I have a 2016 16TBS with about 5-6,000 miles on it and the tires are worn on the inside on both sides. One side more than the other. I know I have them at the correct air because I use a Tireminder system. What could it be??
Could possibly be one of two things, although a combination of a number of different issues could cause this issue. First could be the alignment of the axles/tires on the trailer. Second could be the tow vehicle alignment. From reading your note below re: tire wear on the inside of tires on both sides of the trailer - sounds as if you may have a toe out issue with the trailer axles/spindles.
Quote from: Popup2012 on February 17, 2017, 07:03:42 PM
I have a 2016 16TBS with about 5-6,000 miles on it and the tires are worn on the inside on both sides. One side more than the other. I know I have them at the correct air because I use a Tireminder system. What could it be??
I assume you have the single axle model. Thor/LL went to a single 4400# axle on the 16TBS when they bought out LL. Make sure you are not overloading the camper. It doesn't take much water, propane, battery, stuff to add up to 1000# and overload that axle. Weigh it at a truck scale. Folks on other forums have had similar problems with single axle campers and the torsion axles. If you suspect an axle problem you can contact LL with the axle model number for verification. Faulty axles have been found.
EDIT: Check this archive thread: http://archive.aluminiumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1110.msg26161#msg26161 (http://archive.aluminiumcamperforum.com/index.php?topic=1110.msg26161#msg26161)
No I have one of the last dual axle TBS and they are both 3500 lb.( if I remember correctly)
What brand and type of tires? Since you have a dual axle trailer with the Dexter axles and all 4 tires are wearing oddly, I'm going to guess it's not alignment and that good radial tires would fix the problem. You could do a quick rear frame to axle measurement to make sure everything is square, but I bet alignment is ok. You probably have the cheap bias ply tires that often have wear pattern issues. Get some Maxxis or Carlisle radials and you'll get a better tread contact pattern and more even wear. Did you make sure the TireMinder system is accurate at 50 psi? Because over-inflation will mess with wear too.
I would agree the dual Dexter axles are not likely to be the problem. At 7000# total they easily handle the 16TBS. I've not heard of anyone having troubles with them except early tire wear out with Made In China tires. IIRC FasteddyB wore out a set of Chinas in 5000-7000 miles whereas my BFG AT KOs have more than 30K miles with no wear showing. To paraphrase an old saying: You can have good tires or cheap tires - your choice.
I have a 2013 16TBS with dual axles. Late last season I had to replace the right rear tire as it had worn beyond the wear bars. The others looked fine. This was after 5-8,000 miles. I didn't think to check for alignment then as I just assumed it was a crappy tire out of the batch. When spring comes and the snow melts I will check for alignment issues and report what I find. If it is bad alignment it probably means a bent or defective axle as the fore/aft spacing looks fine and if it were installed wrong, ie crooked, you would expect wear on the opposite tire.
David
I looked at the tires and I have Ridgeway Sport ST 175/80D13. I got the TT in Jan,2016 with a build date of Aug 2015. The tires have a date on them of Mar 14.
Ok, so you have 3 year old bias ply tires made by Lionshead, one of the large suppliers of OEM tires to the RV industry. There are very few reviews of those tires and I don't know where they are made. However, I think that 3 year old OEM bias ply tires with 6000 miles on them that are wearing funny are definitely candidates for replacement. As I noted earlier, I recommend a set of Maxxis or Carlisle radial ply tires in the correct size and don't look back.
Right now the Carlisle Radial Trail HD and the Maxxis M8008 are both available in that size from Discount Tire Direct for around $77 each and they are offering a rebate of $100 on a set of 4, with free shipping. (Even another $60 on top of that if you have their credit card.)That makes them such a great price that you should seriously consider it. I may even contact Paul about the idea of having place on the forum to post good deals on needed parts and equipment because lots of folks need tires and getting a set of 4 Maxxis radials for just over $200 is like stealing them.
If you order from Discount Tire Direct, do you have to pay someone else to mount and balance?
Quote from: Popup2012 on February 20, 2017, 04:31:36 PM
If you order from Discount Tire Direct, do you have to pay someone else to mount and balance?
Not if you are my brother in law. But he has his own tire mounting and balancing machines.
No kids, for the win !!!
Yeah, you can't balance until they go on the wheels.
Quote from: Popup2012 on February 20, 2017, 04:31:36 PM
If you order from Discount Tire Direct, do you have to pay someone else to mount and balance?
