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Old 09-25-2010, 12:07 PM   #31
cochise
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Originally Posted by brulaz View Post
Took another look and compared tread depths of the two tires. The one with the high corner wear also has quite a bit more wear across the tread.

So now I think I'm wrong about side to side weight distribution. Maybe the passenger/door side does have more weight, from all the kitchen cupboards, frig, sun shade, water heater and water pressure tank. The other side has the main water tank (and batteries), but we usually drain all the water from it before traveling.

Although I like the softer/quieter ride at 50psi, I'll try raising the heavy (?) side tire to 65psi to preserve the tire.

Would like to weigh each side but don't know where I can get that done. The CAT scales I've been using will not work ...
I wanted to lower the tire pressure to 50 PSI also, to get a smoother ride, but I contacted Goodyear and was told NOT to deviate from the posted 65 PSI as it could affect the tire wear and also void the warranty. So maybe that is your problem.
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Old 09-25-2010, 12:09 PM   #32
cochise
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Originally Posted by Keith Wire View Post
Brulaz,



I see you are in Canada. Are you in a big city or a town where there is a grain elevator? We are in a small town and, although I haven't done it yet, I talked to the fellows at the elevator and they said "sure bring it over"...

Also, when I read your first message I wondered if it was possible that the axle wasn't welded to the frame straight? Have you measured from the tongue to the axle on both sides?

Keith
The tire/wheel needs to be perpendicular to the road surface. Maybe is it not.
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Old 09-25-2010, 03:03 PM   #33
Wavery
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Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito View Post
This same exact thing has happened to me. It's the norm to jack up the axle, so you really need to watch the tech. Even if you tell the guy at the counter, and he writes it on the work order, the tech actually doing the work likely won't follow through unless you are standing over his shoulder.

Dave
That's a fact.......When I took my trailer in for tires, last year, the tech stuck a floor-jack under the axle automatically. I was standing right there so I asked him to please jack up the trailer by the frame, behind the axle. He was happy to comply.

I think that he knew that it was wrong but it is faster and easier to use the axle and they assume that the customer doesn't know the difference.

He also did not torque the lug-nuts. He just spun them on with an impact wrench. When he was finished, I went to my truck, pulled out my torque wrench and torqued them myself. I didn't say a word but the shop supervisor was visibly embarrassed. I think that he was about to tell me that I couldn't do that in the shop but changed his mind. When I went to pay my bill, he gave me a "Courtesy" 10% discount. I thought that was nice.........BTW.......I would go back there again in a heart-beat.

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Originally Posted by cochise View Post
The tire/wheel needs to be perpendicular to the road surface. Maybe is it not.
That's also correct. If the surface is straight (from one side of the trailer to the other), it doesn't need to be perfectly level if you are using a square from the surface to the wheel to check the camber. If you are using a level, the surface must be level from one side of the trailer to the other. It would be nice to find a concrete surface that is both level and straight and check it with a square and a level. After-all, that's all an alignment rack does. The alignment rack is level from one side to the other and each tire pad is square and level.............BTW, I would check both sides and compare the findings.

You could stretch a chalk-line over the grounds surface to see if it is straight (no gaps under the string or the string not hitting high spots). When you find a straight area about 10-12' across, snap the chalk-line and put the tires on the chalk-line.
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Old 09-30-2010, 09:29 AM   #34
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Haven't had a chance yet to take it to an alignment place, but did check the axle.

The axle looks bent upwards in the centre. Laid a 65cm strait edge against the bottom centre and there's about a 6mm gap in the centre. But from the centre to the frame it measures straight. The brackets attaching the axle to the frame also seem to be bent slightly inward to compensate? But that's just by eyeball.

The camber/tread wear problem is only on one side though while the axle bend appears to be precisely in the middle. Could the bend be normal, deliberate? Perhaps to compensate for some reverse play at the axle/torsion lever, torsion lever/wheel attachments?
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Old 09-30-2010, 02:00 PM   #35
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Could the bend be normal, deliberate?
It's actually for the camber, and this is taken from the FAQ's of dexter website.

AXLES - Why are some axles bent in the middle?
The upward bend in the axle is called "camber". Camber is the angular relationship of the wheel to the road surface in the vertical plane. Axles are typically built with a pre-determined bend in the tube that compensates for the expected deflection under load.

Have you ever noticed an empty flatbed trailer being towed by a semi-truck? You will also notice these trailer beds have an upward bend to compensate for when it's loaded.
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Old 10-01-2010, 11:11 AM   #36
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OK. Thanks Bobby.

And despite that really obvious camber in the axle, the tire does seem perpendicular to the ground. I don't have a flat surface anywhere around here so I just leveled the trailer with the jacks, taking as little weight off the wheels as possible. Then put a unwarped 2x6 in front of the tire, leveled that and laid my big carpenter square up against the side of the tire. It was a perfect 90 degrees as best I can tell.

Not sure how accurate that is, but I'll accept it. So I swapped the tire with the spare (new) and set all pressures at 65psi. It will be a while before we put 15,000 km on this one. We'll see what happens. Hopefully the higher pressure will at least reduce this problem.
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Old 11-14-2010, 06:39 PM   #37
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Well, much to my surprise, Trailmanor decided to replace the axle, wheels and tires with new stuff. I had the trailer down there for roof repair and asked them to look at the tire wear. They talked to Dexter axle, Ed (of Trailmanor) said nobody could come up with a good explanation, but that something was obviously wrong, so they just replaced it all! They plan to send the axle back to Dexter to see if they can find anything.

Obviously we were pleased. We also got the new style aluminum wheels.
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