Tire problem, or alignment(update) - Montana Owners Club

Exnavydiver · 11-25-2009, 07:14 AM

While putting leveling board under right side (curb side) this morning I noticed that the inside tread band on the rear tire was almost completely bald. I got these Marathons new in April. I checked the other curb side tire and it is fine, both inside, center and outside tread are the same depth. I checked the road (left side) side tires and the rear is pretty much even all the way across as is the front tire. My question for the tire gurus is why only one tire?? Is the alignment bad only on one side?... Dave

blarkman · 11-25-2009, 07:49 AM

If you look at axle it should be bowed up at center, or take a six foot straight edge and see if axle still has arch the arch would indicate that that you did not flatten axle. If flattened then axle needs rrearching
bob

PapaBeav · 11-25-2009, 07:56 AM

I had the same problem this last spring, except it was my left rear tire on the inside and about 1 1/2" wide that was won down to nothing. Mine turned out to be a bent axle which I had replaced just before a trip we had planned to the mid west. New tires and 6k miles later, everything is just fine.

Rich

Art-n-Marge · 11-25-2009, 08:51 AM

Hey Dave. That does sound like an axle problem and it's possible that it may affect one side more than the other. Something is causing that particular tire to bow outwards and cause the inward wear. Let us know what you find out.

PapaBeav - Just curious... what did you do to replace the bent axle? This sounds like a high ticket, "save it for the experts" type of solution.

Is there much to align for a trailer's axles? Is this like a car where I need to go to some trailer alignment shop periodically for some maintenance work? I was under the impression the axles are what they are and keeping the trailer under the GTWR and trying to perform minimal torquing of the tires (severe turns, then leaving the trailer that way) was all that we could do, unless something "broke" or "bent" because let's face it, it could happen.

I only have 6,000 lb axles on my 2006 3500RL 14,020 GTWR Monty which should be enough assuming that 2,020 Lbs is at the pin/landing gear. At my last weigh in I was at about 13,200 GTWR with about 11,300 at the axles. 7,000lb axles would be nice but I don't want to fork over that kind of dough if I can keep the 6,000lb axles and they don't bend or break.

Exnavydiver · 11-25-2009, 09:18 AM

Rich, I also would like to know what the costs were for that item. My axle has a perfectly good bow to it but I took a closed look at the drivers side rear tire and it is showing a bit more wear than the outside but nothing like the right side. We will be in Myrtle Beach till Monday so I will have to deal with this problem after we get back to Savannah on Tuesday. Betsy has a Dr. appt. on the 1st then I can search for a good spot to have alignment checked. Any suggestions would be appreciated within 75 miles of Savannah... Dave

PapaBeav · 11-25-2009, 09:31 AM

When I took the rig into the shop the guy told me that he was positive it was a bent axle. But if I wanted to have it checked first it would be about an hours labor to have it diagnosed. So with a new axle only costing $150.00 plus labor I told him to just replace it.

H. John Kohl · 11-25-2009, 10:01 AM

PapaBeav,
Did they align your axle after installing the new one or just "assume" it was correct?

PapaBeav · 11-25-2009, 10:12 AM

Yes, they aligned it along with repacking the bearings and checking the brakes. This was an alignment and brake shop that works on trucks and rv's.

8.1al · 11-25-2009, 11:47 AM

Dave,
It won't do you any good but we found a good truck alignment shop in St. George Utah that aligned our axles for $75/axle.

bobivy · 11-25-2009, 12:23 PM

The tire wear problem could be a number of things...out of balance tire, wheel bent, bent spindal, axle out of alignment and probably more.

