Trailer Tire WEAR PROBLEM on a WM 40 Super

[Gilman]

I have a 2004 WM 40 Super that has about 500 miles on the trailer.

The operator side of the trailer has 55 psig in the tire and the loader side has about 48 psig.

Both tires tires are wearing out from the center of the trailer to the outside.  The inside tread is nearly worn out while the outside tread looks almost new.

I have a call into WM at their Portland office and they are looking into it.  They said they will get back to me later today.

Also, I measured from the tongue to each tire and they are probably within 1/4" of each other.  It's hard to get an accurate measurement due to the hydraulic box.  I guess I could unhook it from the truck and drop a plumb line down to the ground from the center of the tongue.

Any help or ideas would be Greatly appreciated.

If I don't get this fixed, it looks like these tires are only good for another 500 miles.  HELP!

[ronwood]

Gilman,

I have close to 2000 miles on my tires on my LT40HG25 without any problems. Not sure that the issue may be. Is it possilble that the axle is not alligned correctly with the frame or your brakes on the mill is giving you problems.

Sorry I can not help you more.

Ron

[Minnesota_boy]

Check that the axel was installed correctly.  The axel should have a slight bend up in the center.  If that bend is down, it will cause the tires to wear on the inside.  If the bend is sideways, the tire wear will be much quicker.

[Gilman]

Minesota,
The axle is arched up.   

[Jeff]

Thats what my guess would be. The bend in the axle is so you can adjust toe-in toe out. If the brakes were hit hard and the axle was not bolted down tight enough, it could turn on you.

[twoodward15]

did you measure across from tire to tire?  Could be toed out and that would happen.

[gary]

Is there a reason your tires have a different amount of pressure in them? If this was on a car I would say you have too much air pressure in your tires. But I don't know about a mill.

[Dan_Shade]

sounds like the axles got bent, or if there's a crook in it by design, it got flipped over or something...

I did the same thing on my car once

[MartyParsons]

Both tires should have 55 psi in them. Check toe, jack up the mill and scribe a line around the tire, ( You can use a nail through a 2 x ) do other tire the same, measure at the same height (I always used a pop can)  right to left do the same on the back.
On a RWD vehicle it should be toed in 1/16 or more. Not sure about a trailer. If it is way off the axle or spindles are bent, If both tires are wearing on the inside it would be toe-out. Axles are Dexter and WM purchases as assemblies could be a factory bad day bend. In PA WM never seen any problems with axles.   
Did you get in a tight spot, back into a solid piece and possibly bend the spindles or axle? I had to replace a snowmobile axle because I backed into a huge piece of ice and it did not move but the spindle did. Wore the tire on inside untill I replaced the axle. We attampted to straigthen the axle but had no luck.
Portland WM get you an answer?
Marty

[Gilman]

Thanks for the replies.

Marty, I've never hit anything hard so far.  No stumps, rocks or curbs.  One thing I forgot to mention is that the trailer has pulled to the right since I got it.  I don't know if this means something or not.

I can't figure out the procedure you discribed to check the toe.  Could you go into a little more detail please?

I took the mill to Les Schwab's and they looked at it.  They checked the axle and they said it was straight, where it should have an arc like mentioned above.  They referred me to a trailer shop in Vancouver.

[Gilman]

Here's some measurements 

[Furby]

Well either ya have a really messed up rig, or ya messed up your measurements!
Have ya checked the bearings?

[Gilman]

I can't Furby, they are too hot and I can't see them because of the smoke. 

[Furby]

 

[wiam]

A trailer should not have any toe, but there should be some camber.

Will

[Furby]

Right!
I had a DIY job I bought with a small boat.
Used it a bit and then it started eating tires.
Took two tires to go 75 miles.
Well 74.25 miles.  ::)We lost the second tire 3/4 of a mile from the cottage and draged it the rest of the way.
Found the trailer had been made with a bit of toe. Slow speeds it wasn't as bad, but taking it down the highway would eat the tires right up.

Gilman, try taking measurements from the main rail of the mill.

[Gilman]

Kathy & I double checked the measurements, they came out the same.

I did however notice this.


I took the picture with the camera as square as I could to the tire.  Notice the angle the axle is at?

[Furby]

I'm starting to think your axel is indeed not installed right.
You said it pulled, well WM are off set a bit from the tow point right?
Is the axel nomally set to compensate for that?
If not, then your axel is off.

Last spring I saw a tractor trailer having all kinds of trouble going down the Eway.
It was one of those with the adjustable axels, the kind where you pull some big pins, move the axels ahead or back, and reset the pins.
Either the pins weren't in all the way and came out, or someone couldn't count and off set the axels on the 53' trailer.
The cab and such would run between the lines, but the rear of the trailer was out over the outside line.

[Gary_C]

What you are describing is usually caused by overinflation. I had that same wear pattern on my F-350 that I used to pull a heavy gooseneck trailer. I usually ran 75 psi in the rear tires (80 psi is the maximum rated) and the centers of the tires wore down faster because over half the time the trailer was not fully loaded. This is the reason that tire manufacturers now call for frequent rotations but you don't have front tires to rotate with.

You should check the weight of your mill and compare with the maximum tire rating. 55 psi seems like too much pressure.

Or it could be just a poor tire design that ballons too much in the center.

[Furby]

http://www.shorelandr.com/pages/o_tirewear.html