Trailer tire weird wear pattern???

Eldon (WA)

Well-known Member
I was replacing a flat on my 14k trailer yesterday and noticed some weird wear on the other tire. It is a Goodyear Wrangler, probably close to 40,000 miles on it. The irregular wear is only on 1/4 of the tire, the rest shows almost no wear at all. I wonder why I didn't feel a vibration as bad as it looks...about 4 or 5 bands of wear. Any ideas on what would cause it? Tire casing looks fine, no breaks or tread separation. Rim is fine...but trailer has always squealed the tires when turning on round-a-bouts. I'm wondering if I have an axle alignment problem? If so, how do you check it?
 
Eldon: Several things
1) I never had very good luck with truck/car tires on trailers. The side walls are made for different load stresses. So buy trailer tires and they will last longer.

2) The unusual wear is more than likely a broke cord in the tire. That weakens the tire so when that spot is down under load it wears differently.

3) As how to check trailer alignment. I always measure from the hitch ball to each side of each axle and make sure all the dimensions are the same for each axle.
 
To me that looks like a belt break. Balance can cause a wear spot, and so can a bad shock, (or no shock). But the diagonal full width of the wear to me indicates internal trouble. It looks like an AT series. I do not think it is a trailer rated tire. Check maximum weight pressure and load range. Jimand
 
(quoted from post at 20:59:32 10/02/15) To me that looks like a belt break. Balance can cause a wear spot, and so can a bad shock, (or no shock). But the diagonal full width of the wear to me indicates internal trouble. It looks like an AT series. I do not think it is a trailer rated tire. Check maximum weight pressure and load range. Jimand

My experience with a belt break is the tire will twist up when you let the air out. This one looks fine and the inside is nice and smooth yet. I suppose it could be though, as the wear pattern is on a diagonal....
As for running LT tires on a trailer, I have done this for years with good results. I buy a new trailer every 5 years and run over 10,000 miles per year. My last trailer had Chinese tires on it and they all blew around 40,000 miles even though they showed hardly any wear. I put these tires on it, all mismatched and when I bought a new trailer two years ago the Chinese ST tires went on the old trailer before I sold it. This tire was sold to me in Bend Oregon for $50 three years ago (who knows how old it was then) when one of the Chinese tires blew and I needed a spare....I guess it has paid for itself. I am now running 3 Michelin LTX's that I paid $50 for a set of 4 takeoffs...I'd take them over a GY any day!

I took an ST tire off my 14k dump trailer in to be fixed yesterday and they wouldn't fix it....said the belts were separating in that tire! I will be replacing it with an LT tire also.
 
Your trailer brakes could be grabbing just a little at that point in rotation will usually happen when you're pulling the trailer empty.Once a flat place on the tire is
started it'll get worse with wear.I have a switch on my brake controller to turn the brakes off when the trailer is empty or light loaded.
 
I do not put that many miles on a trailer. Just run what ever I can find, All mixed tires, bias traler or car radial or LT radial and no problem ever mixing them. I also do not think broken belt as every body else says. I have had a lot of broken belt tires, 3 showed up in one single day on my car once. I am inclined to think that it is also a brake problem as in bad drum or rotor if disk breaks making it slide a bit when those pads or shoes hit those certain spots.
 
http://blog.allstate.com/tire-wear-patterns-what-do-they-mean/

Are Google tire ware patterns

tire wear cupping

Its not a broke belt its more of a out of balance issue, Your brakes grabbing and sorry arse goodyear tires. That's the norm for that type of tire/tread pattern but it owes you nut'N if it has 40K on them.

The next question/discussion,,,, when is a trailer axle in perfect alignment.
A) never
B) unloaded
C) Loaded
D) All of the above
 
If that wear is pretty straight across the tread you likely just have a ballance problem. If it is more
diagonal and when you run your hand across it it grabs one way but not the other then you likely have a
bent axle or worn out suspension. That is if you found only one tire like that.
 
This should help.
a202203.jpg
 
First it looks like you have wear on the inside thread all the way around the tire.
That is a tracking or a negative camber problem.

Second you have a diagonal wear across the tire.
On a trailer with matched tires that is usually a wheel bearing issue.
But since you said you mix and match tires I would lean to that as the problem.
Diagonal wear can also be aggravated by alignment problems.

Since tracking can cause both of these problems; I would be checking the alignment first.

The cupping and flat spot wear caused by out of balance; worn shocks; or braking issues; is usually straight across the tire so I do not think any of these are the problem.

To check your alignment measure from the hitch point to a axle point on each side.
This can be hard to do sometimes due to under trailer interference.
What you can do is mount a straight edge that is wider than the trailer across the front of the trailer.
Measure from outside edges of this straight edge to the hitch point to get it perfectly straight.
Then measure down the side of the trailer from the straight edge to the center of the axle.
Wear patterns
 
(quoted from post at 06:24:00 10/03/15) First it looks like you have wear on the inside thread all the way around the tire.
That is a tracking or a negative camber problem.

Second you have a diagonal wear across the tire.
On a trailer with matched tires that is usually a wheel bearing issue.
But since you said you mix and match tires I would lean to that as the problem.
Diagonal wear can also be aggravated by alignment problems.

Since tracking can cause both of these problems; I would be checking the alignment first.

The cupping and flat spot wear caused by out of balance; worn shocks; or braking issues; is usually straight across the tire so I do not think any of these are the problem.

To check your alignment measure from the hitch point to a axle point on each side.
This can be hard to do sometimes due to under trailer interference.
What you can do is mount a straight edge that is wider than the trailer across the front of the trailer.
Measure from outside edges of this straight edge to the hitch point to get it perfectly straight.
Then measure down the side of the trailer from the straight edge to the center of the axle.
Wear patterns

Yes there is wear around the inside of the tire...and I am thinking it is an alignment problem just because of this and the tire squealing going thru round-a-bouts. I guess I will see how the Michelins wear and go from there as I don't have a lot of $$$$ tied up in rubber right now. If I still get a wear problem this trailer will probably get traded in as I don't have faith in getting a true alignment on it. This was one of the first PJ trailers that came out of the new Ohio plant....maybe things weren't set up right at the factory. It is the first PJ trailer that I have had a tire wear/squealing problem with.
 
After 20 years in the tire business I'm inclined to agree with Hobo. Some brands/styles just seem to start cupping. Seen it
many times before and never seen it pinned down to any one particular issue. The thing is, once it starts its impossible to
stop.
 
Looks to me it's out of balance. Even trailer tires need to be balanced to keep from wearing uneven. Make sure there isn't seperation of
tread from the steel belt. that will show up as a blister or swollen tire in that area. Those are dangerous and should always be deflated
before handling them. I saw a man take one off of an anhydrous applicator that had a blister under the tread. As he was carrying it the tread
pealed like a banana and hit him between the chest and waist line. He was off work for two weeks. It sounded like a cannon going off.
Most people don't know it but tires are bombs just waiting to explode if you don't know what to look for. Once you've been hit or injured by
one you'll know this and never forget. I'm one that knows!!! I was one of the lucky ones to be able to tell my story...
 

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