Maintenance & Restoration

Arno · 04-12-2011, 12:53 PM

Hi! New here and first post,
Just purchased a Trillium 4500. Previous owner delivered it for us as we currently don’t have a hitch, so I haven’t had the opportunity to personally take it for a test tow.
Today, out of curiosity, I decided to check the wheel alignment and discovered that the left wheel has toe-in of 1/2” to frame, Also verified by measuring to opposite wheel. Is this a safety or handling concern? Will I experience severe tire wear? Can the axle be straightened?

kevin61 · 04-12-2011, 02:20 PM

The axle is meant to have a slight camber. It shouldn't pose a problem

Arno · 04-12-2011, 03:03 PM

Thanks for responding Kevin61 but it’s not the camber that I am referring to. The problem is the wheel is toed in with reference to the frame and also the opposite wheel by ½”. The measured difference from front (9 o’clock) of wheel to back (3 o’clock) of wheel.

Darwin Maring · 04-12-2011, 04:39 PM

What kind of wear pattern on the tires?

My Scamp axle was not installed aligned with the hitch so when we installed a new (BOLT ON) axle we made sure it was aligned with the hitch. Measure from the center of your hitch to each tire to see what you get.

Arno · 04-12-2011, 05:18 PM

The tires have been recently replaced so there is no wear pattern. I will measure to the hitch but even if the measurements from tire to hitch are equal, the ½” toe-in problem still remains.

cpaharley2008 · 04-12-2011, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arno

The tires have been recently replaced so there is no wear pattern. I will measure to the hitch but even if the measurements from tire to hitch are equal, the ½” toe-in problem still remains.

I would not worry about it until you load it up with gear and then recheck it. I can not imagine a 1/2" will make any difference in towing nor tire wear. That is why I never measured mine, it tows fine and there is no abnormal wear. Use it and see.

Darwin Maring · 04-12-2011, 07:14 PM

I would suggest that you call the seller and ask him about the tires.
cpaharley2008 is totally right as the measurement may change when you get it loaded up.

BC Paul · 04-12-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arno

Thanks for responding Kevin61 but it’s not the camber that I am referring to. The problem is the wheel is toed in with reference to the frame and also the opposite wheel by ½”. The measured difference from front (9 o’clock) of wheel to back (3 o’clock) of wheel.

I wouldn't wait until you notice your tire wearing unevenly before you look into it. Set up a string line and get some accurate measurements. Have you jacked it up and given the wheel a spin? Maybe the rim has taken a hit and no longer runs true.

Cheers,

Andrew GPSMapNut · 04-13-2011, 11:12 AM

IMHO 1/2" is a bit too much.
If it is a straight axle, have a look at the section between the leaf springs - hitting a stump or something like that could bend it and the mark may be visible. A typical straight axle should be straight with trailer loaded or not. No camber no toe-in.
If you need a new axle, Princess Auto has them now on sale or at least did have them (in Ontario) last week. You may find a match. http://www.princessauto.com/trailer/...axles/list-all
If you have torsion bar suspension, I have no first hand experience with it but, I'm thinking, if it is bolted to the frame, there may be some adjustment possible. Just a thought...

Bruce Thomas · 04-13-2011, 11:18 AM

toe is determined wheel to wheel not wheel to frame which may not be straight....jack up and spin each wheel and slowly move a screwdriver or something towards the tire tread area ..hold it steady with something while doing it..to leave a small scratch line all the way around( it'll be true)...then measure the front and rear scribed lines for your actual toe.........Bruce

Donna D. · 04-13-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Thomas

toe is determined wheel to wheel not wheel to frame which may not be straight....jack up and spin each wheel and slowly move a screwdriver or something towards the tire tread area ..hold it steady with something while doing it..to leave a small scratch line all the way around( it'll be true)...then measure the front and rear scribed lines for your actual toe.........Bruce

A piece of chalk works! Don't need to gouge the tire with anything sharp.

Arno · 04-13-2011, 03:28 PM

Thanks for the replies. I did measure wheel to wheel for the toe using the tread as a reference. Results = ½” toe-in. The wheel to frame measurement was used to help determine to what degree each wheel was contributing to the problem. Results; Right wheel measured perfect to frame. Left wheel = ½” toe-in. This confirms that the left wheel is the culprit.

Next I’ll try Bruce’s suggestion of jacking the frame and spinning the wheel whilst measuring to the frame. This would determine the possibility of a bent rim. And yes, I’ll use Donna’s chalk scribing method. This is how we did it many decades ago in mekanic skool.

Once again, thanks for all the feed back! Awesome forum you got here!

Darwin Maring · 04-13-2011, 05:02 PM

B sure to listen to the wheel bearings while rotating the wheel. A bad bearing could cause the wheel to measure bad. Hold the top of the wheel and pull out and in to C if there is any play.

If the axle is not lined up perfect with the camper hitch, the frame measurement could B off and you could actually B ok. How about 1/4 inch off on each side?

You really need a starting point and then analyze it in steps.

Arno · 04-14-2011, 03:50 PM

Good news! As suggested, I measured from the tongue to each wheel and the difference is within 1/16”. As Darwin pointed out, this would divide the ½” toe-in equally between the 2 wheels resulting in ¼” toe –in for each wheel. This is still excessive by automotive standards but I’m thinking that as the trailer is being pulled, the wheels would have a tendency to toe–out, and considering the trailing arms are merely mounted in rubber, this toe-out effect would be magnified. What do you think? Am I good to go?

Arno · 04-14-2011, 04:23 PM

Here’s another thought. If my assumptions of the resulting excessive toe-out, (regarding rubber mounted trailing arms while the trailer is in motion) is correct, maybe the toe-in is intentionally engineered into the axle to compensate. Has anyone measured their toe-in?