Irregular tire wear...

[MTGunner]

I bought a 1994 17' Bigfoot that show irregular tire wear on the drivers side. Can someone with same Bigfoot give me the dimensions from the center of the trailer hitch to the center of the hubs. I believe the axle may be out of alignment. Thanks for the help.

[Casita Greg]

Most trailer frames will not be exactly the same, and where they mount the axles can differ between trailers, even of the same make and model. Having those dimensions from somebody else's trailer really isn't as good as just measuring your own, (left and right to the ball hitch,) to see if your trailer's axles are equally aligned relative to your hitch. Also, if your wheels haven't been balanced, that can make a lot of difference as to tire wear as well, because often times, they aren't balanced. I personally feel that all tires should be balanced, whether on a trailer or any other vehicle.

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Most trailer frames will not be exactly the same, and where they mount the axles can differ between trailers, even of the same make and model. Having those dimensions from somebody else's trailer really isn't as good as just measuring your own, (left and right to the ball hitch,) to see if your trailer's axles are equally aligned relative to your hitch. Also, if your wheels haven't been balanced, that can make a lot of difference as to tire wear as well, because often times, they aren't balanced. I personally feel that all tires should be balanced, whether on a trailer or any other vehicle.

+2 on what Greg said.

[MTGunner]

The wear was on the very inside of the tire and only the one side. I will have them balanced. It just seems very strange that the extreme wear was only one side and the inside of the tire itself. Again, will have new tires balanced.

[Jack L]

Bearings that are improperly adjusted or a broken belt in a radial tire can also cause this.

[David B.]

Ours had unusual wear also as you have described, and it was cured after I brought the trailer to a trailer shop that did alignments. Your axle has a bend in it from the factory, and it needed a little more to make the tire contact to the ground better.
Dave & Paula

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by MTGunner

I bought a 1994 17' Bigfoot that show irregular tire wear on the drivers side. Can someone with same Bigfoot give me the dimensions from the center of the trailer hitch to the center of the hubs. I believe the axle may be out of alignment. Thanks for the help.

We had the same problem with a new Casita. After 1,000 miles the tire was worn on one side. We took it to an axle shop and when they measured it from hub to ball it was less than 1/4 inch off but they cut the axle off and rewelded it. We've been several thousand miles since and no more unusual wear. Always balance your trailer tires also. Some tire people say it is not needed but if it's not needed why balance car tires. The same wear will happen to a trailer tire. An axle shop shouldn't charge you for measuring it.

[Jack L]

Tom with your Bigfoot and Jann with your Casita. The Bigfoot has a leaf spring axle and if it is out of alignment it needs to be replaced or straightened. The Casita has a torsion axle with entirely different suspension. It sounds like Jann's axle was mounted incorrectly if it needed to be cut off and re welded. In both cases, an axle shop or utility trailer shop would be a good source of information.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Jack L

Tom with your Bigfoot and Jann with your Casita. The Bigfoot has a leaf spring axle and if it is out of alignment it needs to be replaced or straightened. The Casita has a torsion axle with entirely different suspension. It sounds like Jann's axle was mounted incorrectly if it needed to be cut off and re welded. In both cases, an axle shop or utility trailer shop would be a good source of information.

You are 100% correct on the Casita. The axle was mounted incorrectly at the Casita factory but it shows that less than 1/4 inch causes a huge problem with the tires. An axle shop did take care of the problem and costs between shops can be huge. We were quoted anywhere from $75-$150 at the time we had to have it done. Took about an hour for us. But we used a very reputable shop as well and it was the cheaper price.

[drd715]

I have a 1978 Trillium 4500 that has been displaying tire wear on the inside of both tires. It has a torsion axle. I intend to pull the box off the frame soon as it could use a thorough derusting between the box and frame. I'll have a good look at the torsion axle to see if the axle holes where the torsion shart comes out have worn elliptical. I suspect the holes have elongated toward the back and allow the axle shaft to toe out thus the wear pattern. It will be an interesting project. I'm thinking of beefing up the forward frame, lengthening the forward section a couple of feet and adding a "U" channel across the front for a 250cc motorcycle. Probably put on a 2 inch ball receiver so I won't have to swap balls between my other trailers that are all 2 inch. Hopefully I can fix the tire wear problem in the process.

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