Trailer tires wearing badly

[NonHyphenAmerican]

Cheap Chinese axles don't come aligned correctly. Even a single axle out of alignment can cause that type of wear.

Towed a tandem axle 6x12 Wells Cargo Trailer almost 400,000 miles in the 90's and early 2000's. Can almost guarantee that's an out of alignment axle.

I found our local alignment shop "Bud & Steve's Auto" to be the best bet for aligning the axle correctly.

It takes some heat on the axle but it can be done by a competent alignment shop for a reasonable fee.

[Horsepen]

Have you ever had the tires balanced?

[Blessed]

Have you ever had the tires balanced?

No... that is a great point and I'm sure didn't help things on the Interstate... When I put the new tires on I'm gonna use counteract balancing beads... we recently put it in our motorhome tires that would shake your fillings out... smoothed it right out.... man what a difference it made... also reduced the tire temperature significantly which was a surprise...

I check the tires every time we stop at a service station... they always run very hot... hot enough you can't hold your hand on them... after we added the counteract I can hold my hand on them no problem... I wish I would have checked the temp before and after....

[Blessed]

Cheap Chinese axles don't come aligned correctly. Even a single axle out of alignment can cause that type of wear.

Towed a tandem axle 6x12 Wells Cargo Trailer almost 400,000 miles in the 90's and early 2000's. Can almost guarantee that's an out of alignment axle.

I found our local alignment shop "Bud & Steve's Auto" to be the best bet for aligning the axle correctly.

It takes some heat on the axle but it can be done by a competent alignment shop for a reasonable fee.

I know it is... it's bowed down a 1/8" in the middle... I'm just gonna replace it... I can get a new axle with disc brakes for $475.00, 1. Because the original axle isn't strong enough and 2. I've been wanting to add brakes to it since I bought it... now's my chance. Disc brake kit is $473.00... why bother with adding the brake kit when I can get the right axle and be done with it.

The thing pulls fantastic like it is... can barely tell it's behind my truck, it's super easy to backup and the tongue weight is perfect...

I'm gonna scale it and see exactly what it weighs full of fuel with all our usual gear onboard... then I'll go from there... was planning on weighing it this past weekend but things came up and didn't get the chance...

If I can't get a single axle for the weight... I'll just add one more and move em' back to get my tongue weight... we'll see... I'd really like to keep it single axle if possible.

[kryptonite]

The axle should be bowed up slightly in the middle, not down.

[babock]

Make sure you buy the disc brake actuator. A drum brake actuator will cause your disc brakes to drag.

[Blessed]

The axle should be bowed up slightly in the middle, not down.

I talked to the warranty guy from Tracker today and that's exactly what be said... should have an upward arch... my trailer is 5 years old so the warranty has expired... but he suggested flipping the axle over and measure it again...

I think I might try that...

[babock]

What happens when you jack up the trailer by the frame on each side? What happens to the bow?

[Blessed]

What happens when you jack up the trailer by the frame on each side? What happens to the bow?

Not sure but I'll give it a try... we'll see how much it changes...

He told me the shipping weight of the boat was 1711 lbs... I've added an extra battery, trolling motor, and aluminum underpinning and some misc. stuff... no way it's overloaded... trailer payload is 2950#... shouldn't be anywhere near that with fuel and gear...

BobG mentioned Tennessee required brakes on trailers above 3000#... I looked it up and he is correct... see screenshot below...



So I called Tracker today and spoke with the warranty guy... He admitted that it was purchased as a boat and trailer package and that it was the retailers responsibility to make sure the packages they order and sell meet local requirements and that I would have to speak to the dealership that sold it...

I called them this afternoon and the "Boss" wasn't in the office today... I spoke with the service manager and he told me to bring it to them with a copy of the state law and he would see what they could do... Everyone that I have spoke to and dealt with from Tracker at this point have been very friendly and helpful... we'll see what happens...

[babock]

I am going to repost what I posted before:

Dry weight for the fishin barge is 1830(from NADA)#. Weight of the 90HP motor is 400#. Let's say 500# for the trailer(might be on the low side). 30 gallons of fuel is 180#.

That total is 2910# and that is without anything else like life jackets, line, anchor, batteries.

Look at the sticker on the trailer. Is 2950 the payload or the total weight including trailer?

On my tandem tracker trailstar, the gvwr is 4500 and the capacity is 3500. This is a dual axle trailer. The axles are rated for 2250 each according to the sticker. Yours should have the identical sticker.

Believe it or not, in some places they can put brakes on or not based on the empty trailer. Some unscrupulous boat dealers take advantage of that.

[Blessed]

Believe it or not, in some places they can put brakes on or not based on the empty trailer. Some unscrupulous boat dealers take advantage of that.

No doubt... I could see them doing that if they sold the trailer by itself... they sold this as a package... I see what you're saying... the boat and trailer combined weight as sold could have possibly been under 3000#... but it's still over 1500#... (see requirement #2)

Here's my boat sticker...

[Blessed]

What happens when you jack up the trailer by the frame on each side? What happens to the bow?

put the trailer on jack stands this afternoon... axle is level all the way across... should have a slight upward bow... still thinking about adding a piece of angle to it...

I really wish I had time today to weigh it... I'm curious

[Blessed]

Weighed it this afternoon at a CAT scale:
Steer Axle 3080 lb.
Drive Axle 2900 lb.
Trailer Axle 3100 lb.

That's with all of our normal junk and 20 gallons of fuel.

Add another 150 - 200 lbs. for the additional fuel and misc. junk... puts 3300 lbs. max gross weight on the boat trailer axle...

[BobG]

Weighed it this afternoon at a CAT scale:
Steer Axle 3080 lb.
Drive Axle 2900 lb.
Trailer Axle 3100 lb.

That's with all of our normal junk and 20 gallons of fuel.

Add another 150 - 200 lbs. for the additional fuel and misc. junk... puts 3300 lbs. max gross weight on the boat trailer axle...

It's not the weight on the axle, that matters - it's the weight of the whole thing. You probably have another 300 to 500 pounds on the hitch. Either way, you're well over 3000.