Bad rear tire wear, what is going on?

[Rod5]

I just towed about 350 miles to the beach and as soon as I parked I notice the tread on the rear wheels are completely worn out. The other side is not quite as bad. Anyone else experience this or know what it could be. Only about 1500 miles total on trailer. I don’t think the breaks are dragging as there no burnt smell or signs of over heating. I’m thinking misaligned rear axel or something loose when the breaks come on the rear axel is moving in and out of alignment or something? I verified tire psi is 50 on all 4 wheels.

 

[dgfreeze]

Bias tires suck, but that does seem like pretty low miles for that much wear. Is there irregular wear? Can’t really tell from the pics. As for the rears wearing faster, is the hitch higher than the tail end of the trailer when towing? That will promote wear on the rear axle. If the wear on each tire is even, I’d chalk it up to crappy tires. If you’ve got cupping on tires, you might have a bent axle or something.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

check the hubs and brakes for high heat immediately after towing.
verify proper tongue weight.
inspect axle u bolts for tightness and alignment.

 

[Rod5]

Quick update after in-depth inspection this morning. All 4 tires seem to be wearing on the outside of the tires with some mild constant cupping on the outside. Nothing is obviously out of alignment. Took lots of measurements and compared each side.
My truck squats quite a bit so it rids slightly nose down, updated photo of the pivot point while hitched to truck. The last change I did was to move the post back another 2 inches, but it still has really heavy tongue weight, but I’m thinking of moving it back since that is the last thing to change.
When I checked the spare which has never been used I, noticed the front wheels are at least half to 3/4 worn down too.
All that said I’m beginning to suspect its just really cheap tires. I pulled two of the off and was amazed how light the entire wheels are!

 

[Rod5]

check the hubs and brakes for high heat immediately after towing.
verify proper tongue weight.
inspect axle u bolts for tightness and alignment.

Yep I imeadiatly noticed the wear with in 2 min of parking when I went to chuck the wheels….

 

[zipper]

What tire pressure do you run? The rears look checked on the outside and worn to the wear bars in the middle. Over inflation will wear the middle out. Heat could cause over inflation. Can you jack up the trailer to check/compare wheel spin? I say this because I don’t see it on the fronts.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Sounds like your rear axle or the spindle stubs are not correct..if you can check the TOE of the rear wheels… lay a straight edge across the front axle’s tires and then slide it back across the rear tires.

Wear on the outside of tires usually indicates low tire pressure. Your tires should be at maximum cold inflation pressure.

Are those the tires that came on the trailer? They look like all terrain tires. If they are crap tires then the fronts would have worn like the rears.

If the brakes were dragging to cause that kind of wear you would have either had a brake fire or lost a wheel bearing.

 

[212s]

I just towed about 350 miles to the beach and as soon as I parked I notice the tread on the rear wheels are completely worn out.

I would guess alignment too...I can't tell from the pics but are the tires opposite in their wear pattern, or are they both wearing on the outside?

 

[AZMark]

Mine stock Carlisle bias ply tires have worn similarly. Rears are a mess and I check my tire pressure every trip and brakes seem to be working ok.
I just rotated them and assumed it was crappy tires. I’ll switch to Goodyear radials after this summer.

Edit: one thing you said jumped out at me and that is the riding nose down. My last vehicle also did that with this trailer and everything with the trailer including the brakes felt much jerkier and harsh. That might be applying your brakes too much.

 

[HangOutdoors]

a buddy is having the same issue with his trailer tires. He is going this week to put on Goodyear Endurance. I changed mine over to Goodyear Endurance last year before the trip down to Florida. Figure I have about 3000 - 3500 miles on them give or take. I just inspected them today before heading out and they still look fantastic with miminum wear. Plus they ride great.

 

[Rod5]

What tire pressure do you run? The rears look checked on the outside and worn to the wear bars in the middle. Over inflation will wear the middle out. Heat could cause over inflation. Can you jack up the trailer to check/compare wheel spin? I say this because I don’t see it on the fronts.

I verify they are all at 50 ever trip. All 4 are wearing and have mild cupping on the outside. I’m beginning to think bad tires combined with trailer nose being too nose down. All wheels spin freely and bearings all feel good.

 

[Rod5]

Sounds like your rear axle or the spindle stubs are not correct..if you can check the TOE of the rear wheels… lay a straight edge across the front axle’s tires and then slide it back across the rear tires.

Wear on the outside of tires usually indicates low tire pressure. Your tires should be at maximum cold inflation pressure.

Are those the tires that came on the trailer? They look like all terrain tires. If they are crap tires then the fronts would have worn like the rears.

If the brakes were dragging to cause that kind of wear you would have either had a brake fire or lost a wheel bearing.

Yep these are all stock tires and agree they look like AT tires. The outsides are worn more than the middle or insides, and only the outsides have mild cupping. Max cold psi is 50 which is where I run them. They are Eco Trail ST tires and must just be junk. They don’t weigh anything when I took them off to inspect things….

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Alright,

Get yourself a drop hitch and flip it over and get your trailer level while it’s hooked up to the tow vehicle. Also invest in some Goodyear Endurance tires, they run silky smooth on the highway and mine appear to be wearing very well after several thousand miles. I’m pretty sure the Goodyears I have are load range D tires and have a max cold inflation of 65 psi.