Tire pressure

[pjanits]

I have approx 5~6,000 miles now on my Northern Tool 14 inch tire. A new axle from Dexter with the same mileage. The max tire pressure on the tires is 50 psi. I run them at 50 psi. My question is the center of the tires look like brand new but both sides of each tire show wear indicating under pressure.
Can I safely raise the pressure? If so how much?

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...0258_200330258

[Jack L]

You should never exceed the maximum tire pressure recommended on the tire. I would check the bearings to see if they are properly adjusted.

[Byron Kinnaman]

All the knowledge you have of passenger car tires much doesn't apply to trailer tires directly. First you didn't say how old the tires were, mileage doesn't matter much, age is much more important. If your tires are over 5 to 6 years old they need to be replaced no matter the mileage or tread wear.

You are correct to inflate to maximum side wall pressure.
You can tell the age of the tire by looking at the date code on the tire.

[Casita Greg]

Did you get your tires balanced before you put them on? Are you sure that the replacement axle was truly aligned to the trailer and is not causing scuffing of the tread by being out of alignment with the frame?

[floyd]

First point, a single axle installed out of square with the trailer will dogtrack but it will not affect tire wear.
When I bought my Scamp it came with "B" rated tires which were not adequate for the weight of the trailer. Sidewall said 35#. On expert advice,I ran them at 40# for 27,000 miles and several years. I replaced them with "C" rated tires which I now run at 50#.
Goodyear recommends to exceed sidewall pressure on the Marathon by as much as 10# for sustained high speeds.
Not having seen the tires in question, it would be impossible to make a responsible recommendation.
I have seen the condition described actually being the result of imminent tread separation or shifted belts on some SOB tires.

[Jack L]

I looked at the Northern tool link and noticed those tires are Bias, not Radial construction. Bias tires tend to have a more curved tread edge, where radial tires have a tread that has edges that have a more definite square look. Your tires may be just fine. Have you accurately measured the tread depth on both edges and the middle ? The nomenclature in the tire size is industry standard. With a
205-75-D-14, tire the "D" designates Bias construction. R designates Radial

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Jack L

I looked at the Northern tool link and noticed those tires are Bias, not Radial construction. Bias tires tend to have a more curved tread edge, where radial tires have a tread that has edges that have a more definite square look. Your tires may be just fine. Have you accurately measured the tread depth on both edges and the middle ? The nomenclature in the tire size is industry standard. With a
205-75-D-14, tire the "D" designates Bias construction. R designates Radial

Good point

[The Minimalist]

Originally Posted by Jack L

Bias tires tend to have a more curved tread edge, where radial tires have a tread that has edges that have a more definite square look.

Is this backward? Maybe we are talking about different things.This would likely be true regarding the width of the tread. Bias ply tires are more square on the tread edges. If they are rounding out there, there may be a problem.

Now to the question.

First, if you don't have a real need, and are traveling at the rated speed for the pressure, I'd be careful about raising the pressure until you check a couple of other areas.

There are two 17 foot Burros in "Trailer Weights In the Real World". Both totaled out at 3260 lbs, loaded for camping.

Per the Northern link, Your new tires are rated at 1760 lbs per, or 3520 lb total. If the tires are inflated to max and the tire wear is even on both sides of both tires, you might want to check the pressures with another gauge. If that checks out, have the trailer weighed at a certified weigh station( state certified for commerce}. You may be overloaded for those tires.

A tread depth gauge will give you empirical data on tread wear......better than going by 'look', and they are cheap at any parts store. I always carry one in the tool box.

Regards. Hope you can solve your problem.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by The Minimalist

Is this backward? Maybe we are talking about different things.This would likely be true regarding the width of the tread. Bias ply tires are more square on the tread edges. If they are rounding out there, there may be a problem.

Now to the question.

First, if you don't have a real need, and are traveling at the rated speed for the pressure, I'd be careful about raising the pressure until you check a couple of other areas.

There are two 17 foot Burros in "Trailer Weights In the Real World". Both totaled out at 3260 lbs, loaded for camping.

Per the Northern link, Your new tires are rated at 1760 lbs per, or 3520 lb total. If the tires are inflated to max and the tire wear is even on both sides of both tires, you might want to check the pressures with another gauge. If that checks out, have the trailer weighed at a certified weigh station( state certified for commerce}. You may be overloaded for those tires.

A tread depth gauge will give you empirical data on tread wear......better than going by 'look', and they are cheap at any parts store. I always carry one in the tool box.

Regards. Hope you can solve your problem.

Many 17 WBs came with 13" wheels
Plus it was a common problem on straight axles and twin I-Beam axles for bias tires to wear the first tread in from each side... Radials solved the problem (but that was mostly on steering axles). Go figger.

[Steve L.]

