Uneven tire wear problem.

[GoneBoatN]

I have an 2010 X-15 on top of an Mastercraft trailer. Trail america tires. To date the tires have been good. I took a trip this weekend of 100 miles out and back. Mix of about 50% interstate and 50% two lane highway. My typical trip. Tires were inflated to 49 lbs and being only 1lb off I did not add any air.

Upon my return and putting the boat back into the garage my son pointed out that the front tire on the starboard side of my tandom trailer has an issue. The tire is balding on the outside, about and 1 and 1/2 inch (give or take) and only in that area from what I can tell. All other tires are fine. The trailer has Reliable torsion axle.

Any ideas as to what may be the problem? The manual says "Side wear" cause is loss of camber or overloading. Load has not changed so that leaves Camber. Axle is bolted to the trailer so can camber really be aligned? How so? I figure I need to take to the shop but have little time to do so before my next trip....

[ntidsl]

good son for checking!!! mrmastercraft will be along soon...

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Trailers are manufactured on a jig to ensure they are square and in alignment. They can go out of alignment from hitting something in the road (hard) or a big pothole, or when pulling the boat out if the trailer gets past the cement and hits hard on the way out.

With that being said, if only the front tire of your tandem axle trailer is wearing, I would check that your trailer is level. Do this with all the gear in both tow vehicle and boat as you normally have. If that is OK, you might have an alignment issue.

Pictures as well as tire details would be helpful.

[GoneBoatN]

Trail America ST215 75/R14 on trailer when boat was purchased Sept 2010. Date code of 1110 so eleventh week of 2010 I believe.

Thanks much!

[GoneBoatN]

Tire did not strike anything hard that I can remember or feel. I do have to jack the trailer to get it into position while parking on occasion.

Now for my confession: I park the trailer in my garage. Because of the length of the boat and the garage has a pole in between a two car section and 1 car section, I jack the trailer into position and then unfortunately I don’t have room to back forward and backward to let the tires straighten out. I some time go through the trouble of jacking up the wheels with a jack under the axle positioned right where the axle is welded to the trailer frame. I figure this lets the wheel straighten out. I sometime don't do this as well. I back the rear tires onto a plastic sheet that then lets me slide the boat around a little easier by tugging on the trailer tongue to get the rear end of the boat into place. This has always worried me with the torsion suspension.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Is that smooth wear on the worn part of the tire, or is it kind of chopped?

[GoneBoatN]

Is that smooth wear on the worn part of the tire, or is it kind of chopped?

Smooth, not chopped.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Is the point where you have been jacking the trailer happen to be at this tire?

[GoneBoatN]

Is the point where you have been jacking the trailer happen to be at this tire?

Actually, I go around to each tire, place the jack right under the position where the axle is welded to the frame and use the jack to just lift that tire off the ground. Lower and move to the next tire. Do this for each tire (times 4). However, I did not do that before the last trip. Not that that makes much of a difference because perhaps it has just gotten to the point where it is really noticable.

Could catching a curb going around a right hand bend do this? That is one thing I do remember on the trip prior. I thought it was minor at the time.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

It would have to be pretty serious curb contact to knock the wheel out of alignment.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Have you jacked up that corner and check free rotation as well as bearing condition and preload?

[GoneBoatN]

Have you jacked up that corner and check free rotation as well as bearing condition and preload?

I did a quick check on the preload by seeing if there is any play in the wheel. It's hard to tell if there is any at all or just the ever so slightest amount. I have the oil bath and have not taken it apart. I think I have the kind that screw off and I'm not sure what size socket it would take - picture attached of oil bath cap.


Re the prior message - it was minor contact as I had just started from a red light and was making a right turn. I was moving pretty slow at the time.

[GoneBoatN]

good son for checking!!! mrmastercraft will be along soon...

Yep. My son has ADD and can't remember to pick up his socks off the floor but he spots this. God love him.

[GoneBoatN]

So an update to close this out. After I notice this and reported it to my dealer I put several hundred miles on the trailer (trip to Lake Shasta). We had the trip planned but was not able to have the trailer repaired in time. I decided to switch tires with the one on the other side which my dealer's mechanic said was also wearing due to the pulling/pushing from the problem side.

I could tell the wear was still occurring but I managed to get there (Shasta Lake) and back, plus a couple additional trips, without much additional wear on the tire that was switched. So most likely this was occurring since I had purchased the boat.

On additional inspection the dealer found the spindle on the problem tire was bent "forward". It ended being covered under warranty and the entire axle was replace along with the two tires.

[psychobilly]

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[thatsmrmastercraft]

So an update to close this out. After I notice this and reported it to my dealer I put several hundred miles on the trailer (trip to Lake Shasta). We had the trip planned but was not able to have the trailer repaired in time. I decided to switch tires with the one on the other side which my dealer's mechanic said was also wearing due to the pulling/pushing from the problem side.

I could tell the wear was still occurring but I managed to get there (Shasta Lake) and back, plus a couple additional trips, without much additional wear on the tire that was switched. So most likely this was occurring since I had purchased the boat.

On additional inspection the dealer found the spindle on the problem tire was bent "forward". It ended being covered under warranty and the entire axle was replace along with the two tires.

Interesting conclusion. I had a bent axle on a fishing boat years ago, but that was pretty easy to spot. It came from the trailer dropping off the end of the cement launch pad and hitting it too hard on the way out. I wonder if the contact you had mentioned previously was the cause. Happy to hear this worked out reasonably well.

[Cloaked]

Interesting ......... I had a bent axle on a fishing boat years ago, ...that was pretty easy to spot.. :D ...................