Does Trailer Misalignment Cause Outside Tire Wear

Question:

The right outer tire on my less than 2 yr old and less than 2500 miles boat trailer tire wore out on the outer edge. I understand this can be caused by an axle alignment problem. Plus there is some play in the same wheel after jacking the trailer and pushing and pulling the wheel back and forth holding at 12 o clock. I measured each axle hub from the hitch to axle after removing both tires and found that the right tire with the outside wear was ahead of the left tire by 1/4 inch. The right tier also has about a 1/4 inch wobble to it when rotating while being jacked up. My question is, can this out of alignment right wheel cause the outside wear on my tire and cause wheel bearing failure? Thanks

asked by: Ed L

Helpful Expert Reply:

It does sound like your trailer is out of alignment. That is usually determined by measuring from the center of the coupler back diagonally to the center of one of the wheels. Then take the same measurement to the other wheel center. It sounds like you have already done that and the measurements were off by 1/4". This could be causing the wear on your tire and bearings. There should not be any play in the hub at all. You may also want to check your suspension parts to see if they are damaged. One sign of misalignment is the shackle straps have elongated holes. If the suspension parts are worn out they will need to be replaced. Then you will need to take the trailer to a shop to have the axles aligned. Unfortunately misalignment normally means replacing one or more parts to avoid tire wear issues.

expert reply by: Heather A