Yes, should be about $12-$15 per tire at a tire store or WalMart, etc (unless you use Pinstriper's sister's husband, in which case it would be double that).
Quote from: Popup2012 on February 20, 2017, 04:31:36 PM
If you order from Discount Tire Direct, do you have to pay someone else to mount and balance?
I think you can have them sent directly to a local tire shop if you wish at checkout They tell you what the cost is to mount balence stems, etc when you select the tire shop if you go that route.
I will also be looking for new tires soon.
The tire direct information is great!
Any recommendations about taking camper to the tire shop or taking the wheels to the tire shop one-by-one, two at a time, or all four in one trip?
Thanks
Quote from: Whipfinisher on February 21, 2017, 09:26:55 PM
I will also be looking for new tires soon.
The tire direct information is great!
Any recommendations about taking camper to the tire shop or taking the wheels to the tire shop one-by-one, two at a time, or all four in one trip?
Thanks
Unless your tire shop is familiar with RVs or you are wiling to watch carefully where they place the jacks, I recommend you take the wheels/tires as a set of 4 in one trip. It's very important to use the frame of the trailer and not the axle to jack up an RV and I'm not at all sure that most tire shop personnel know that. They would likely just slip their jacks under any convenient fast place (read axle) and jack away, probably bending the axle. If you have a bottle jack or floor jack you can fairly easily jack up one side, take off the wheels and lower it onto wood supports (at the frame) and then do the other side. Also, both the tire places near me have parking lots that are not good for turning around a trailer.
Edit: I guess I should add that if you are not comfortable with jacking and supporting your RV without any wheels, it's also fine to take the wheels/tires them one at a time to the shop!
Thanks for recommendation. I'll take the tires to the shop.
Etrailer for the tires, good price's a variety of tires and free shipping. I took them to the local tire shop for mounting and balance. It was about $40 with the tax.
Well I am going to have to take it to a tire shop but will stand there and make sure they put the jack in the correct place. I got the Maxxis 8008 in today and they are made in Thailand, not China. Discount Tire Direct was a really good deal with the $100 dollars off(President day sale).
79$ x 4 plus tax=343 -100=243 plus $60 installation and $16 for stems=319
Discount Tire here in Austin wanted out the door $509
After having the tires put on at Discount tires, I kept the old tires. Put then up for sale on line and got 80$ for them in no time. So 319 -80$ =239$ a great deal. Also Discount tires put high pressure metal valve stems as part of the installation of tires. Another plus was Discount Tire Direct sent me my 100$ rebate 12 days after I mailed in the paper work.
Just a quick update: The current issue of Trailer Life magazine noted that Goodyear just released a line of U.S. made radial trailer tires named Endurance. No reviews yet, but may end up being another alternative to cheap China-made trailer tires?
Quote from: Merlin on July 12, 2017, 11:47:40 AM
Just a quick update: The current issue of Trailer Life magazine noted that Goodyear just released a line of U.S. made radial trailer tires named Endurance. No reviews yet, but may end up being another alternative to cheap China-made trailer tires?
On other sites such as the Goodsam forums and IRV2, people seem to be having good experiences with the endurance tires so far; of course it is early. The Endurance tires along with the Carlisle Radial Trail HDs seem to be providing really good service based on what people are posting. The Maxxis 8080 tires are up there too. I have the Carlisle Radial Trails on my 21BHS and they've been great for the last year and a half so far. I would be tempted to try the Endurance tires next time.
Eventually enough of the Endurance tires will be sold on the Tire Rack for them to post reviews and ratings. It's good to know that other forums have some positive posts about them. My move to radial Maxxis 8080 tires was probably the single best mod I have done to our camper in terms of safety, reliability, and towability. They are so much better than the Lionshead bias ply tires that came on our camper it isn't funny.
Quote from: Merlin on July 12, 2017, 01:58:10 PM
Eventually enough of the Endurance tires will be sold on the Tire Rack for them to post reviews and ratings. It's good to know that other forums have some positive posts about them. My move to radial Maxxis 8080 tires was probably the single best mod I have done to our camper in terms of safety, reliability, and towability. They are so much better than the Lionshead bias ply tires that came on our camper it isn't funny.
Agree. I feel the same way about the Carlisle Radial Trails I got. Good tires make a big difference, including peace of mind.