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Old 03-31-2015, 03:04 AM   #1
RKassl
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Axle Alignment Question

When you folks purchased new Montana's over the past several years, what is the current thinking regarding proper axle alignment. Is the expectation when you purchase a new unit these days the alignment should not be an issue? The reason I ask is that when I purchased our 2005 there was talk at that time about new trailers eating tires much too fast. So we took ours in and had the axles "aligned" and in the 10 years of ownership never experienced any abnormal tire wear.

Ideas?
 
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Old 03-31-2015, 04:26 AM   #2
BB_TX
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Don't know about the new ones. We bought new in 2007, replaced the Mission tires a year later with Michelin XPS Ribs, not because of wear but because of blowout concerns. Never had the axles checked. After 6+ yrs and about 18,000 miles the Ribs show almost no wear.
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Old 03-31-2015, 05:51 AM   #3
Rondo
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Bob-- If one gets excessive wear on the tires I would recommend two things: 1. Have the tires balanced. 2. Take your rig to a reputable big rig axle shop and have then check the alignment on the axles. The axles can get out of camber and misalign causing tire wear. Of course, you could go into Lippert and have the IS system put on and then you don't have to worry about axle problems at all and you have an easy way of getting you tires aligned then too!
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Old 03-31-2015, 06:16 AM   #4
dieselguy
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I agree in that a new owner would think his new fiver would be in alignment as far as the axles go. My experience as well as a few others is "it's a crap shoot". Some hook up and tow for tens of thousands of miles with average tire wear ... others start peeling tread right away. You never know what kind of trip the delivery driver gave your fiver on the trip from the factory. My brand new 2011 came with negative camber (should be positive) and toe out (should be toe in) straight from the factory I immediately experienced inside tread wear, so I had it aligned at a local axle and spring shop. ($120) Never had tread wear after that. Some replace axles ... I've had good results on two separate fivers with the axle shop tweaking the tubes themselves. The pull to the dealer would have cost more than $120, so I just had it done locally. The dealer would have farmed it out anyways. The dealer turned it in to Keystone ... I was promptly reimbursed.
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Old 03-31-2015, 06:19 AM   #5
1retired06
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We have never had an axle or tire wear issue. We do get tires balanced
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Old 03-31-2015, 09:56 AM   #6
bethandkevin
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When I put the G614's on(right after getting it home), I had the alignment checked on the Montana. It's a standing rule I abide by; When a new set of tires goes on, the alignment gets checked. Ours was A-ok.
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Old 03-31-2015, 11:02 AM   #7
pineranch
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Had 2 tires wear due to axle alignment. Found a good shop in Pensacola and no more wear.
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Old 04-03-2015, 06:05 PM   #8
RburhornJR
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Went thru a set of tires at ~10000 miles with bad tread wear on the inside of tires, especially on right side with cupping. And Yes, they are always properly inflated. Took it to a local frame shop where they moved 1/4in back on the right front axle. I knew something was wrong when a quick measure between the centerlines of the two right hubs didn't match the left side measurement. Cant remember the exact distance, but yes... it is the luck of the draw when it comes to axle alignment.
I see that some of the newer trailers and 5thw have an alignment gismo on the center shackle hub so you can adjust it yourself.
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Old 04-04-2015, 02:19 AM   #9
Phil P
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Hi

I had the axels alignment checked before I installed the set of G-614 tires now on the trailer. I had them balanced by my Goodyear Commercial tire dealer and had extreme problems right off with cupping. I found out they used a center centric balancing system because their lug centric system was not working.

I pulled the wheels and took them to my Chevrolet dealer and they balanced them on their lug centric equipment and now 20,000 miles latter the cupping is gone and the tires are wearing normally.

I recommend balancing all tires they will wear better when it is performed correctly.

By the way neither the Goodyear dealer nor the Chevrolet dealer charged me for balancing the tires. That’s Customer service.

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Old 04-04-2015, 04:04 AM   #10
TLightning
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I thought I had a serious axle alignment problem, and several folks told me I had an axle problem. Long story short...it was a bad Mission tire.
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