Trailer Tires ...from another thread

[CptCrunchie]

"Centerline2" post=828378 wrote:
a bad tire can cause itself to wear uneven.... an ST tire can go bad if its not fully inflated to its recommended pressure, so only you know if you are running them under inflated..

as for the axles, to do a quick check of the alignment yourself, try this...

if you have someone to help you (maybe 2 people), you take some scraps of perfectly straight trim or other material (to use as a straight edge), you need 2 pieces that would lay against the sidewall of the tires from top to bottom, but just short of touching the ground or the fender.....

after pulling the trailer in a straight line to releave any side thrust stress that may be on the tires, have the helper hold the straight edges to each of the tires at the same time (on one side) in an up and down position.... then you get back behind the trailer about 20-30 feet and sight down the straight edges to see if the camber in both wheels are within spec.... they shouldnt be out from one another over a 1/4 inch.....

afterwards. [color]blue wrote:
hold the straight edges in a fore-and-aft position against the, tires and sight down them... the straight edges should align perfectly parallel to one another...... the axles may be out of track with one another a little, which is ok, but the wheels should be perfectly parallel....

now do the other side..... this will tell you if you need some axle work done or if the tire itself may be the problem...[/color]

if you find a problem this way on both sides, measure center of hub to center of hub of the wheels (on each side) to see if the axles are out of alignment with one another... the measurements should be within a 1/4" to be within reason, but within 1/8" to be within spec.....

I used a straight edge on the for and aft of all 4 wheels, and as you can see in the photos, they are perfectly in alignment. However, I have not done the vertical (Chamber?). I will do that today, ....though I'm fairly confident it too will be good.

[attachment]42228 wrote:
BonDC Trailer Dside Clearance.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment]42229 wrote:
BonDC Trailer Pside Clearance.jpg[/attachment]

I mentioned this to Wifey last night, since she usually walks down the ramp when we launch. She said the tires 'grumble and tilt' when I turn the trailer hard to align it to the ramp, but go back to straight once I'm in line with the dock. I think this should be normal because the tires are actually pivoting.

A little history. A few months after we bought the boat, I noticed the wheels were sitting at an ugly angle after I'd pulled straight. We splashed the boat and left it in a berth until I had the trailer looked at. I took it to a local 4X4 and trailer mechanic. When he popped the wheels off, this is what he found.

[attachment]42234 wrote:
BonDC Trailer Old Drum.jpg[/attachment]

All four drums looked like this, though two had completely worn out inner bearings. I saw this and immediately ordered a full disc brake system from eTrailer, so now I can fully flush the brakes. I installed the system - which included a new master cylinder - and machined a grease nipple into each rotor.

[attachment]42235 wrote:
BonDC Trailer 1st Disc OnSm.jpg[/attachment]

Once I had them on, with the cap off, I pumped the entire hub full of marine axle grease.

Then I took it to the mechanic and had him check out what I did and purge the brakes. I also told him I wasn't sure how tight to set the spindle nuts, and asked him to check them.

He told me he popped each wheel off and everything looked good. He was impressed with my modification, and handed me a small tube of silicon to seal the caps.

This means he set the tension on the spindles. He also didn't care whether the boat was on it or not.

He told me the best way to know if there has been any water intrusion is to look at the grease and see if it has changed color. He said it would look 'creamy'. When I did the service a month ago, one had that color, and it was the wheel with the ugly wear. I removed the rotor, cleaned out the bad grease and looked at the bearings. They looked like the day I installed them. However, the inner seal had a 'kink' in it, as if a rock had found its way to it and pushed part of the seal inward. I replaced the seal, installed new bearings, left the races because they looked good, remounted the hub, filled it with grease, and sealed the cap with silicon.

So, other than checking the vertical and filling the tires with 80lbs of air, it is looking like I may be over my head with this if I go forward. But I'm also thinking that with the two short distances I take the boat, and that I always travel between 50 and 55 mph, I should wait and see if the tires will continue to wear like they have.


Attached files

[CptCrunchie]

"driz" post=828368 wrote:
It's probably got 3500 lb axles like mine .

