Tire Rotation Question

[Kevin K]

Can you rotate the tires on a 13' Scamp from left to right? Or is this not a good idea. Thinking about doing this ever fall after camping season is done.

[Steve L.]

Assuming they're radial tires, it shouldn't hurt. But my first question would be how do the tires look now? Any irregular wear? I support buying new tires every 5-6 years regardless of tread life. In my case, not enough miles (about 13,000) to develop irregular wear before I replace them.

[Kevin K]

Brand new tires April 2008. So radials would be OK to rotate.

[Alan Weinel]

Short answer is Generally yes.

The OLD rules for Radials was NOT to do it - could cause internal slippage of the belts. no longer an issue

The ONLY time you shouldn't do it now is if the tread itself is "directional".

Ask a tire shop.

Can you rotate the tires on a 13' Scamp from left to right? Or is this not a good idea. Thinking about doing this ever fall after camping season is done.

[Owen Lindsay]

Hi Kevin
The tire rotation is not as important as ensuring you have the right type of tire on your trailer. A regular passenger radial has a weak sidewall and you will find a lot of sidewall bounce and sway. A "ST" or special trailer tire will prevent most of this. Keep them inflated to manufacturer's recommendations and check your wheel bearings regularly.
Tire manufacturers recommend replacing RV tires every seven years regardless of mileage as the sun checking will weaken the rubber and cause a good looking tire to fail when you least need it to. Covering your wheels when parked to lessen sun damage to your tires also helps.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Generally speaking, trailer tires are going to get old or suffer damage long before they actually wear out, presuming there are no balance or alignment problems.

I don't see a need to rotate the tires except if one wants to spread the wear over three tires instead of just two.