Negative Camber on Trailer tires

[rogerwa]

How can I fix the negative Camber. I just replaced my tires because they habitually wear the inside treads. It handles fine but would like to increase tread life.<br /><br />The boat and trailer are a matched combo from the factory. It is an ezloader single axle roller trailer carrying a 1987 Sea Ray Seville 170.<br /><br />I am thinking axle replacement but would like to hear any other options..

 

[marv plotzka]

Re: Negative Camber on Trailer tires

Take it to any alignment/frame shop that works on heavy duty trucks and trailers. They can fix it or tell you what's broke/bent. They may want your boat on the trailer when they adjust it. They do around here in any case.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Negative Camber on Trailer tires

If something is actually bent, it might be a lot easier and cheaper to just replace the entire axle assembly. I can't imagine it going over $300, probably less.<br /><br />Keep in mind that the most common cause of this type of tire wear is an overloaded trailer that causes the axle to flex down in the middle under the load. So you may not have a problem to fix at all, just a load that's too heavy.<br /><br />I mention this from my own experience. My father had a 1986 EZ loader with a 16 foot boat that exibited similar tire wear for quite a while. Then after we switched from using the family car for towing to a full sized van, the problem went away completely. Why? Because we no longer had to load the family's extra suitcases, coolers of food, and bicycles inside the boat to get it to the cabin! It all fit in the van now. When we stopped asking the trailer to tote the extra 300 pounds of junk in the boat all the time, it stopped eating tires. She was overloaded...

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: Negative Camber on Trailer tires

Deja vu. I've got an 87 Seville 19, with a matched trailer. I agree with these posts. If there is actually something wrong, an alignment shop that specializes in trailers can either bend/adjust the axle or add shims behind the spindle if possible. Otherwise, if the axle is only rated for 2000#, you may very well be overloading it. I picked this wieght because mine weighs 2100# dry from the factory. Ad a full tank of fuel (8#/gal) and a cooler full of soda/sandwiches/ice, water toys, anchors, etc and I easily hit 2500#'s. Yours being slightly smaller and therefore lighter you probably top out jus tover 2000#'s and could easily be overloading a lighter capacity trailer.<br />If your trailer is like mine, the data plate is illegible, so specs from it aren't available. Check with a reputable shop/dealer. They may have detailed info from 1987.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Negative Camber on Trailer tires

Thanks guys I'll call around and see what I can find.. David, do you love your boat?? I love mine. For a 17 footer it rides real nice.. I really need a runabout that has an outboard, but I don't want to give my SR up..