Bad tire wear

[lonewolf41]

I have a 2010 Venture VATB-5225 tandem axle trailer that I got in April. I was told it was only towed from Massachusetts to Florida and then I brought it from Florida to Indiana. When going over the trailer (bearings, brakes, etc.) yesterday, I noticed the front drivers tire had A LOT of wear on the inside. The other tires all look fine. I would think if it was an axle alignment issue that the other side would have similar wear, but maybe on the inside. I have attached a couple of pictures showing the wear and what the tire behind it looks like. Any thoughts on what is causing this? This is my first tandem axle so am just learning about this style of trailer.

TIA,
-Keith

 

[Thalasso]

Looks like excessive camber in the axle, causing the wheel to lean too much to the inside.
Torsion axles or spring?
Rollers or bunk's?
Could be due to sagging springs, overloaded trailer or an unbalanced load .
Trailer should be towed level,

 

[89retta]

Check your axle nut and bearings. I had the same problem , jacked up the trailer and the wheel that was wearing. I could move half an inch back and fourth . New bearings fixed the problem

 

[bruceb58]

Could also be a belt that slipped inside the tire. How old are these tires? Date code is?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Looks to me like a bent axle. Easiest way to check that is to jack each side of that axle up till the tires are an inch or two off the ground. Take a can of light colored spray paint, spin the tire and spray a narrow line all the way around the middle of the tread. Then take a block of wood and a screwdriver, use the wood to hold the screwdriver corner against the tire and scribe a line all the way around while you spin the wheel. Do that on each tire. Have a partner hold the 1 inch mark on a tape measure to the line on the front of one tire as high as it can go and measure across to the line on the other side. Repeat on the rear of those same tires. This will give you a toe in/toe out measurement. A trailer should be straight, but can be ok with a tiny bit of toe in, like 1/8-3/16 inch max.

 

[lonewolf41]

I wasn't able to check any more tonight as I had to mow the grass, but it is a straight axle with springs and bunks. The bearings were OK. In fact, I just repacked and reinstalled. Will try and check out the other items tomorrow.

Thanks for the input.

 

[NHGuy]

I have that same make and model built in 2012. Mine has straight axles with leaf springs and came with some no name tires. I replaced the tires, they were separating and cracking 2 years ago. So you may have some of the same.
When you pick up the trailer check for bearing play, repair as needed. And be sure to grease them.
My surge actuator had a blown out internal damper (shock absorber) Once I changed that the brakes worked well. But since I tow in a hilly area I upgraded from the stock 2 wheel brakes to 4 wheel disc this year.
My trailer and boat look awesome and tow well too.

 

[ahicks]

If the axle is actually straight, you have an issue. The axle SHOULD be slightly bowed up in the middle.

 

[lonewolf41]

Could also be a belt that slipped inside the tire. How old are these tires? Date code is?

The tires have a 2510 date code so around June 2010.

 

[lonewolf41]

Looks to me like a bent axle. Easiest way to check that is to jack each side of that axle up till the tires are an inch or two off the ground. Take a can of light colored spray paint, spin the tire and spray a narrow line all the way around the middle of the tread. Then take a block of wood and a screwdriver, use the wood to hold the screwdriver corner against the tire and scribe a line all the way around while you spin the wheel. Do that on each tire. Have a partner hold the 1 inch mark on a tape measure to the line on the front of one tire as high as it can go and measure across to the line on the other side. Repeat on the rear of those same tires. This will give you a toe in/toe out measurement. A trailer should be straight, but can be ok with a tiny bit of toe in, like 1/8-3/16 inch max.

I did this and the front was 94-5/8" while the back measured 94-7/16" so about 3/16" difference with the front being wider. I made some other observations and will post them in a separate reply.

Thanks.

 

[lonewolf41]

If the axle is actually straight, you have an issue. The axle SHOULD be slightly bowed up in the middle.

The axle appears straight. I did measure the tires in relation to the i-beams (it was the only reference I could think of to use) and on the driver's side, the front tire was within .2 degrees of perpendicular to the axle (top tilted slightly in) and the rear tire had the top tilted outward 3.2 degrees to the axle. One the passenger side, the front tire had the top tilted out 1.1 degrees of perpendicular to the axle. The rear had the top tilted out 3.4 degrees of perpendicular to the axle. I made some other observations and will post them below.

Thanks.

 

[lonewolf41]

No Title

I think I got most of the questions answered, but there is something I noticed and I made a diagram. I exaggerated the geometry, but it lets you see what I am seeing. I would think the tires would basically be in line with each other, but they are at an angle. All the tires are pointing to the passenger side. I would assume they should be pointing straight ahead. I have also attached a picture showing how I checked them. I put a 4 foot level horizontally against the tires and the front drivers tire would have a gap at the rear tire while on the passenger side, the front tire caused the level to run into the rear tire.

