Trailer Tires Showing Excessive Wear on Inside Edges of Tread

Question

Question:

I have a 2013 14foot Wesco trailer with a 3500# dexter axle under it. I am estimating around 1500 miles are it. I was looking at it this weekend and noticed the inside of the left tire is worn bad. The right tire is worn pretty good on the inside also. It looks like the top of the tires are leaning in. The left looks the worst. I have not done any measurements yet. Could this axle be weld together crooked? I have only hauled my Teryx side by side or 2 Honda 500 Rubicons on it. I am open for suggestions on where to start.

asked by: Tim P

0

Expert Reply:

Typically a trailer axle will have some camber in it - some bend - such that when it is not loaded the tops of the wheels bow outward slightly, with the outside edges of the tire treads making first contact with the ground. This allows that when the trailer is loaded with weight the axle will be pushed downward to a flatter position with the tire treads level on the ground. Please refer to the linked photo showing an axle and its camber.

With your trailer unloaded look at it from the rear to see if you can detect the outward camber of the tires. If the trailer tires are dead flat on the ground without weight on the trailer, then once loaded there will be excessive force on the inside edges of the tires, which could result in the uneven wear you see.

If your tires are leaning in at the top when the trailer is empty then I would have it checked by a trailer shop. The tires should NOT be leaning in when the trailer is empty.

The most common cause for this uneven tire wear is overloading the trailer. Although it is unlikely, if the axle were installed upside down - with the axle center a low spot rather than a high spot - that could be the problem too.

expert reply by: Adam R

0

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John S.

6/14/2020

I have the same problem. I jacked my trailer up and sure enough. No camber in the axle. The Kitchen side of my trailer is a lot heavier than the Door side and that tire wears a lot faster which I guess makes sense? Does that make sense that the heavier side would wear more?

Reply

Chris R.

6/18/2020

If there's significantly more weight on one side then it would make sense that those tires would wear a bit more than the other side of the axle. Do you notice the trailer leaning a bit to that side? If possible, try to move some weight over to the other side just to even it out a bit and this should help.

Reply

John S.

6/18/2020

@ChrisR Yea, it does. Some. There is no way to shift more weight. It's just the way it is. The light side wears perfectly. I called the Welding/Trailer shop and spoke to the tire guys. Both said basically, "Well, If that's all you can do rotate the tires and replace them every 4 years instead of 6 as they wear." I could put on a 6,000lb axle for less deflection but not sure that's worth it. Thanks

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Answer 1

You may be experiencing some wear in the suspension components that can cause tire wear and also be a symptom or cause the axle to be misaligned. Inspect your suspension components and if any of the holes where hardware goes is egg-shaped, that…

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Answer 2

The front hangers in kit #APS6SE are #721584. They measure 3-3/4 inches from the top to the center of the mounting hole. The hole is 9/16 inches in diameter. The holes that are in the top are not for bolting the hanger. They are there to mount the…

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Answer 3

If the trailer wheels scrubbed (dragged and scrapped the ground instead of rolling) when jack knifed then it could have thrown something out of alignment or damaged something. First, inspect the suspension. Look for any elongated holes where…

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Answer 4

A brake axle would have brakes, either electric or hydraulic drum or disc brakes while an idler hub would have no brakes. Many times, a tandem axle trailer will have one braking axle and one idler axle. The 3500 lb capacity #35545I-EZ-89 axle you…

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Answer 5

In order to determine the torque rating for the lug nuts on your trailer you will need to know check out the chart I attached that shows all of the torque specs for all the trailer lugs available based on stud size, wheel material and wheel size.

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Answer 6

If the rear axle trailer tires are supporting more of the weight of the trailer then they would wear out faster. There are couple of adjustments that could be made to try to even out the load on the trailer. The first would be to more evenly…

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Answer 7

I have attached a chart you can check out that describes the torque needed per wheel size, wheel stud size and material. For an 8-inch wheel with a 1/2-inch wheel stud the torque is 75 to 86 ft-lbs. For a 15 inch steel wheel with 1/2 inch wheel studs…

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Answer 8

Assuming your tires are in good shape without any bulges the easiest way to determine if you have a bent spindle is to take a straight edge that is longer than the tire and lay it across the tire parallel with your trailer frame and then measure the…

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Answer 9

It is certainly possible for any axle to wear out enough over time to need replacing. Since the suspension is built into a torsion axle if the suspension part was to wear out pretty much the only solution would be to replace the axle. If the…

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Answer 10

We don't offer a 3500 lb axle with that short of a hub face dimension. You might be able to order a custom axle locally, but we don't ship custom axles. Timbren offers an Axle-Less suspension system that would eliminate the need for the axle…

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Answer 11

If you are getting inside tire wear on the rear axle of your fifth wheel that would indicate that your trailer is sitting a little nose high and putting additional stress on the rear axle. If you look at your trailer when it's connected to your…

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Answer 12

Yes, axle spread and wheel base by definition are the same measurements. You will measure from the center of one axle to the center of the 2nd axle to determine what you axle spread is. This may be difficult as some wheels and covers will make this…

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Trailer Tires Showing Excessive Wear on Inside Edges of Tread

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