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Tires wearing bad

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DWester

Regular Contributor
A friend of mine bought a new boat and trailer. Trailer has two axles and the tires on the back axles wore out in 3000 miles. Fronts are fine. What would cause this?
 
did the tires scallop?or wear smoothly?i think the boat is setting too far back on the trailer...i added trim tabs on a boat and moved the boat back so the tabs would not come up on the trailer runners and the tires scalloped badly in 500 miles...
 
there is a formula somewhere for the percentage of total weight vs the tongue weight...the dealer should know this as he is probably the one responsible for the problem...
 
From what he said, it sets a little low at the tongue. Driving four hours on winding roads may be raking the rears to wear like that??
 
papyson said:
did the tires scallop?or wear smoothly?i think the boat is setting too far back on the trailer...i added trim tabs on a boat and moved the boat back so the tabs would not come up on the trailer runners and the tires scalloped badly in 500 miles...
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed this one. They were worn smoothly. When he dropped it off at the tire shop today, the tire guys said that the rear tires were hot.
 
The tongue weight should be no more than 10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer combined. Most dealers recommend 6% to 8%.

Also, have a tire shop check axel alignment. If you look at how the axels are attached to the trailer frame, you can see how easy it is for them to get out of alignment.
 
chawk_man said:
The tongue weight should be no more than 10% of the total weight of the boat and trailer combined. Most dealers recommend 6% to 8%.

Also, have a tire shop check axel alignment. If you look at how the axels are attached to the trailer frame, you can see how easy it is for them to get out of alignment.
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hopefully it's OK to bump old thread.

my question if the rear axle is 1/4" shorther than the front (but still rolls balanced) will cause abnormal tire wear?TB
 
I've been in that situation before, and what helped me is essential toolkit. Well, of course, first of all I've inspected every inch of my trailer, but after it - all I needed is a simple essential toolkit, like one called Apex Tool Group (can find over here: https://cozyhousetoday.com/best-tap-die-set-review/), and these tools from Apex toolkit made everything I couldn't do with my old tools before.
 
Last edited:
hopefully it's OK to bump old thread.

my question if the rear axle is 1/4" shorther than the front (but still rolls balanced) will cause abnormal tire wear?TB
Click to expand...

I heard a lot of stories about it, and yes it will cause abnormal tire wear.
 
dam I had to cut 1/4" off the rear axle for the new spindel install if you look closely the shorter axle can be sean.

edit: only one side is a 1/4" shorther. I'll keep a close on on tire wear.

I have a new replacement axle however I'm reluctant to swap since dexter the manufactor desided to ignore my spec sheet you know the sheet w/ all the details like lenght ect. ect. spring mounts where left off and the folks that sold it to me insisted on welding new mounts. they sanded off the galvanized metal welded a tad then spray painted w/ primer.

basically dexter fouled up. I disputed the credit card payment and wasted hours of my time explaining over and over, it got to the point I said you are recording the conversation please hit the replay button, hell even a 5 year old could understand the galzination process but I got boned by the credit card co.

I really need to go back and talk to the owner of the trailer shop where I got boned infront of the potenional customers.

the salesman acts like he did me a favor selling a boat axle they mainly sell none boat trailer stuff. it also took them 3 months to get the axle from dexter.
 
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