Exnavydiver · 11-25-2009, 12:30 PM

tires just balanced and would not be this consistent if out of balance. Alignment is most likely, wheel is cast aluminum which doesn't bend like steel wheels. The spindle is a possibility. What I need at the moment is an alignment place near Savannah. The tires are 7 months old and have got just short of 7000 miles on them. The Missions had 7000 on them when I had the failure in April. the rear left tire threw the tread then exploded. All the other tires were very even in their wear patterns and still had lots of tread. At that time there was no adverse wear on the right rear. So whatever happened to the axle, spindle, wheel, happened between then and now... Dave

blarkman · 11-25-2009, 01:12 PM

I do not think replacing the axles VS rebending resolves the problem, what caused the axle to flatten in the furst place?
As I posted earlier it is real easy to soo. If the axle is flat and has no bow or arch then it has a alignment problem

exav8tr · 11-25-2009, 03:37 PM

Dave, I have a tire that looked very similar to yours. It was the right rear and on the outside edge. NOW what makes it unique is I don't have axles. I have the MorRyde IS and had the tire looked at at a truck alignment shop in Oklahoma and they rechecked the alignment. It was OK. The diagnosis was a bad tire that might have hit a bad spot on the roadways. My wear was NOT even all the way around the tire. We put a new tire on (The spare) and have driven only from OKC to San Antonio. We are staying the winter where we are and before we leave here will have the G614's on. I had Power King, Towmax tires, another cheap Chinese made tire. I can only assume the independent (not MorRyde) truck shop was on the up and up. Of course, this may not be your problem but something to think about.......Phil

Art-n-Marge · 11-25-2009, 04:26 PM

Wow Dave, I remember that you did just replace those tires from the big problem you had down by the Florida Keys if I remember right. I think that was you with that problem.

*** On edit (forgot to ask): Maybe the axle was damaged from the accident. Is that the wheel that was involved? If so, maybe that's a clue for taking the axle out-of-whack. *** End edit

It's a bummer to "lose" a tire in that way so suddenly. Good luck on the axle/alignment work. We're certainly curious to hear of your resolution.

8e3k0 · 11-25-2009, 04:53 PM

Looks like a bent axle particular to the immediate area of that wheel which is camber ( where the bottom of the wheel is farther out than the top). This could of happened from a extreme load force of railroad tracks or holes in in the road surface. Good alignment shops can repair by rebending (arcing) the axle or bending the spindle areas. RV axles and tires are running constantly at maximum load so any sudden force will put stress on the axle itself or the spindle.
Hope you can get it identified and repaired at a reasonable cost. Keep us updated.

Les and Julie · 11-26-2009, 05:07 AM

We had exactly the same problem on the one wheel only a couple of years ago and ended up with new axles and had to replace a broken shock. Think we hit an awful pothole in Nashville but when we looked after the crunch couldnt see any apparent damage at the time. We noticed the tire damage after about 1000 miles. I put on the spare and had to get it replaced along with the axles when we got home. Good luck with this one,

Les.

LonnieB · 11-26-2009, 05:29 PM

If you can, I would like to see a picture of the top of the tread taken from the same position you did this picture. In other words, a profile of the tread. You could have a separation problem with the tire, but I can't tell from this photo. If there is no separation you have an axle problem.

Champ_49 · 11-27-2009, 12:51 AM

Heres a quick way to find if you have a bent akle. Jack the tire up off the ground and take a jack stand right behind the tire a put a straight screw driver on the tire being held there by the jack stand. Rotate the tire using the screw driver scribe a straight line all the way around the tire. Now do this on the opposite tire on same axle. Put trailer back down on the ground and take a tape measure and measure between the two tires for length in front and back of the tire. If there is a difference then you have a bent axle. If its not much of a bend, heat from a torch can fix that in no time if you know what you are doing. Not something that we can do on the road, but it can be an easy fix by the right person. But this procedure will at least let you know if you have a bent axle.

If you have a problem with this procedure and want more info pm me, will be glad to help.

Dave

Tom S. · 11-28-2009, 05:10 AM

Dave, did you find out yet what the cause was? Please share!

Exnavydiver · 11-28-2009, 10:06 AM

No results yet, nobody seems to wanna work on the weekend. Heading to Savannah Monday so will look for an alignment shop after we get settled..

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