Axle Problem?

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

I got my new trailer in March and I notice that everytime that I back it up my concrete drive, it leaves black tire marks.

A couple days ago, on a camping return trip, at a gas station, I noticed that my wheels just don't seem right, at least to me. I haven't brought this to my dealers attention yet, what do you think?

[bakken]

It looks like you were turning with the camper when those pictures were taken. If that is so, then drive straight for a bit, then retake the pictures.
If not, you have major problems.

[mhartzel]

Were the above pictures taken immediately after a left turn? It looks to me like the wheels are still straight but the tires are pushed "out of position".

If the marks are left during the turn, I'd say this is normal. You are trying to force 2 non-steering axles into a turn. The front axle's tires are being dragged in the direction of the turn where as the rear tires are being pushed the opposite way.

A picture of the axle's after travelling straight for a little while would be beneficial.

[Campingwith2kids2dogs]

I've notice ours doing this too when making the sharp turn at the end of our court.

[Sargent's Fox Hole]

Yes, the pics are after turning left to the gas pump....I just went out to the driveway and looked...the tires seem to be inline. But what would cause the tires to leave black marks when I am backing up the drive? And these black marks last for weeks and weeks.

[bakken]

When you are turning, the camper tires actually get dragged sideways across the pavement. Result, black marks.

[ryand]

I had a similar problem with my 2011 Coachmen. I would suggest you take a look after driving down the street like others have said...during a turn the axle camber does strange things but ultimately straightens out. If not as In my situation the axle might be bad and will require replacement or re-alignment. You could see a visible Bow downward that resulted in the camber being way off on the rear axle. The shop tired to align the axle by bending it but couldn't bring it back in with in specs. They installed a new axle and that seems to have solved the issue. It is a fairly large concern as it will scrub your tires down pretty quick....i lost all the inside tread on my rear tires within about 1500 miles. Get it checked out if under warranty. Get it weighed and provide the slips to your dealer to avoid any rejections based on causes below

Reasons for these problems:
Overloading
Excessively high tow vehicle...trailer not level and transferring a larger load to the rear axle.
Axle installed upside down
Junk axle

Good luck!

[DDC]

Originally Posted by missing75

Yes, the pics are after turning left to the gas pump....I just went out to the driveway and looked...the tires seem to be inline. But what would cause the tires to leave black marks when I am backing up the drive? And these black marks last for weeks and weeks.

That's normal scuff mark, you get that from moving and turning slowly, if you move your truck slowly and crank the steering wheel it will do the same thing.

[Eaglelover]

I agree with all the comments above. I would jack up both axles on each side and check the wheel bearings for proper adjustment. If you have axles with lube fittings I would grease and spin the wheels while they are jacked up. I would also take the time to check each wheel for proper breaking. No use doing the jacking and not check all you can while the wheels are off the ground. Frank

[Herk7769]

Tandem trailer tires can actually go sideways in a turn; scrubbing off rubber as they do. It is one of the reasons that they make ST type tires.

Draw an "X" through the 4 tires and the center of that X is the actual pivot point of the turn.

In a left turn, the left front tire will skid left and the left rear tire will skid right. The reverse is true on the right side. The harder the turn, the more violent the skid. This is normal.

The only way to avoid skid marks in your driveway is to pull straight in or park in your neighbors driveway.