[attachment]42240 wrote:
BonDC Trailer VIN.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment]42239 wrote:
eTrailerDiscBrakeOrder.png[/attachment]


Attached files

[Fishtank]

You put your caliper on upside-down! The bleeders need to be above the caliper, otherwise you will never be able to fully bleed the brakes.

As for tire inflation, you should always inflate to the max stated on the sidewall.

[CptCrunchie]

"Norton Rider" post=828384 wrote:
Here's a way to determine if the rubbers in the suspension are bad:

Pull the trailer straight forward on level ground. Put a straightedge vertically on the suspension swing arm and measure from the top and bottom of the straightedge it to fixed points on the trailer. Pull the trailer into a hard left turn. Use the straightedge to take the same measurements again. Pull the trailer to the right and repeat the measurements. Do this for the same axle on both sides of the trailer. Compare the measurements you get for each side. If the swing arm on the side with the worn tire is showing more camber (in/out tilt) change than the opposite side, there's something wrong with the torsion suspension rubbers. If there's not much difference from one side to the other, the issue may be a bent axle, bad bearings, etc.

I will do this. Thanks.

[CptCrunchie]

"Fishtank" post=828399 wrote:


You put your caliper on upside-down! The bleeders need to be above the caliper, otherwise you will never be able to fully bleed the brakes.

As for tire inflation, you should always inflate to the max stated on the sidewall.

Not sure how you can tell that from the photo, but I will look when I get to the boat later today.

The tire in the photo with the wear has always been filled to 65lbs, but as you can see, most of the middle tread is still there. In fact, all 4 tires show inner and outer tread wear. This leads me to believe the comments that I should be putting more air in them. At this point, I have little to lose adding more, I just need to stop regularly and check the tires for heat.

[Fishtank]

"CptCrunchie" post=828404 wrote:

"Fishtank" post=828399 wrote:


You put your caliper on upside-down! The bleeders need to be above the caliper, otherwise you will never be able to fully bleed the brakes.

Not sure how you can tell that from the photo, but I will look when I get to the boat later today.

.

You can see that your caliper in installed between 6 and 9 o'clock. You just need to be sure that top bleeder is pointing up and is above the brake line. The reason for this is to let air escape if it gets trapped in the caliper when you are bleeding the brakes.

Should look something like this.

[img ]https://dta0yqvfnusiq.cloudfront.net/performancetrailerbraking/2017/04/Hub-Rotor-Assembly-d400-59076233d9c40.jpg[/img]

Not this

[attachment]42235 wrote:
BonDC Trailer 1st Disc OnSm.jpg[/attachment]

[CptCrunchie]

"Fishtank" post=828409 wrote:
You can see that your caliper in installed between 6 and 9 o'clock. You just need to be sure that top bleeder is pointing up and is above the brake line. The reason for this is to let air escape if it gets trapped in the caliper when you are bleeding the brakes.

No can do, the frame is in the way. Also, the mechanic bled/purged the brakes, and he should have noticed they couldn't bleed properly. But again, I will have a look when I get to the boat.

[Fishtank]

"CptCrunchie" post=828410 wrote:

"Fishtank" post=828409 wrote:
You can see that your caliper in installed between 6 and 9 o'clock. You just need to be sure that top bleeder is pointing up and is above the brake line. The reason for this is to let air escape if it gets trapped in the caliper when you are bleeding the brakes.

No can do, the frame is in the way. Also, the mechanic bled/purged the brakes, and he should have noticed they couldn't bleed properly. But again, I will have a look when I get to the boat.

I see what you're saying about the frame. But if the brakes are working then that's what counts!

[CptCrunchie]

So, I cut a piece of 2x4 to 17", just small enough to fit inside the tire on the rim. I pulled the boat and trailer straight onto a flat spot, using my 4' construction level to ensure it was indeed level. Then I set the 2x4 vertically on each wheel and checked it with the level. All 4 wheels are within Ôàø" of perpendicular using the midpoint of the 4' level. Not sure how much better it could get than that.

Next stop is the trailer guy.