single tire wear

[Crewdog]

Returning from the 6000 mile round trip to Anacortes, I noticed that only the right rear trailer tire is worn.

Total trailer mileage is around 8000 miles maybe over the year we've had it.

Have purchased a new Goodyear Marathon trailer tire of same size and load rating as original Freestar tires.

The other 3 tires have even wear, good tread and all seem in good condition.

The tires were spin balanced before trip, always kept inflated to 80 psi, and the weights are still on the rim.

As soon as boat is back in the water and trailer is empty, will have new tire installed and spin-balanced.

Now I've read on other forums that a single tire worn MAY be an indicator of an axle alignment issue.

Has anyone else had experience with this sort of thing?

Thanks,

 

[knotflying]

Bill,
I am pretty sure you may have a Float-on trailer. If so give "Q" a call she is very helpful and may be able to give you a definitive answer. You did not mention what type of wear you had. The wear pattern is a good indicator of what is going on.

 

[sleepyboat]

Back in the day we would do a quick alignment (check) with a string run from the front middle of the forward tire to the rear middle of the back tire to see if they were parallel. Then we would know if we were free rolling or had to make an adjustment.

 

[Crewdog]

Bill,
I am pretty sure you may have a Float-on trailer. If so give "Q" a call she is very helpful and may be able to give you a definitive answer. You did not mention what type of wear you had. The wear pattern is a good indicator of what is going on.

Hi Mike:

Yes, we have a Float On 1231 ABB trailer with the individual torsion axle suspension.

The tire wear is about 1 1/2 inches on the outside edge of right rear tire, which is bald. the inside edge is worn more than center, but still has tread. The center shows more wear than other 3 tires, but still has enough tread that if rest of tire was the same, I wouldn't worry about it just yet, but would replace before next long trip.

I'm not seeing any scalloped or otherwise odd wear patterns.

btw, who is "Q" (not John DeLancie's character from Star Trek)?

Bill

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Bill:

On our EZ Loader float on trailer we experienced the same wear pattern however on our left front. I've always been careful about the tire weight, etc but none the less it became worn after our return from Tennessee last fall. In the spring I had all the bearings checked and adjusted, replaced the worn tire with the spare, had all the tires balanced and so far, with 2,700 more miles from Michigan to Washington all are wearing fine. Not sure why my one tire had a worn pattern....maybe lack of balancing as none of the wheels had weights sense the trailer was new. Not sure if a loose bearing would cause this or not but if you have not had the trailering bearings serviced, caliper slides cleaned up etc it would be worth checking into.

Jim

 

[Todd]

Balance problems normally show as scalloping, not an evenly worn band around the tire, This is an alignment problem. One of the problems with torsion axles are that they are mounted in a rubber block inside the axel tube. This provides the suspension resistance as you rotate the axel inside the axel tube. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for one of the axels to flex and then not return to the exact proper position. This will cause uneven wear.

I currently have 3 trailers with torsion axels and 2 with the old leaf springs. I think I like the springs better as they seam to hold alignment better. Every one of my current torsion axel trailers, as well as the previously owned two, yes I use a lot of trailers in addition to my boat trailer, has had the same uneven tire wear problem at one time or another. You just can't seam to keep those rubber blocks lined up.

 

[knotflying]

[btw, who is "Q" (not John DeLancie's character from Star Trek)?[/

"Q" is the woman who handles parts etc. Very knowledgeable. She helped me with a few things on occasion. I am sure if you describe the problem she will know immediately what the cause may be.

 

[Crewdog]

I'll give Q a call, Thanks.

Here's a jpg of worn tire; tire store says to check bearing; i checked while trailer jacked up and boat off, no wobble apparent trying to hand wobble wheel.

I guess i'll have all bearings cleaned, checked and repacked to b sure.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Bill:

This is how my left front tire looked before I swapped it out and had the trailer serviced. When you have yours done make sure, as I mentioned before, to have the caliper slides cleaned so they operate correctly. I don't know if a locked up slide on a wheel would contribute to the tire problem or not so you might ask this question. As an aside I understand caliper slides can be installed made of stainless, therefore no rusting problem. Mine are metal and were fairly rusty until serviced. Per a tip from Mike Rizzo I purchased a 2 gallon hand pump spraying canister, filled with fresh water, that I use to rinse the brakes, caliper and wheels off after a salt water launch or retrieval. Please let us know what you find out after you trailer service job is completed.

Jim F

 

[Dale777]

Bill:

This is how my left front tire looked before I swapped it out and had the trailer serviced. When you have yours done make sure, as I mentioned before, to have the caliper slides cleaned so they operate correctly. I don't know if a locked up slide on a wheel would contribute to the tire problem or not so you might ask this question. As an aside I understand caliper slides can be installed made of stainless, therefore no rusting problem. Mine are metal and were fairly rusty until serviced. Per a tip from Mike Rizzo I purchased a 2 gallon hand pump spraying canister, filled with fresh water, that I use to rinse the brakes, caliper and wheels off after a salt water launch or retrieval. Please let us know what you find out after you trailer service job is completed.

Jim F

Jim,

When my Float-On trailer calipers had rusting problems that caused a lockup during the 1st year, "Q" at Float-On (after she sent me new calipers) highly recommended that I carry a 2 gallon hand pump spray canister of Salt-A-Way to use in addition to a fresh water wash down after ever salt dunking of the trailer.

 

[knotflying]

Yes, as per Dale I use a salt-away mixture in my spryer.

 

[Crewdog]

2 wheel bearings were showing wear on rollers; 2 others were ok, but replaced for good measure.

Fyi, bearings were greased a month before Round trip to Anacortes.

Am having wheels re-balanced cuz of 1 new tire snd new bearings.

Not sure if bearing was cause of single tire wear, but next year of trailering will show.

Bill

 

[Todd]

The wear on the bearings looks like pitting which is caused by rust and is common on bearings that sit for long periods allowing the grease to expose portions of the rollers. It usually is not critical as they clean up and become smooth when you use the trailer. Of course extreme pitting will shorten the bearing's life.

The tire wear you show is due to an alignment problem far in excess of anything that would be caused by a slightly worn bearing. .