Tire Wear

freestoneangler · October 27, 2017

The 2015 StarCraft TT we recently purchased has two axles. The front left tire is showing some irregular wear on the outside edge. None of the other 3 tires exhibit this. It could be that it was improperly inflated early in its life by the original owner. I did not notice this when we purchased the unit - may have missed it. I stopped at a Les Schwab Tire Center on our return home today and the tech stated that there is noting they can do to adjust anything. If it was a misalignment of that axle, he would expect to see abnormal wear on the other tire. He suggested simply watching to see if it worsens and perhaps take the TT to a place that specializes in aligning these style frames. Any other ideas what might be causing this?

orca · October 27, 2017

The first thing i would be checking for is a bent axle stub from bumping a curb or bad pothole.

Ray,IN · October 28, 2017

Many of these utube videos are for travel trailers/5th wheel trailers. you'll learn more from them than any other source:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=chr-hp-psg&p=traller+axle+alignment#id=3&vid=7200445d12af24c0f9f1de8e2650527c&action=click

That said, I think orca is right.

I'mdonewiththis forum · October 28, 2017

The tire wear will tell you a lot as to where the problem is. Are the treads feathered? Which way? If you slide your flat hand across the tread you will feel if the treads are flat or peaked on one side or the other. Are they wearing flat but only on the outside? Looking at the tires from 20 feet behind the trailer do both tires look the same? Can you provide a good picture of the tire tread?

freestoneangler · October 28, 2017

4 hours ago, Mntom said:

The tire wear will tell you a lot as to where the problem is. Are the treads feathered? Which way? If you slide your flat hand across the tread you will feel if the treads are flat or peaked on one side or the other. Are they wearing flat but only on the outside? Looking at the tires from 20 feet behind the trailer do both tires look the same? Can you provide a good picture of the tire tread?

Well, I tried adding some pictures but having to crop them to meet the sites limited (very limited IMHO) file size eliminates the detail. I did use a straight length of aluminum bar to check alignment of the two tires on each side (resting on outside radius). I see maybe 1/8th inch difference max on both left and right sets. Again, it is only the one tire showing the outside edge wear; others look very good. I'll try lifting and free spinning then check for any sloppiness in bearing. I'll be in Bozeman Monday and will show the pictures to the StarCraft dealer there.

I'mdonewiththis forum · October 28, 2017

I guess the next thing would be is to see how much camber there is in the one that is wearing. Camber is the straight up and down angle of the tire. Seems to me that if you had a loose bearing then the wear would be on the inside. Looks like you have an axle issue that you need corrected. Let us know what the dealer says.

freestoneangler · October 28, 2017

My continued research on the issue has come up with a couple of good articles that discuss that possible cause. Interesting that it might not be the axle on the wear tire causing the problem. Also that improper axle to frame alignment is not uncommon straight from the high volume manufacturers. Our TT has Dexter axles/suspension; do not know who makes the frame. StarCraft purchased by Jayco who is now part of Thor.

http://www.thisoldcampsite.com/This_old_campsite5/Trailer_Wheel_And_Axle_Alignmen.html

http://blog.easternmarine.com/trailer-axle-camber-what-its-all-about/

I'mdonewiththis forum · October 28, 2017

More than likely it has a Lippert frame. The reason I am not thinking of a frame mount problem is because you only have the one tire wearing different. If the axle was mounted crooked then I would think both sides would be wearing.

lenp · October 28, 2017

I had similar issue with a triple axle Heartland unit several years ago. Initially the abnormal wear manifested only on the right rear tire - outside edge of tire wearing excessively. I had alignment check - ok supposedly.

A few months later the left rear started showing the same wear on the INSIDE. I discovered the leaf spring on the right side was compressed more than the left side. This pushed the equalizer on the right side forward allowing the right side of the axle to move forward slightly.

I replace the two rear leaf springs and no more problem.

Lenp

freestoneangler · November 4, 2017

Update. I showed pictures to the tech's at Big Sky RV in Bozeman. They are pretty certain it's a bent axle stub as orca and a couple of others suspect. Not that uncommon it seems and most often the result of a pot-hole or curb encounter. They provided me with an Tire/Frame/Alignment shop who I called and that's what they suspect too. $100-150 if can be straightened, or about $450 for R&R of a new axle stub.

I'mdonewiththis forum · November 5, 2017

Thanks for the update. I would think you would be better off to replace the whole axle rather than just the spindle, but I guess it depends on the ability of the shop.