Four tires on newer dump trailer, 3 look as good as new, 1 is shot, what gives?

[Stimw]

If you look at the tread on the bad tire you can see the rubber feathered off to one side.
That tire is out of align with the other three and being dragged side ways.
More than likely a bent spindle or axle.
A lot of axles can be straightened if you find someone who knows what they are doing and heating is not the best way!

 

[civilian]

The linear scratches and flat spot would suggest a brake that is grabbing harder than others. If the trailer is empty you won't hear the tire squeal because it doesn't have enough weight on it. The other thin tire is showing some scrub, probably from turning, possibly from something out of alignment. The two deeper tires are also showing signs of lockup.

Hydraulic or electric brakes? If electric, do you adjust the controller or just leave it on max? To properly adjust, set the gain, and the slide the lever over. The brakes should just barely lock. Adjust the gain as required to get to that point.

Does the OP change the gain for fully loaded and reduce for an unloaded trailer? Both of my tandem axle trailers (with brakes on both axles), I have to reduce the gain when empty and increase the gain when loaded. If not, they will lock when empty, or not help in slowing me down when loaded. Jon

 

[Gem99ultra]

My guess from the photo is out of balance, or out of round, or worn spring pins/bushings.

I once saw on the freeway a dual axle trailer that had one wheel bouncing like it was running on railroad ties while all the others were smooth rolling.

If you don't have a good view of the tire in the mirror, it might be informative one way or another to take the trailer on the road while an observer in another car watches the tire.

Bruce

I certainly agree with bcp - that tire appears to be out of round to me. If it were a bent axle I would think that the tire would be scrubbed all the way around.

First thing I'd do before replacing or repairing an axle would be to replace the tire and have it balanced. Then if that problem continued, move on to the axle solution.

 

[EddieWalker]

Your bad tire looks very similar to what happened to one of the rear tires on my truck. The other three are fine, but getting close to needing to be replaced. The rest of the tread on the bad tire looks good, but there is one spot where it's bald and wearing through. The guy at Firestone told me that it looks like the tread had separated and bubbled up at that spot, which caused it to wear out there faster then the rest of the tire. The cause was either it was just a flaw in the tire that took 60,000 miles to show up, or I had overloaded the tire and caused it to separate. In all honesty, I probably overloaded it.

 

[TMGT]

The bald spot could be due to seperating or what I've seen more common is broken cords causing that.
Looking at the pics of the tire again, I would have the axles checked for bend/ alignment before investing in another tire.

 

[Dadnatron]

I don't know... I think it is locking of brakes and slight camber out.

If you look at the rest of the tread on the 2nd pic, there is no consistent pattern wear. (I believe you said the 1st 2 pics are of the bad tire.) Looking at the 'wear' spot, it appears flat, like a flat spot on a grocery wheel that gets locked up and pushed anyway. Additionally, there are linear scratch marks both in front of and behind the wear spot which could represent a wheel, locking up, flattening the spot and gravel wearing the scratches into the tire which wasn't taking the brunt of the abrasion.

You might not notice the uneven braking if this wheel is locking intermittantly and the other 3 are slowing but not locking. With a loaded trailer being pulled, it wouldn't take much to lock a wheel if that brake is gripping incorrectly, and not notice a quick deceleration. You would just think everything is fine, but that tire would be locked up and the weight of the trailer would just continue pushing it until the other 3 wheels got it stopped.

Its just a guess though, from that first pic and lack of similar wear pattern around the rest.

 

[bitternut]

Well I checked the alignment across the horizontal centerline of the front and rear axles with an accurate straight edge ( 78" level ). I did both sides of the trailer. Both sides were roughly similar. The front edge of each tire was toed in about 3/8" to a 1/2" with the front tire appearing to be toed in more than the rear tire. Since it was and is raining that is all I measured for the time being. I did not measure to the trailer frame since I had no helper available yet. I will take more measurements when I get a chance.

Not sure if the wheels are supposed to be toed in but it kind of appears to be designed that way since both sides are. I bought the trailer brand new in December of 2012 (it is a 2013 model ) and drove it home and parked it till May the following spring. The trailer has always sat from November till April or May since. The trailer has never seen salt. I am the only person that has hauled this trailer since I took possession from the dealer. I haul it with my 2009 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD that has the factory installed electric brake controller. Yes I vary the gain on the controller to suit the load being carried. I smoked a tire once only when the trailer was empty and an idiot pulled out in front of me. I missed him. I am not a fast driver and anticipate stops. Never had the trailer on any expressway or road with a speed limit over 55mph. I am probably that old fart hauling that trailer that you just can't wait to pass and get around me. If I am honk and I will pull over and let you by. I try to be safe and courteous to others on the road.

I have spoken with the dealer where I purchased the trailer and since this is his busy time he told me to bring the trailer over in a couple weeks when things slow down. Obviously the warranty is out of date but he offered to at least take a look at it. Maybe it will be something easy to fix. Not sure how much axles can be adjusted on dump trailers. All tires will be balanced when the trailer is back on the road. I will post back when I find out more.

 

[Diamondpilot]

It looks like it has too much toe in.

 

[bitternut]

Well the dealer checked over the alignment of the axles and found everything within specs and it was his opinion that it was a tire problem. His guess was that the tire itself had slipped belts. All the tires are now balanced which should help. I have put close to a 1000 miles on the replacement new tire and it looks fine so I think probably I just had a bad tire. The dealer treated me quite well even though I was way past the warranty period. Did not even charge me for bringing it in the shop and checking the trailer over. Nice to find a dealer that takes care of his customers.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Cheap Chinese tires???