Your steers leave skid marks while turning....

Some trucks depending of the front axle configuration.

I had a T600 with a set back front axle... the front tires used to lean into the turn riding on the edge of the tires. Needless to say, they always left some kind of track. Of course like suggested, it helps to slow down and take longer turns, keep 5th wheel lubed to minimize the stress on the front tires.

 

the tires skid because:
1. tandem axles, drive or trailer, always skid with any turn. Try manually pulling an empty "lightweight tandem axle trailer" at jacknife, it's difficult for all the skidding! a 2wheel trailer is always easier. A lot of rednecks will ignore this problem and sweat hard for it. Euro truckers skid even more with their 3-tandems. The only way to mitigate the skidding is by either lifting off all but one axle, which is a popular dump truck option, or a sort of quadrasteer setup, but who will buy that?
2. misalignment andor sloppy suspension links
3. dragging brakes on unloaded wheels
4. differential fault

 

i agree more with this than the first post.

if you had a break dragging enough to make tire marks when turning in a parking lot you would have far greater signs of a break problem like hard pulling on the highway hot break smoke ect.

 

Your freaking kidding, right. If the front brake is dragging in a turn is because the wheel bearing is loose! Stop the truck and get it replaced before something else happens.

Oh, I would hate to be the mechanic when this guy comes in. Bearings bad, brakes not adjusted, steering out of alignment, all because some truck driver told him to back off the brakes. By the time that truck hits a real mechanic the spindle, hub, slack adjuster, and tie rod ends will be screwed and the service writer will have to explain why the cost of a brake adjust will not do it.

 

Being he said a "mentors" truck I'm going to assume a company truck and therefore highly unlikely it's got "double lockers". A normal Diff Lock found on almost all trucks only locks the differential between the front and rear drive not the right and left sides. So even with the diff lock engaged you still only putting power to one side or the other. Now if it's got double lockers then locking the actual axle differentials will push the steer. If heavy enough then the truck wont turn at all and both steers will leave skid marks.

 

#1 diff locks still engaged and should not be
#2 front tire alinement not correct
#3 diff is a limited slip diff and the clutches in the diff are not slipping when turning but are locking up.
#4 that the way she built, to go straight.

 

Somebody was bored. This thread is from 2012.