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Thoughts on Uneven Tread Wear on 192 RBS?

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
Having just returned from our trip up to and back from the Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore area, we are in the general inspection/clean up mode to prepare for our next trip. Saw on our left rear tire on our tandem axle unit a pattern of uneven tread wear; i.e. the inside treads were definitely wearing more-so than the outside surfaces of the tire. (All three of the other tires show completely even tread wear.) No other anomalies are evident; i.e. no scalloping/cupping, etc.. The tires were inflated to the factory spec of 50 psi prior to the trip and have maintained that psi throughout - even to just moments ago when I checked.



The photo perhaps does not show the level of my concern, but there is definitely uneven wear. A friend who is a Class C driver confirmed this with me on Saturday.

So what might cause this?

A quick visual inspection of our leaf springs did not show any abnormalities - though I did not apply any kind of tool nor manipulation to them. The 192 RBS has tandem axles, but they do not appear to have any kind of adjustment available to them like camber or toe-in.

These are the original equipment, China made tires that have just over 11,000 towing miles on them. Their date code tells me they were manufactured the second week of 2015.

In a thread about a month ago I noted then my concern about these tires but went ahead on our 3,474 towing journey. Given what I've learned from others of you, it is time to replace these with perhaps a set of Goodyear Endurance shoes or similar. Nevertheless, if there is something amiss with our running gear, I don't want to see this kind of problem replicated with a brand new set of tires.

Thoughts?
2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel
20 REPLIES 20

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
alboy wrote:
Does it have the wet bolt kit from factory? If not the plastic bushing on the spring hanger bolts some mfg use will wear out and could cause a similar issue.


Last Train wrote:
Good idea . . . I'm going to "assume" ๐Ÿ˜‰ that the rig has the original bolt kit as we were the original purchasers and no work as been done on our running gear.


The 192RBS has plastic bushings, no different than most other recreational trailers. Those on my previous K-Z had torn apart and although there was no unusual tire wear as a result I replaced them with a Dexter wet bolt kit. Much less costly are Lippert's Never Fail Bushings so next time I have the bearings done on my own 192 that's what I intend to use instead of wet bolts.
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
1998 Jayco 10UD * 1969 Coleman CT380

babock
Explorer
Explorer
SoundGuy wrote:

Yes, several weekend trips, about 1500 km so far, another trip this weekend.
Glad there are a bunch of Beta testers out there testing these tires for the rest of us.

Until all this testing is done over the next 4 years, I will keep on using Maxxis.

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
jrichard wrote:
Mine looked very similar to that after approximately 8k miles. A tire shop told me it was normal because of tight turns, backing into spaces, etc. Didn't make sense to me as I'd expect to see the same wear on all sides.

I had an alignment performed at a shop equipped and experienced with that sort of thing (FWIW, $350 in California for two axles a couple of years ago).

I replaced the tires and 9k miles later the wear is perfectly even.

The shop told me they were out of alignment enough to cause the uneven wear and it likely came that way from the factory. Given the **** workmanship on almost all trailers, I don't think there's any reason to believe these things are delivered with proper alignment.


I'm with you, I think their "tight turns . . ." etc. answer was probably not well informed. As with you, all three of the other tires reflect completely even wear.

So I think i'm left with: (1) verifying alignment of the axles; and/or (2) seeing early signs of failure on that particular tire with perhaps a belt slipping internally.

Sad that such a fundamental part of our trailer's structure (axle alignment) could even be considered suspect from a factory fresh unit. I don't like things like shoddy or inconsistent workmanship (fortunately, our particular trailer is 98% free from that), but I can at least chalk that up to the recent years of RV production volumes and so some QC slippage due to employee inexperience or learning curves ramping up (to be very generous!). But to think that axle misalignment from the factory is even on the radar screen is absurd. A ridiculous failure in accountability in manufacturing . . .
2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
alboy wrote:
Does it have the wet bolt kit from factory? If not the plastic bushing on the spring hanger bolts some mfg use will wear out and could cause a similar issue.


Good idea . . . I'm going to "assume" ๐Ÿ˜‰ that the rig has the original bolt kit as we were the original purchasers and no work as been done on our running gear. After I get done washing the trailer down this afternoon I'll crawl under there and see if there are any anomolies visible.

Thx.
2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

jrichard
Explorer
Explorer
Mine looked very similar to that after approximately 8k miles. A tire shop told me it was normal because of tight turns, backing into spaces, etc. Didn't make sense to me as I'd expect to see the same wear on all sides.

I had an alignment performed at a shop equipped and experienced with that sort of thing (FWIW, $350 in California for two axles a couple of years ago).

I replaced the tires and 9k miles later the wear is perfectly even.

The shop told me they were out of alignment enough to cause the uneven wear and it likely came that way from the factory. Given the **** workmanship on almost all trailers, I don't think there's any reason to believe these things are delivered with proper alignment.

