Uneven tire wear, how do I fix this can I adjust the alignment?

[A2pfunk]

I have a 2015 Coachmen Catalina 273tbs. I have Goodyear endurance tires on all four wheels. This season I noticed that my front right tire is wearing unevenly. The outside of the tire is balding particularly fast. After our last 2300 mile trip, the outside of that tire is pretty much bald. The other wheels don't seem to be wearing quite like that. The back axle seems just fine. Do I need to adjust the alignment on this? And if so, how in the world do I do that? On another note, the Goodyear endurance tires are on national backorder and nearly impossible to find in my size.

[Mike134]

First pull the trailer forward in a straight line 10 feet to be sure your not getting any twisting from a turn. Get down behind the trailer like a golfer lining up a putt and see if the top of that wheel is tipped outwards compared to the other wheel and the other-side tires. We can give you a better guess once we know. You should jack that tire up and make sure there's no wobble from loose bearings too.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by A2pfunk

I have a 2015 Coachmen Catalina 273tbs. I have Goodyear endurance tires on all four wheels. This season I noticed that my front right tire is wearing unevenly. The outside of the tire is balding particularly fast. After our last 2300 mile trip, the outside of that tire is pretty much bald. The other wheels don't seem to be wearing quite like that. The back axle seems just fine. Do I need to adjust the alignment on this? And if so, how in the world do I do that? On another note, the Goodyear endurance tires are on national backorder and nearly impossible to find in my size. Attachment 235311

There's not much you yourself can do to adjust this unless you have both the equipment and training to deal with the axle itself. No adjustments built in.

It's hard to see in the picture but do you have conventional leaf spring suspension or torsion axles?

If conventional spring suspension, probably the best would be to replace the axle beam/tube itself. If you have a good jack and some jack stands along with the usual tools it's a fairly straight forward DIY project. A straight beam/tube axle can be bent to correct alignment angles by a knowledgeable and properly equipped shop but labor cost may meet or exceed the cost of a replacement axle.

If Torsion axles they too can be replaced by yourself, the axle is just a little larger with the swing arms on each end. Torsion axles can not be aligned by bending and should just be replaced (although I'm sure some have tried).

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Here's a old school approach, Get your tv &trailer to a empty lot,Wet the tires a lot and see how the tire marks line up,Then you can see how they are tracking and go from there.

[Oaklevel]

First take you trailer to a shop that can align your trailer axles (not an RV dealer).

The endurance will be available again soon hopefully, Goodyear closed all of its US plants when Covid started here in March, most are back on line now.

[A2pfunk]

So I looked and it doesn't LOOK like the tire sticks out at an angle compared to the other axle. But it's hard to get a straight on view with them being up in the wheel well.

Replacing an entire and sounds expensive... Maybe I just buy tires more often?

As for the endurance, I find a tire shop that was able to finally get one shipped from another store in Cleveland. Another shop told me they aren't expecting them until October. An actual Goodyear store told me they are on nationwide shortage and that I'd be better off buying a different sized rim or buying another brand.

[Palinduff]

I had this issue also on one of the front tires. I took it in for an alignment and that wheel was way out of alignment. There weren’t many miles on the Puma so I figured it came from the factory like that, the typical great RV quality assurance. If you have to do a turn to park, be sure to pull or back straight back to straighten out the axles. Don’t leave it after a turn for any amount of time.

[JimMorrell]

I would never buy another trailer without immediately taking the trailer to a shop that specializes in axle alignment. I have found that some manufacturers send trailers out without verifying alignment.

[campers302]

Originally Posted by Mike134

First pull the trailer forward in a straight line 10 feet to be sure your not getting any twisting from a turn. Get down behind the trailer like a golfer lining up a putt and see if the top of that wheel is tipped outwards compared to the other wheel and the other-side tires. We can give you a better guess once we know. You should jack that tire up and make sure there's no wobble from loose bearings too.

Looks a little to me like you are running your tires way to low on pressure. When running a proper pressure the wear should be even and I notice you have the same outside wear on the inside of that same tire. Tires wearing on the out side = to low pressure. Tires wearing in the middle = to high pressure.


Next I would suggest that you check your tires and pressure much more often. To be asking this question now with that much wear seems like tires are not being checked often enough. If I am wrong please disregard as I am not trying to criticize but inform and help.

[Linnemj]

We had the same issue with our 2012 XLR. The RV dealer said we bent the axle, which I highly doubted, so we replaced the axle. The problem continued. When we attended the national FROG rally in 2014, Forest River had us take the trailer to Lippert who had plants nearby. Their tech told us our axle hanger box was out of square on that side. A welder fixed that issue and also fixed several cracks in our frame and added some support beams to the frame. They also replaced the Dexter axle. All of this was done by FR with no cost to us. This solved our issue.

[Lee Pedrick]

Call lippert. They make the frames. They can send you a measurement chart to check all tire and axle positions to include checking to see if the frame is square. this chart will tell you exactly where to do all the measurements. believe me,, you will know where the problem is after checking everything. I have the Catalina 24 ftr. Dexter axle ended up sending me a new axle assembly after I proved all the measurements. But my 2018 only had 2000 miles on it with Dexter axles,,, not lippert axles. These frames are not made the same year as the trailers. They are prebuilt, then called to the assembly line later when needed. They can be pretty rusty when installed on a "NEW" trailer.

[rsdata]

Use a board cut to the tire width, like a 2x4, ( make sure it is straight and not warped) then place it on the side of the tire and use a level next to ( on top of) the board to determine whether that tire compares to the one behind it... that is a start anyway... could be from a bent axle from striking a curb or pothole

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by A2pfunk

So I looked and it doesn't LOOK like the tire sticks out at an angle compared to the other axle. But it's hard to get a straight on view with them being up in the wheel well.

