Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill
Wayne, I'm not sure this is right - is there a source? If I am doing the calculations right, a 2 percent sideslope (about 1 degree, typical* for an Interstate highway) should shift at most a couple pounds from the uphill tire onto the downhill tire. That certainly doesn't account for what the OP is seeing.
Or is my math off?
Bill
*Ref: Highway Design Manual, Texas DOT
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It has nothing to do with weight. It has to do with gravity pulling the trailer to the downhill side of the highway. If one were to look at a single axle trailer from the air as it is being pulled down the highway, one would see that the rear of the trailer is pointing slightly downhill from the rest of the rig (depending on the slope of the road). This will cause the downhill tire to have drag on the outer edge of the tire. This would be especially exaggerated if that tire were not at max air pressure.
Most of us would not notice this because we seldom put 9K miles of cross-country driving on our trailers in a short period of time.
We had a U Haul franchise at the dealership group that I managed (years ago). We used to see this on long-haul rental trailers all the time. We probably replaced right side tires 2 to 1 to left side tires.