rides so much smoother and equal tire wear.