Replacing an entire and sounds expensive... Maybe I just buy tires more often?

Let's for the moment assume you have a torsion axle. Here's a replacement axle for under $500, delivered. ($348 = $140 flat rate freight)

https://bendtrailers.com/dexter-10-3...CABEgIePvD_BwE


To replace all that's required is removing hubs and backing plates, unbolting from frame, swap, and reverse operation. About half a day and maybe a 6-pack (for you and your helper).

If it's a straight axle with leaf springs here's an axle beam only for $225 + shipping.


https://thetrailerpartsoutlet.com/pr...yABEgJ0nfD_BwE

Since the R&R really doesn't require any special equipment other than jack stands and basic tools this is a frequent DIY project. If you repack your own bearings the rest is fairly simple.

If you do decide to DIY, just make sure any measurement s required before ordering are EXACT. If in doubt place your order via phone.

BTW, I just linked a couple of sources. Axles can be purchased from many different online sources, these were just random examples. Be sure and check e-trailer.com also.

Good Luck.

BTW, one set of new tires will cost as much as a worst case DIY replacement AND you'll still have the problem.

[babock]

Originally Posted by campers302

Looks a little to me like you are running your tires way to low on pressure. When running a proper pressure the wear should be even and I notice you have the same outside wear on the inside of that same tire. Tires wearing on the out side = to low pressure. Tires wearing in the middle = to high pressure.


Next I would suggest that you check your tires and pressure much more often. To be asking this question now with that much wear seems like tires are not being checked often enough. If I am wrong please disregard as I am not trying to criticize but inform and help.

He only has wear on the outside edge of this tire. The inside edge is fine. Low pressure would affect both edges. That is not a low inflation issue. Also has only one tire out of 4 doing this.

[Joe_GA]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

First take you trailer to a shop that can align your trailer axles (not an RV dealer).

X2 I took mine to a good trailer shop and they found a camber issue and the two axles were not parallel with each other. You can't fix that problem by changing the axle.

[DrLewie]

For reasons I don't understand, most RV dealers don't have the equipment or knowledge to adjust alignment. Take it to a tire or other shop that has the ability to diagnose and fix the problem.

[TitanMike]

[QUOTE=Joe_GA;2381215]X2 I took mine to a good trailer shop and they found a camber issue and the two axles were not parallel with each other. You can't fix that problem by changing the axle.[/QUOTE]

If his axles weren't parallel he'd have various wear patterns on all four tires. Outside wear on one tire and Inside wear on the other on the same axle. Other axle would be just the reverse.

Single tire wear like in the picture is MOST OFTEN a mis-alignment of only that wheel. Other three wheels/tires are holding the road and forcing that single tire to "scuff along" with it's outside edge wearing from toe-in or excessive positive camber. Probably both.


As for fixing the "axles not parallel" issue, not a big deal. Either a well placed sledge on the forward or rear spring hangar or grinding out the centering hole on the spring pad with a Dremel Tool, and filling the side opposite the new locating pin location with J-B Weld (applying a thin layer of oil or grease on parts you don't want the J-B to stick to) will solve the issue.

If one has a flat surface that they can drive onto straight (no turning action) basic alignment can be done with four jack stands and some Mason's String.

Tie off to one jack stand behind trailer and another ahead. Move jack stands until string touches all four tire's sidewalls on each side.. Just touching one rear wheel and one front then stop. Do this on both

If the line is not touching both sidewalls on all tires you will see any mis-alignment. Now measure from center of coupler, or a hanging plumb line from king-pin (centered on front or rear of pin), to the Mason's Line (also called a chalk line but chalk isn't necessary). This will tell you pretty much how well the trailer is tracking.

Make sure the jack stands hold the string even with the center of the tires and the vehicle has been pulled straight for at least 15-20 feet.

FWIW, this is how alignments used to be done on trailers before expensive equipment came along. It's still done with many race cars in open wheel and even NASCAR when away from the main shop. They call it "stringing".

Some will merely check various reference points using plumb bobs and chalk marks on the floor, measuring the diagonal angles. This works well for checking frames and axles themselves for proper geometry but it doesn't take into consideration any misalignment of spindle to the axle itself and that's where the majority of all alignment problems are located.

[PenJoe]

If is was a loose bearing, the tire wear would be more to the inside of the tire. The OP did not mention if they were first owners on a 2015. It is possible that someone may have put a jack on the axle in the wrong place on that side. That may attribute to the wear on the outer tread and not the other tires. It wouldn't take much of a bow to cause unusual wear.

[old40ford]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

There's not much you yourself can do to adjust this unless you have both the equipment and training to deal with the axle itself. No adjustments built in.

It's hard to see in the picture but do you have conventional leaf spring suspension or torsion axles?

If conventional spring suspension, probably the best would be to replace the axle beam/tube itself. If you have a good jack and some jack stands along with the usual tools it's a fairly straight forward DIY project. A straight beam/tube axle can be bent to correct alignment angles by a knowledgeable and properly equipped shop but labor cost may meet or exceed the cost of a replacement axle.

If Torsion axles they too can be replaced by yourself, the axle is just a little larger with the swing arms on each end. Torsion axles can not be aligned by bending and should just be replaced (although I'm sure some have tried).

X2

[edkayc]

Had the same problem. Take it to a trailer alignment specialist. Problem solved.
Do not go to RV place or auto alignment shop.