Bambi Uneven Tire Wear

[stephendy]

2015 Bambi Sport 16. Attached photo shows uneven tire wear on original tires after 20000 miles. The wear was the same on inside of both tires on my Sport 16.
Caught this on service check and had tires replace.
What would cause this?

[PKI]

Camber appears to be excessive, but? Suggest an alignment at a qualified truck/trailer shop to verify axle is correctly set up.

Those look like GYMs. Four/five years on the ground would have been past time to replace based on current thoughts. However, your experience adds data to the file which supports the concept that GYMs produced in later runs like 2015 were better quality than the ones produced prior. Or that concept is flawed and you were just lucky. In any case, good you moved on.

The tire experts may be able to give you a better answer. Maybe there was a belt slippage. My knowledge falls short there. Certainly worth asking. Pat

[J. Morgan]

It's my understanding that 20,000 miles on a trailer tire is above average. (that's a reason why I run LTs)

There is some feathering, but the truth is, my examination of the photo's the tire doesn't look that bad for a worn out trailer tire.

Sometimes a trailer tire will wear unevenly for unknown reasons.....

If I were you and I'd just gotten 20K out of a set of ST tires I'd just put a new set on and forget about what I'm seeing as minor uneven wear.

[stephendy]

Thank you PKI and JMorgan for feedback. I am surprised how little is expected from the GYM tires. Anyway I will keep a close eye on new tires.

[perryg114]

I would say you have an alignment problem. I would also say that tire may have been underinflated since most of the wear is on the outside edges with the worst being on one side. Were both tires worn on the inside edge? Another possibility is the trailer was way overloaded. Trailer axles are usually bent in the middle so the tires would actually be father apart at the top and as the trailer is loaded that bow in the axle straightens out. If the wear is on the outside edge it maybe the axle is under loaded. If the wear is on the inside then the axle is over loaded. 20k miles is not bad for a trailer tire.



Perry

[PKI]

Originally Posted by stephendy

Thank you PKI and JMorgan for feedback. I am surprised how little is expected from the GYM tires. Anyway I will keep a close eye on new tires.

The GYM was a respected tire as ST tires go when it was manufactured in the US. Goodyear transferred the production of the Marathon to China and folks started having quite bad road performance from those tires. The loss of a tire on an AS causes extensive damage as the shredded tire destroys the plastic fender well, aluminum around the wheel well and plumbing/wiring as well.

ST tires in general are not well respected. The Maxis and a few other brands have fared a bit better. It helps a lot to never exceed their 65 mph speed rating. Several designs are now rated for towing speed faster than 65mph. That is expected to help the longevity of those tires. There are folks who claim 10 years life. Others 10 miles. Neither is likely generally true, but the belief is that ST tires will have a short life. That may not be justified, but the risk of damage outweighs the cost of replacement tires. The single axle tires fare better than dual axle, because they do not scrub the side wall when turning. That is a point in your favor.

If you are really interested, there are a lot of threads that discuss the issues and experiences in depth. Tire experts post on the threads and are quite helpful.

Good luck with your new shoes. Pat

[smithcreek]

Originally Posted by stephendy

Thank you PKI and JMorgan for feedback. I am surprised how little is expected from the GYM tires. Anyway I will keep a close eye on new tires.

You didn't end up with a new set of Marathons did you? Goodyear replaced them with the Endurance trailer tire and so far has had good reports. I'm sure there is still some NOS Marathons floating around.

[perryg114]

Weigh the trailer with it loaded.



Perry

[Halford1]

Causes of premature wear on tires:

1. Way heavier than GVWR
2. Alignment in need of adjusting
3. bend axle caused by several reasons
4. Bearings gone bad
5. Brake Control needs to be adjusted
6. Brakes may need to be adjusted (rare)
7. Sharp curves in high speed
8. Improper air pressure (too high or too low)
9. Bad tire manufacturing process
10. Low tire quality
11. …….

[Jacob D]

I have run GYM's on a dual axle trailer many years having once run a set for 13 years and many miles with no problems. I am now running a set made in China which look good and run well with no sign of uneven wear after about 10,000 miles. I usually set tire pressures 10% above GoodYear's load range charts which are available on their web site. I stay under the 65 mph ST speed limit. The tires in the pic appear to have been run under inflated and I wonder if the pressures were maintained according to GY's recommendation. Other comments about bent axle, mis-alignment etc are valid and deserve consideration.

[batman]

Originally Posted by stephendy

Thank you PKI and JMorgan for feedback. I am surprised how little is expected from the GYM tires. Anyway I will keep a close eye on new tires.

Stephendy,
always good to keep an eye on the tires.

Interestingly we have an other thread going right now by a terrific resource here on the forums (Tireman9). Dealing with tire failure.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ml#post2264768

Tireman also has a fairly comprehensive web-page/blog
http://www.rvtiresafety.net/search/label/Failure

-Dennis

[Bill M.]

I would put on a new set of good tires and watch them for wear. I go by years instead of miles for trailer tires. And I suspect under-inflation is part of the wear problem shown. But I would not want to bend or align based on how a set of the old GYMs wore.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by stephendy

Thank you PKI and JMorgan for feedback. I am surprised how little is expected from the GYM tires. Anyway I will keep a close eye on new tires.

I've read that the life expectancy of ST tires, (i.e. trailer tires) is about 12,000 miles.

[stephendy]

Thank you Batman J Morgan Bill M. And Everybody for your input.
I think I can trace my tire wear a problem to chronic under inflation.
I will more carefully monitor wear, pressure etc. this time around on my new tires.

[waninae39]

it looks like under inflation based on the wear pattern

[CapriRacer]

Opps. I forgot how to read.

Nevermind!