This trailer tire wear pattern...

I’m not an expert on tires. I changed them for 6 months split rings one and two piece boloneys and all.After that 6 mos I wantednomore to do with Truck tires. However I’m curious what Joe comes up with. If trailer is only 2 yrs old and tires are original my guess is their just worn out. The river wear pattern seen is normal as the weak point of tires. Same way my steers are still good after 169 k except for river wear. If trailer is more than 5 yrs old Id say definately check bushings and get aligned and shocks if needed. Otherwise 2 yrs out of a set of trailer tires and still have tread left ain’t bad.

 

110 psi @ x lbs simply states max psi and max Load rating. If anyone wants to put in more than the max cold psi to save a few cents on fuel or try to get longer tire wear, good luck you’ll need the extra $$ for king pins, bushings, and God knows what else. Maybe a new filling in a tooth.

 

Did you ever solve this problem. I’ve been having a similar tire wear as well on a fairly new Utility reefer trailer with Michelin tires. I called a Utility shop weeks ago, and he was aware of this strange tire wear, but didn’t have a solution other than rotating the tires. I’m going to get an alignment and have my wheel bearings checked to see if that solves the problem. It’s disappointing when these problems happen on new equipment.

 

I’ve been thinking another possibility that is usually not discussed is tire defects, especially since these trailers are new. I suggested trailer alignment to the guy at the Utility shop, but said it was unlikely as Utility trailers do come aligned when sold. I too haven’t noticed my trailer or truck pulling to one side.

 

It’s the axles flexing. They aren’t as strong as they used to be built.
Call MD Alignment in Des Moines and talk to Mike.

 

Now that I remember, what I want to eventually do is install a camera to take a look at how the trailer tires are rolling. I usually see trailer tires moving irregularly on the freeway. Maybe mine are doing something similar. I’d have to figure out a way to mount a spare phone on the trailer bottom rails.

 

Trailer axles do indeed flex enough to cause inner shoulder wear on tires. The other issue are the sliding bogies have a sloppy fit in the sliders and the sub-frame which are attached to the axles are allowed to run misaligned and cause dog tracking.

 

It's an interesting idea that if your tires are wearing on the outside or inside to over-inflate them a bit.

The problem should be solved whether it's bad bearings or bushings or whatever it is, but I think that's really an interesting idea. As long as it's safe and the tire doesn't blow up why not?

If the wear is abnormal on the edges and you over-inflate it a bit then it will wear the center more but that should give you more time and help to even the tread out and get more time out of the tires.

As long as it is safe, why not?