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Last Train wrote:
Have you made any more trips with those Endurance tires lately?


Yes, several weekend trips, about 1500 km so far, another trip this weekend. No issues noted with the Endurance the trailer is now wearing, tire pressure hasn't varied at all. If you get the chance, compare sidewall stiffness by putting your body weight on an unmounted Endurance, then some other brand of tire, even the Chinese manufactured Carlisle HD, and you'll be shocked at the difference. :E
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
1998 Jayco 10UD * 1969 Coleman CT380

alboy
Explorer
Explorer
Does it have the wet bolt kit from factory? If not the plastic bushing on the spring hanger bolts some mfg use will wear out and could cause a similar issue.

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
SoundGuy wrote:
Last Train wrote:
Then "SoundGuy," your own (inferior quality) tire failure in your driveway, the evidence just seems to point to my tire showing hints of early failure.


To be clear though, my blown tire showed no signs of uneven wear at all, the steel belt simply split, and inside the tire we found an oval bubble of about 3" where the plies had separated. Had the tire not gone completely flat in my driveway I'd not have noticed it at all ... scary. :E


Yes, I understood your situation was different than mine. But scary, indeed, since you had no visual cues of impending failure. So I'm going to chalk our experience up to having a fortunate cue come our way. Grateful for it, also, since our ambient temperatures here in the Houston area are generally warmer than folks further north, so that added stress might provoke an early failure.

Have you made any more trips with those Endurance tires lately?
2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
JIMNLIN wrote:
I've had tires wear like that on my GN road trailer.
Usually it was a toe problem or bent axle stub or camber issues which any big rig trailer repair shop can fix by bending every thing back to proper alignment.
And of course as one poster says the tires tread belt is coming loose can cause wear like that.
A big rig shop can tell you what the problem is.
I run my LT tires on my trailers for 45k-55k miles and 7-8 years so I always fix any abnormal tire wear.
Those Endurance ST tires are new and just out but sound like a good idea.


Yep, I think those tires seem to be a prime candidate to be our replacements.

I didn't notice this issue until after our return from South Dakota as I mentioned in the first post. But if I had noticed a couple of days earlier on our journey back to the Houston area, I might not have taken the beautiful route we took through SE Oklahoma. But we wanted to stay (again) at Beaver's Bend State Park near Broken Bow.

We took I-80 eastward through Nebraska then headed straight south through western Missouri and Arkansas before jumping over in Oklahoma to US-59 and then US-259 through the western Washita Mountains and then the Winding Stair Mountains.

Don't know where you are in Oklahoma (my home state), but perhaps you know that is a beautiful run that is also a bit of a challenging drive/tow with some fun slopes/grades with lots of great views. Similar to the Ozarks with twists and turns, etc. That stretch actually presented the most significant grades for us to pull over our entire trip (according to Flattestroute.com).

But if I had been attentive to that tire wear pattern, I just might have avoided those mountains in that part of Oklahoma!

2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

Last_Train
Explorer
Explorer
ScottG wrote:
Do you do lots of tight turns in one direction? Looks like the outside edge is just worn from normal turns.


No, don't think so. The only tight turns are the irritating ones we all have to do to maneuver into position at a gas pump! But our towing consists mostly of some kind of highway driving that one would think would result in even wear on all four tires.
2016 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2018 RAM 1500 Ecodiesel

JIMNLIN
Explorer
Explorer
I've had tires wear like that on my GN road trailer.
Usually it was a toe problem or bent axle stub or camber issues which any big rig trailer repair shop can fix by bending every thing back to proper alignment.
And of course as one poster says the tires tread belt is coming loose can cause wear like that.
A big rig shop can tell you what the problem is.
I run my LT tires on my trailers for 45k-55k miles and 7-8 years so I always fix any abnormal tire wear.
Those Endurance ST tires are new and just out but sound like a good idea.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers

'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides

ScottG
Nomad
Nomad
Do you do lots of tight turns in one direction? Looks like the outside edge is just worn from normal turns.

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Last Train wrote:
Then "SoundGuy," your own (inferior quality) tire failure in your driveway, the evidence just seems to point to my tire showing hints of early failure.


To be clear though, my blown tire showed no signs of uneven wear at all, the steel belt simply split, and inside the tire we found an oval bubble of about 3" where the plies had separated. Had the tire not gone completely flat in my driveway I'd not have noticed it at all ... scary. :E
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
1998 Jayco 10UD * 1969 Coleman CT380

Alabama_Jim
Explorer
Explorer
When we got our TT it came with tires from China. Within 2,500 miles all four tires has severe instep or wearing on them. We learned they were bias tires and the belts were moving causing uneven wear. We bought Mxxis steel belted radials and our troubles were gone and have stayed gone for 7,000 miles so far.