Trailer Tire WEAR PROBLEM on a WM 40 Super

Gilman · August 22, 2005, 01:39:25 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 01:52:00 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 01:57:17 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 02:07:18 PM

Minesota,
The axle is arched up. :-\

Jeff · August 22, 2005, 02:09:15 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 04:11:40 PM

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

gary · August 22, 2005, 07:52:44 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 08:49:45 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 09:09:41 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 09:59:13 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 10:35:23 PM

Here's some measurements :(

Furby · August 22, 2005, 10:38:24 PM

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

Gilman · August 22, 2005, 10:39:28 PM

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

Furby · August 22, 2005, 10:40:33 PM

:D :D :D :D :D :D

wiam · August 22, 2005, 10:43:40 PM

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

Will

Furby · August 22, 2005, 10:52:48 PM

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. ;D
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 · August 22, 2005, 11:07:08 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 11:15:05 PM

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. :D

Gary_C · August 22, 2005, 11:39:45 PM

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 · August 22, 2005, 11:44:43 PM

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

Tom · August 22, 2005, 11:54:56 PM

I know you already know this but I have to say it.

The way a WM is built, the coupler is on one side of the mill and the axle is set at an angle, intentionally, so that it trails in the lane rather than across the middle line.

That doesn't mean that somethng isn't screwed up, but, don't fix the wrong thing.

Gilman · August 23, 2005, 12:10:17 AM

I don't think it is over/under inflation. The wear is on one edge only of each tire.

Yep Tom, I measured the distance from the center of the ball coupler to both tires and they are within 1/2 of an inch. I can't get much more accurate without more work due to the hydraulic box being in the way.

I the photo, I was trying to point out that the axle isn't perpendicular to the tire. Ignore the axle frame and the mill frame and just look at the tire compared to the round axle. Doesn't look right to mee. I did the same visual inspection to the loader side and the tire looked perpendicular to the axle. I might be seeing things but the operator side tire being out of square to the axle could account for the 1 7/8" of toe.

I can't find any visual signs of structuaral damage that I might have done to the axle to cause this. It might be time to set up the mill, way off the ground and drop the axle.

I just don't have the time for this in the next few weeks. I HATE seeing the tires wear like this.

I do appreciate everyone's input in helping me fix this problem.

Furby · August 23, 2005, 12:17:48 AM

Maybe.............
The rims are bent from messing with some biguns ???
Jack it up and spin the wheel.

Stump Jumper · August 23, 2005, 06:22:12 AM

i can see the hub is not inline with the axle tube not welded on strait .

Gilman · August 23, 2005, 11:12:56 AM

Stumpy,
That's kinka what I'm thinking. I'm going to have a trailer repair shop look at it and give me their opinion.

Having a good idea of how much force it would take to bend the shaft, I don't see any signs of such an impact. When sawing this winter at the local sawmill, the forklifts were never on this side of the machine. I also kept the wheel on it so I wouldn't walk into the studs with my delicate shins. Thus, there should be some signs on the tire & rim of being struck.

I'm still being open minded of why it's out of alignment and how to fix it, but I'm thinking I got a special order Dexter axle, the 5200# lemon axle.