Bias tires. Good luck with those. You'll likely get only 20-30K miles before wear out, if you keep them on long enough and depending on how many miles you put on in a year. It'll be a race between wear out and age deterioration.

Having a trailer tire wear out just when they get to be 5 or 6 years old isn't such a bad thing, but the lack of steel belts and the resultant lack of road hazard resistance have put me off bias tires. But for some the price point is everything.

[pjanits]

Thanks everybody. I don't have the bathroom version but my wife does carry a lot of shoes. It's possible I could be too heavy, I'll try to get it weighed next time out. The wear is not severe on the sides and it's even so maybe for
my setup it's normal.

[The Minimalist]

Originally Posted by floyd

Many 17 WBs came with 13" wheels
Plus it was a common problem on straight axles and twin I-Beam axles for bias tires to wear the first tread in from each side... Radials solved the problem (but that was mostly on steering axles). Go figger.

Interesting story on the twin I-beam suspension. When Ford introduced the twin I-beam, most pickups were being used off the road, for which the twin I-beam was great, allowing much more vertical and independent movement to the wheels. As more and more trucks were used on the highways, the constant camber changes on some roads, not to mention the in and out motion of the hubs as the axles swung the arc, would scrub the tires crossways over the pavement, feathering the tire edges quickly. Stiffening the front springs and shocks helped. I think they changed the length of the axes as well to address the problem.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by The Minimalist

Interesting story on the twin I-beam suspension. When Ford introduced the twin I-beam, most pickups were being used off the road, for which the twin I-beam was great, allowing much more vertical and independent movement to the wheels. As more and more trucks were used on the highways, the constant camber changes on some roads, not to mention the in and out motion of the hubs as the axles swung the arc, would scrub the tires crossways over the pavement, feathering the tire edges quickly. Stiffening the front springs and shocks helped. I think they changed the length of the axes as well to address the problem.

Early Twin I-Beam axles used kingpins like a typical straight axle.
The twin I-Beam was redesigned with upper and lower ball joints which allowed for alignment adjustments. This along with the advent of radial tires eliminated the odd tread wear.
In fact I quit rotating tires on my twin I-Beam trucks after the redesign since the front tires wore so evenly and with so little scrub that they would last through two sets of rear tires. Never did an alignment either.
My last Ranger left home with 203,000 miles and no issues.
I have however changed many lower ball joints on fleet trucks with Twin I-Beam, even though they proved to be at least as durable as the competitive designs from other makes.

[MCDenny]

I had (have?) same issue with 14" bias trailer tires on my Snoozy. Pretty careful to check pressure but not vigilant enough to examine tread all around. Had one tire blow out on freeway, the other looked like this



Approximately 20,000 miles on tires. Still don't know why shoulders wore like that. Sure looks like gross underinflation but I know that's not the root cause. Crappy cheapo tires?

I'd love to find a way to fit 16" wheels with LT tires but haven't made the effort. Even better would be to make it so the Jeep spare would fit on the trailer.

More here

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by MCDenny

..
More here

So you have had the new tires for about eight months now? From your blog it sounds like maybe you have put very few miles on since replacing the tires but as you add milage, please keep us posted... I really think that by 20,000 miles you will see similar wear on your new tires (because the cause is not the tires themselves). That is my guess.

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by gordon2

So you have had the new tires for about eight months now? From your blog it sounds like maybe you have put very few miles on since replacing the tires but as you add milage, please keep us posted... I really think that by 20,000 miles you will see similar wear on your new tires (because the cause is not the tires themselves). That is my guess.

Less than 2,000 miles on the tires so they still look new.

I agree, the same abnormal wear will probably happen again as I haven't changed anything. Wish I could figure out what caused both shoulders to wear off.

Trailer has rubber torsion axles, seems like if camber was off just one shoulder would wear, if wheels weren't parallel (toe in or out) the whole tread width would wear. ???

First set of tires were not balanced but I don't see how imbalance would cause the problem. Second set has been - just in case I'm wrong about that.

[charlsara]

One of mine was wearing like that. The wheel bearing on that side was loose. I adjusted the bearing and swapped the tires around on the wheels so the wear is on the outside. We have 16,000 on the trailer. So far it is wearing ok. If I get 20,000 on these cheap 14" tires I will be satisfied.


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[Mike Magee]

I have seen trailer tires that had significantly deeper tread in the center than near the edges. Those tires may be wearing evenly, considering what was there to start with. Not sure. You'd have to measure the tread on a new NT tire to know if that's the deal.

BTW, I had a tire store put some tires on my Hauley and they wore like iron. I was very skeptical when they told me they were selling me "the good tires," since I never heard of them before: AKURET brand. But I got over 40,000 miles out of the one (the other wore on one side too much at about 30K due to a bearing issue). Best trailer tires I ever had.

[Borden]

We have st radials and they are working great.

[Darral T.]

What brand?

Originally Posted by Borden

We have st radials and they are working great.