I created a folder that I put a few pictures in my google drive that give additional views.

In a couple of the pictures, the mounting bolts for the drivers side springs look to be at an angle. The front looks like the spring has moved forward. The back looks like the spring had moved rearward...or the u-bolt looks to have moved forward as you can see on the i-beam where it used to rest. It is looking to me like I need to reset the axles on this trailer because they are askew with the drivers side being forward of the passenger side causing the wheels to point right. If that is the case, what do I use as a reference to get the set correctly?

Hopefully some of the if relevant and makes sense. If there is anything else I need to check or post, let me know.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[lonewolf41]

Here is the link to the pictures.

 

[Rick Stephens]

If you have a wheel that is toed out then the tire will wear on the inside as it scrubs and rolls the inner part of the tire across the pavement.

 

[bruceb58]

The tires have a 2510 date code so around June 2010.

Very old tires!

 

[ahicks]

Regarding the axle alignment issue you're looking at, may I suggest you pull some measurements from the trailer coupler, preferably the very front of it? Those dimensions should lead to resolving your issue. Many trailers have their spring mounts welded to a piece of angle that bolts to the trailer frame to allow the load to be properly balanced, set tongue weight, etc. You may be able to remove those bolts on one side to pull your axles into alignment, resolving the dog tracking issue you're likely experiencing.

2 other thoughts. Replacement axles, if properly sourced, are not that expensive and can be built to replace yours exactly.

Last, the date code would indicate those tires should be replaced prior to any road trip of any length.

 

[lonewolf41]

Regarding the axle alignment issue you're looking at, may I suggest you pull some measurements from the trailer coupler, preferably the very front of it? Those dimensions should lead to resolving your issue. Many trailers have their spring mounts welded to a piece of angle that bolts to the trailer frame to allow the load to be properly balanced, set tongue weight, etc. You may be able to remove those bolts on one side to pull your axles into alignment, resolving the dog tracking issue you're likely experiencing.

2 other thoughts. Replacement axles, if properly sourced, are not that expensive and can be built to replace yours exactly.

Last, the date code would indicate those tires should be replaced prior to any road trip of any length.

I was thinking about this last night after I had gone to bed. I really need to check the axle alignment and I was assuming the best place was the coupler. I had measured from the back of the i-beam to the rear u-bolt just to see what it showed, but that assumes the bolt is vertical (which I found out they are not) and that the I-beams are the same length or at least bent the same (who knows). I will take some measurements from the coupler and see where they fall. From the looks of it, I should be able to loosen the axles and move the driver side rearward and/or the passenger side forward to get them aligned. Everything uses u-bolts except for one fender brace that is bolted to the I-beam.

Frustrating that this basically new trailer requires rebuilding...but I guess I shouldn't be surprised as everything I touch goes :boom: Thanks again for the feedback. Will post once I get more measurements.

 

[lonewolf41]

OK, so I checked at lunch and there is 1/4" of difference between the left and right spring mounts to the coupler. The ironic part is that the drivers side is farther away which is opposite of what I would have expected. If I move the drivers side farther back to square the tires with the trailer, it will be farther back than it is now. Something isn't adding up. If I didn't have the boat on it, I would bring it to work and use our CMM on it, but surely there is a way to figure out what is going on. I guess the other option is to just run it as is until the tire wears out completely and then replace them. The downside to that is that I don't want this to happen to a brand new tire. I don't tow very far (20 miles one way), but from the looks of it, a new tire will wear out in a couple of years.

I may see if there is a trailer manufacturer close that can look at it. Any other thoughts on what to do or check?

Thanks

 

[Rick Stephens]

The easy way to square a pair is to cross measure the spring centers or hangers.I don't think I'd want to do that with the boat on. Do you have any way of blocking the boat and pulling the trailer out from under? That'd be the neat way to measure and straighten.

I used to build a lot of axles, had a jig I built on a welding table. I would always final set up by measuring hub face to hub face to be certain it was square. If you take the wheels off, and use 2 straight edges held against hub faces, you can check straightness very easily. Then cross measure front hangers to rear hangers and see where the axles need to go to be square. I don't really care what the measurement is to the coupler as a tiny flaw in build will make that irrelevant. That's pretty much it other than fender clearance and the like, which isn't your problem at this point.

 

[lonewolf41]

I contacted the manufacturer and their tech support department sent me a check document to use when evaluating the trailer setup. Looks like this is something they see frequently as it was sent quickly so I will follow that and see what I find. Ironically, they take all measurements from the rear. Thanks for the input and I'll post what I find.