Tire wear question?

[4RXLA]

I have 2 year old Maxxis 8008 Load Range D tires and also have 2 year old axles. The tires have @ 6000 miles on them. A year ago I noticed what I would describe as slight feathering of the outside edge of the tread on all 4 tires equally. The tread is not smooth but it is not bumpy either. I'm attaching a couple of pictures. I run the tires at 60 psi cold and they are max rated for 65 psi cold. Am I worrying over nothing? Is this normal wear? The shocks are about 20 years old.

[TG Twinkie]

Looks like it is normal wear. Remember when you turn, especially turning sharply, one of the tires has to slide sideways. The tire with the most weight will determine the tracking of the trailer. The other tire has to slide some when turning because it is on a different arc.

[Phoenix]

Normal braking (and acceleration on your tow vehicle drive wheels) will cause a little feathering. On your tow vehicle tires, run your hand along the tread first in one direction and then the other, and you'll feel a slight difference in the leading and trailing edges of the sipes. They will usually wear a little faster in the direction that the braking force is applied. This is the same on your Airstream. All of the tires on both the tow vehicle and trailer will probably feel the same on the driver (port) side, and the opposite on the passenger (starboard) side.

Note: Look at the tires before rubbing your hand along the tread. If the steel belt cords are exposed, the exposed sharp ends can stab into your hand. I suspect others besides me have done this before, too. However, one only does this once!

If the wear on your trailer tires is more pronounced than on your tow vehicle, it's possible that your brake controller is set too high; and your trailer brakes and tires are providing a disproportionate amount of the braking force when stopping. However, due to the difference in construction and materials used in the ST tires on your Airstream, versus whatever tires you have on your tow vehicle, this may be an inaccurate statement. In which case, this tire wear may be "normal". So, nevermind...

[idroba]

I would agree with TG Twinkie, normal wear.

[howco]

Normal wear!
I always notice my front tires on my 70 A/S run warmer than the rear.
Probably due to load distribution and corner scrubbing. I have never heard anyone on this forum talk about rotating rv tires, I sway why not, I rotate mine when I maintain the bearings.......

[dznf0g]

I rotate tires on the AS, just like on the truck....only it's annually on the AS as I use it now. When the day comes that I am on the road a lot more, I'll change to annually or 7500 miles.

An even feathering is normal wear and reversing the rotation of the tire (curbside to streetside, etc.) is the answer for even wearing and less noise.

[Gene]

How much difference between outer and center tread is the question.

Tread gauges can tell you the difference in either 32's of an inch or mm. There will always be some differences at any point on a tire, but if it is more than 1/32", consider a change in air pressure (more if the outsides are wearing faster, less if the center is wearing; if one side only, get tire rebalanced). I periodically measure between each row of tread in two places on the tire and watch the difference over time in wear.

It is true trailer tires all wear pretty evenly, but rotating the spare into the mix extends the time before I have to buy new ones.

Gene

[4RXLA]

Thanks for the replies and I agree it is normal wear. I'm on trip now and 1000 miles in there is no difference in the feathering and no tread depth difference either. In looking at neighbor tires in the RV park it appears theirs are wearing similarly.

[Rolland]

Looks normal to me-I always run the max inflation, it is my understanding this is what the tires are designed for. Our biggest problem now on the radial tires is not the wear, but the age of the tire-5 years and radial tires have to be replaced no matter how many miles they have on them, because they will seperate. The tire shards we see on the road are not recap treads as a lot of people think, but are the treads from radials that are getting old-Rolland