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Old 07-11-2020, 10:54 PM   #1
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Front driver outer tire wear

Having major front driver side outer tire wear. Have seen online it was mentioned this is a problem on the MB Sprinter. Anyone else have this issue and know what the cause is? Sorry if this is a revisit, the search doesn’t seem to work on the iphone.
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Old 07-12-2020, 12:51 AM   #2
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Needs a front end alignment or camber adjustment?

Was the vehicle ever in a front-end accident, or hit a major pothole/curb/etc.?

Check the various Sprinter forums maybe.

The search function in the App is not that great apparently -- these search results may help:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Spri...=airforums.com

Good luck,
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Old 07-12-2020, 12:56 AM   #3
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Takes a heavy duty rack so will have to get it into a different shop than our MB dealer. I’d guess that’s the problem, maybe a camber issue but must be something to it. Saw it in a different forum but they didn’t mention the cause.
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Old 07-12-2020, 12:59 AM   #4
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[Please see edited post incl AF search results]
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Old 07-12-2020, 01:34 PM   #5
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Toe

Camber would have to be so far out you could see it 15 feet back look at the top of the tire out is positive in is negative

Most likely a toe scrub from the additional RV construction weight and your added carry items weight

Has to be up on a alignment rack with a Tech that can adjust camber and or toe. Not only adjust but when done recalibrate the pitch yaw sensor. Takes a scan tool
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Old 07-12-2020, 04:49 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Hawk-ination View Post
Having major front driver side outer tire wear. Have seen online it was mentioned this is a problem on the MB Sprinter. Anyone else have this issue and know what the cause is? Sorry if this is a revisit, the search doesn’t seem to work on the iphone.
This is a very common problem associated with front end not aligned properly. Sprinter front alignment must be set at dominate weight load for optimum tire wear. The Sprinter alignment is set at factory when van is empty - then Airstream fills it to near max weight and does not realign the front end. Some RV manufacturers, like LTV, Advanced RV and Tiffin do a realignment after their builds.
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Old 07-13-2020, 05:41 AM   #7
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Thank you Boxter. I forget the urge to blame the owner for various reasons...
It sometimes seems if some haven’t run across the issue they think it’s the owner’s fault. Being in the automotive aftermarket, I forget that people don’t realize that some flaws are built into vehicles and parts and just need to be solved.

I’ve had to solve some various problems on vehicles and this Interstate for the techs so it’s just nice to have an idea of where to go with it before we start. Not every shop has a heavy duty alignment rack so I’d rather get it to the right place before we start.

Just FYI, it wasn’t overloaded because we bought it late last year and were unable to camp at that time due to our fall season and some other reasons so it was empty most of the time the wear occurred. Throw that theory out the window. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I assumed that was the problem but Google was not helping this time.
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Old 07-13-2020, 05:50 AM   #8
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You may have misinterpreted his post IMO -- by "empty" he means this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster1971 View Post
. . .
The Sprinter alignment is set at factory when van is empty . . .
. . .
. . . that is . . . a completely empty Sprinter van, when it leaves the Mercedes factory, before AS puts anything inside. [IMO]
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Old 07-13-2020, 07:28 AM   #9
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No, I didn’t interpret it wrong. Your assuming I’m responding to Boxter’s post totally in my response and I was not, my apologies for confusing that.

I’m not referring to his post, referring to one that inferred we were overweight. Just communicating so anyone else wanting to contribute doesn’t think that was the problem. We were not loaded most of last fall and actually most of this spring. Happened between that time.

I was looking for actual MB Sprinter owners that have had this issue and had to correct it I guess, not really grasping at straws what might be the problem is all. It’s costly and wastes time to guess when it’s a problem some have already ran into. Might as well try to dial it in. These are just not that easy to work on for shops because they are too big (heavy) and tall for most regular shops/hoists, and our MB dealer already said they don’t have an alignment rack heavy duty enough if that’s what the problem was. I have to take it to a shop that has the capability to fix it and if anyone had the answer as to what is going on, I was headed that direction. Going to make the appointment this week thanks to knowing it is the alignment more than likely as I thought. Just one of those issues that seems to be something to keep an eye on, just like the wheel sensor that is prone to fail on the MB Sprinter. It has some issues, you just deal with it. Just good to be pointed in the right direction.
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Old 07-13-2020, 10:00 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster1971 View Post
This is a very common problem associated with front end not aligned properly. Sprinter front alignment must be set at dominate weight load for optimum tire wear. The Sprinter alignment is set at factory when van is empty - then Airstream fills it to near max weight and does not realign the front end. Some RV manufacturers, like LTV, Advanced RV and Tiffin do a realignment after their builds.
I just had the alignment done last fall for the reasons mentioned about. The only difference is that when Airstream loads the vans without the re-alignment, it's sometimes because the alignment has reached the end of the adjustment range. At the MB sprinter shop they added some kind of mod kit that allowed for proper alignment and the tires have stopped rubbing the outsides off. Money well spent considering the price of tires. Expect 600 to 700.
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Old 07-13-2020, 01:22 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by OTRA15 View Post
You may have misinterpreted his post IMO -- by "empty" he means this:


