Trailer wheel alignment?

  • DONOTDELETE
    Posts: 780
    #1256203

    One tire on my boat trailer is worn unevenly. The tread toward the inside of the trailer is all but gone and the tire has bad cupping. This is the second tire to wear like that. Is this bad trailer axle stub alignment? Is this repairable? Who does this kind of repair? I live in the Mille Lacs area.

    Newexplorer
    Posts: 53
    #611379

    Sonuds like a new axle to me. Bent an axle dropping over the lip on a ramp (uneven) good luck

    Eric Rehberg
    Eau Claire, WI
    Posts: 3071
    #611385

    Check out THIS post.

    If you have any other quetions just hollar

    Ben Garver
    Hickman, Nebraska
    Posts: 3149
    #611389

    I used to have my single axle trailer aligned every 2 years. It ran me $65 but I could tell a difference on the tire ware afterwards. I had an 18.5 ft boat and it was almost too much boat for that trailer. One of the tires was shot when I bought it and alignments cured it. The new tire was still going strong when I sold it.

    impalapower
    Madison, WI
    Posts: 939
    #611398

    Quote:


    I used to have my single axle trailer aligned every 2 years.


    You must go over some really rough roads and poor boat launches to be aligning that often.

    Hunting4Walleyes
    MN
    Posts: 1552
    #611403

    Quote:


    You must go over some really rough roads and poor boat launches to be aligning that often.


    He mentioned it was a single axel trailer. It was a 18.5′ boat, and a single axel is very border line for that size boat. My uncle runs a 18.5′ YarCraft and has a single axel and has always had uneven wear problems.

    schrumy
    Clearwater MN
    Posts: 183
    #611416

    It’s time for me chine in. Up until 3 weeks ago I have spent the last 20 years , aligning, straightening repairing and replacing just about anything that you could imagine, REPLACING THE AXLE IS NOT A CURE ALL TO TIRE WEAR, axle manufactures have a very broad spectrum to which they use to call an axle “straight”. That does not mean it will not wear tires, Your best option in my opinion is to take it a reputable frame or alignment shop and have them straighten what you have, that way they can make sure that the Toe in, Camber and Tracking are all correct, It may cost a little bit of money approx $125 per axle but it is well worth it. Factor this into it. The cost of fuel(a proper alignment will give you a trailer that tows easier), the cost of tires and the cost of your time. Less time on the side of the road changing flats , fixing bearing that cupped tires destroyed and more LAKE TIME Happy traveling hope this helps, feel free to ask more questions if you have them.

    chris-tuckner
    Hastings/Isle MN
    Posts: 12318
    #611418

    Don, Shrumy knows what he is talking about as far as trailers go!
    One of my old Karavan’s did that, and you can tell in most cases if it is out of alignment by getting under the trailer, and looking where the cross member is coupled by the “U” bolts. There are alignment hash marks…these marks need to line up. If they do not line up, your alignment is off. You can loosen up the brackets, and realign it…or take it to a dealer to do it.

    impalapower
    Madison, WI
    Posts: 939
    #611420

    Quote:


    He mentioned it was a single axel trailer. It was a 18.5′ boat, and a single axel is very border line for that size boat. My uncle runs a 18.5′ YarCraft and has a single axel and has always had uneven wear problems.


    A single isn’t necessarily borderline for that size boat. If anything, the axle is maybe borderline for weight capacity, but a larger axle would probably help. A single axle trailer will bounce more than a tandem will.

    Ben Garver
    Hickman, Nebraska
    Posts: 3149
    #611422

    Quote:


    Quote:


    He mentioned it was a single axel trailer. It was a 18.5′ boat, and a single axel is very border line for that size boat. My uncle runs a 18.5′ YarCraft and has a single axel and has always had uneven wear problems.


    A single isn’t necessarily borderline for that size boat. If anything, the axle is maybe borderline for weight capacity, but a larger axle would probably help. A single axle trailer will bounce more than a tandem will.


    I put a lot of miles on that trailer, over 10,000 a year to be exact. It was not the best trailer. The manufacturer should have put a tandom axel trailer under it or a much heavier axel. I now own a tandom axel trailer and just had it aligned last year. At the first sign of unusual tire wear I will have it aligned again. I still pull it 10,000 + a year and alignments are a maitence issue a lot of people over look. Besides you can’t miss every pothole out there.

    Oh yea, I had new tires put on my truck today. I also had them do an alignment. It was just enough out of alignment that it would have worn the tires if not adjusted. I spent over $800.00 for tires and the 4 wheel alignment was only $85.00. Because of the alignment my $800 should get me a little farther.

    DONOTDELETE
    Posts: 780
    #611462

    Thanks for the help, I do appreciate it. This is a 1200 # trailer for my 16′ boat. It has the 4.80 x 12″ tires. After the first tire went bad I thought I would live with it as that size tire is not too expensive. Two weeks ago I loaded the boat quite heavy for a BWCA camping trip. The tire went from good to bad on that one trip. That is when I realized I needed to act.

    schrumy
    Clearwater MN
    Posts: 183
    #611660

    Quote:


    Don, Shrumy knows what he is talking about as far as trailers go!



    Thanks Tuck…. I think, Was there a back handed slap in there????

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