tire wear on the outside tread

[Buhwana]

Just returned from another trip and noticed that my tires are wearing abnormally fast on the outside tread. These are 12 ply, high dollar tires (not CCP tires). It would appear that the camber is off a bit as there is not the same amount of wear across the rest of the tires, just the outside tread. All four tires have the same wear so I don't think rotating them would help. Is there a way to adjust the camber? We have a 5er 353RL High Country, 2015 model

 

[dieselguy]

In a word ... yes. Take your fiver to a truck or trailer alignment shop ... don't bother with finding an RV dealer as they will just farm your rig out to an alignment shop that can handle RV axles. I've had the axles on my last 2 fivers aligned at Atlas Spring and Axle here in Wichita. They do a good job for less than $200.
The axles have to be bent to make camber and toe-in correct if off.

 

[Montana Man]

Ditto dieselguy

 

[Happy Prospector1]

I notice now that the new Montana's are coming with thicker axles compared to previous models. This may be why.

 

[phillyg]

Do what dieselguy wrote.

 

[PSFORD99]

I agree. Had a friend with the same problem, I told him about Alignment Specialists here locally . They fixed the problem.

 

[The Bone]

I had tire wear problem and found a guy that did RV's and big trucks. He did a beautiful job.

 

[MoeGW]

I have a 3790 RD and the inner toe on the back axel is wearing on both tires,
Is that an alignment problem or most likely a bent axle?

 

[DutchmenSport]

I noticed uneven tire wear last Fall. When I had bearings repacked, I had my dealership take a good look at everything going on since they were pulling the wheels anyway for the repacking. They found I had a bent axle. Long story short, I got a new axle and a new tire. (Hercules). I would have never figured out I had a bent axle. From everything I saw "under there" it all looked good to me. Little did I know.

My advise, take your camper to the "professionals" who know what they are actually doing, can check everything out, and get it done right the first time.

 

[dieselguy]

Some of us have touched on this axle debate over the years, but I'm gonna wash, rinse, and repeat a little info. Actually a "bent" axle is how the manufacturer makes them to the right specs. The axle tube is bent in an upward crown to get positive camber and ever so slightly bowed rearward to get the toe-in. Sometimes for whatever reason(s), a trailers axle loses its upward "bow" which creates neutral or negative camber ... that usually causes the inner tread(s) to wear off. I'm lucky in that we have a couple of places here in the Wichita area that can and will bend trailer axles back into spec with long lasting results (some's opinion here may lean towards replacement mainly due to no place in their area will touch an RV axle). In this day and age of "quality employees at a manufacturing facility" my personal experience with replacement axles is that you might not get much better than what you already have thus I rely on Atlas Spring and Axle here in Wichita. A side note ... there is no caster reading in a tubular trailer axle ... toe-in is 1/16" - 1/8" ... street side camber around +3/4 degree, curbside camber around +1/2 degree to account for crown in roads.

PS: I am aware you can bend the very end of an axle around the spindle weld causing all kinds of problems.