. . . that is . . . a completely empty Sprinter van, when it leaves the Mercedes factory, before AS puts anything inside. [IMO]
Yes - the van leaves the Mercedes factory empty and leaves the Airstream plant nearly full.
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Old 07-13-2020, 01:25 PM   #12
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Roughly how much added weight would that be?

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Old 07-13-2020, 06:30 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by OTRA15 View Post
Roughly how much added weight would that be?

Of course that depends on the specific configuration. I just ran a worst case example that indicates Airstream adds over 3,500 lbs to a 2020 Sprinter 3500XD to convert a 2021 Interstate 24GT 4x4 with air suspension and leveling jacks.

According to the Mercedes 2020 Sprinter build page an empty Sprinter 3500XD 4x4 weighs 6,129 lbs. That would be the GVWR of 11,030 less the payload capacity shown on the build page as 4,901 (11030-4901=6129).

The Airstream 2021 Interstate 24GT 4x4 with air suspension and leveling jacks has a UBW of 9,690 lbs. Unit Base Weight (UBW) is the dry weight of the base unit without options. Thus 9690-6129=3561, the weight added by Airstream for the conversion.

That leaves the owner 1,340 lbs of OCCC (Occupant Cargo Carrying Capacity) for fuel, people, water, propane, food, clothing and other gear. FYI full propane is ~60 lbs, full water is ~224 lbs, full fuel is ~171. That leaves less than 900 lbs for people, food clothing and other gear.

I’ve had my Interstate weighed at a RVSEF event when fully loaded with two people. I’m about 300 lbs under my GVWR of 11,030 lbs.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:55 AM   #14
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Great Mike, thanks.

So, for the sake of discussion, splitting that 3,500 lbs. of added weight into roughly:
-- 1,500 on the front
-- 2,000 on the rear

. . . means that each of the L/R front suspension assemblies has to handle about 750 pounds of added load -- without any further front end camber etc. adjustments.

No wonder the front tires don't wear correctly.

Thanks again for all the data.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:58 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by LoveToWander View Post
I just had the alignment done last fall for the reasons mentioned about. The only difference is that when Airstream loads the vans without the re-alignment, it's sometimes because the alignment has reached the end of the adjustment range. At the MB sprinter shop they added some kind of mod kit that allowed for proper alignment and the tires have stopped rubbing the outsides off. Money well spent considering the price of tires. Expect 600 to 700.

Excellent detail, thanks.
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Old 07-14-2020, 07:45 PM   #16
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Here are the details of my RVSEF weighing in 2018 after I finished all my major updates of solar, inverter/charger and batteries.

Can you tell I'm an engineer?
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Sprinter Weights.pdf (174.9 KB, 40 views)
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:03 AM   #17
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. . . truly twisted . . .



Thanks,
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Old 07-15-2020, 04:32 PM   #18
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Nice CAD drawing of your Airstream! Interesting numbers. They are a heavy beast!
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Old 07-15-2020, 05:27 PM   #19
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Front driver outer tire wear

Sounds perfectly normal around here.

Know to produce level 3 drawings for a birdhouse in the Department of Overkill Engineering on a regular basis.

Still have a full drafting table and parallel-arm drafting machine handy in case the computer goes down. And yes, a full set of triangles and all kinds of templates.

The sad bit is the small drafting board and T-square I used in high school—is still here in the home office. And the compass and dividers kit from the same era is still here, along with my architect’s scale. And lead holders, sharpener, etc. And my old eraser shield Plus the horsehair brush for cleaning up eraser shavings. Plus a ink lettering template and machine set. All of it made by K&E as well. And it all still gets used occasionally.

And yeah, I still know how to use all this stuff. Yup, twisted.
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Old 07-16-2020, 07:43 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmkrum View Post
Sounds perfectly normal around here.
. . .
Yup, twisted.


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