Trailer issues revisited - really need some help

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
If anyone recalls, I have a new to me boat trailer I purchased about a year ago that wore through a set of tires in under 500 miles - right down to the cords. When I bought the trailer seond hand, the tires were originals that cam on the trailer and they looked like they had zero miles on them. Guy said he hardly used the trailer thus the reason for selling it. I called him a week ago after so much frustration dealing with this issue to ask if he was aware of anything wrong with the traier when he sold. Not looking to return it or cause him trouble, just trying to get some answers. He said nothing wrong as far as he knew and original tires.


1. Tires are the tires came with the trailer. Maximum pressure is listed at 60 psi. I ran mine at 45psi. Tires are B rated and 4.8X12.
2. Trailer has a load capacity of 1250lbs. At most, I had 250-300 pounds total on the trailer.
3. Tires are down to the cords and the wear it down the middle. No edge wear, no uneven wear, the wear is right down the middle (I've attached pictures - tires are unmounted. Tire where the cords can be seen were on the side with an unbent axle). The wear to me would indicate overinflation which I have never done. Under-inflated by 15psi but never overinflated
6. After removing the tires, I can see the spindle on the passenger side is bent backwards a little bit. Between 1/8 - 3/16"'s of an inch.

Here are my two questions:

1. Could this slightly bent axle have been the reason my tires wore out in under 500 miles? I would think the wear pattern of the tires would be different than right down the middle
2. Is a new axle necessary or is 3/16" nothing to be concerned about?
3. Everyone who has seen the tires keep telling me I have over inflated them which I know is not the case as I check tire pressures all the time. My tire guage is accurate.

My new tire are class C with a maxium of 90 psi. I called the tire company and enquired about what pressure should I run these tires at since I only have 250 lbs on the trailer that is rated for 1250lbs. Was told they recommend 90psi. This doesn't make sense to me as I would think, but do not know for certain, that tire psi would vary with load weight. And after seeing my last set of tires that were under inflated wear like they were overinflated makes me wonder.

So, what would you do as far as tire pressure and would you replace to axle even though the wear on the tires does not indicate axles being the problem. Think I just had a bad set of tires?

Thanks -

Mark
 

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If that happened in 500 miles, I would be getting replacements under warranty from the company. Bent axle or not, I really dont think a tire should look like that in 500 miles no matter what. Just my .02. Heres my reasoning, think about alignment on vehicles. Yes I know im comparing apples to oranges here because tires are built different for trailers vs cars, but tires arent supposed to warp like that with small alignment issues. They are supposed to wear unevenly through the tread. You got the grand canyon starting down the middle of them tires. I would guess manufacture defect.

I dont even know what brand of tires I have on my duck boat trailer. But they are the original tires from when I bought the boat in 2018. Went to look at tire size to start shopping and couldnt believe the date as they were the originals. Oh how some things we forget about when we move homes and get involved in other things. This is not like me to go this long on trailer tires. Im going to do my damndest to get another set and honestly cannot even believe I havent had a blow out yet and theyve been so good. Im getting ready to run my rig to Utah for some maintenance work and I always worry about tires and heat. Had a bad blowout once on my bass boat and replacing fenders is no fun, so Im pretty cautious with trailer tires and hot months. Since I only pull that boat in the winter, I am guessing that is why I have had such good luck with the tires. The PSI rating is 50 psi for the tires I have, I only fill to 45 psi, and with cold mornings, sometimes I check before I get on the road and they could be hovering around 38-40 but heat up once getting on down the road. I still have awesome tread, but at 6 years old, its time to replace no matter what.
 
And let me add... if your tire PSI was within the range printed on the sidewall, then this should be enough to claim manufacture defect. No reason tires should ever look like this after 500 miles. Ive pulled many trailers empty and heavy, and in both circumstances, well over 500 miles, and never had tires come out looking like this based on weight that is on the trailer. They are TRAILER tires, meaning the tire should be built for different weight ratios since trailers have weight fluctuation. Manufacturers know this, get them to send replacements or never do business with that company again.
 
William Reinicke said:
And let me add... if your tire PSI was within the range printed on the sidewall, then this should be enough to claim manufacture defect. No reason tires should ever look like this after 500 miles. Ive pulled many trailers empty and heavy, and in both circumstances, well over 500 miles, and never had tires come out looking like this based on weight that is on the trailer. They are TRAILER tires, meaning the tire should be built for different weight ratios since trailers have weight fluctuation. Manufacturers know this, get them to send replacements or never do business with that company again.
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I agree with everything you said - thank you. Trailer was purchased by the original owner in 2021. I purchased it from him in 2024. I have called the OEM tire company not looking for warrant claim (well past it as it was good for 1 year for the original purchaser). I sen them the pics. They said over inflated. I told them the tire sidewall says to inflate to 60psi and I was at 45 max. Then they said always inflate tires to the sidewall number (no chart for tire psi for various loads). I then called Karavan asking for their help. They also said over inflated tires and I told them the same thing about what the OEM said and where I wad the psi. Told them about the slightly bent backwards axle (3/16' max) and they said they would replace the axle but that wouldn't have given the wear I see on the tires. I then called the OEM of the replacement tires I bought. The sidewall on these says 90 psi. Asked what I should inflate the tires to with the load I carry and the recommended 90 psi. That has to be too high for the load I carry.

So I can just put the new tires/rims on the trailer and watch closely, of I can spend around $150 from Karavan to buy a new axle that may or may not make a difference.

I also plan to call etrailer and see if they don't have the same axle but at a lower cost.

This is a puzzler to me.

Mark
 
I've run the same size tires on similar trailers with similar size loads at the same PSI (45) since 1998.
Never did I see a problem like this.
Before I pulled my trailer from Mobile to Tampa (~570 miles) i put on new tires and greased the hubs.
When I got to Tampa, the tires still looked new.
So I'm baffled as well.
My gut tells me the one spindle being slightly bent would not do this to both tires.
Did you check to see if the whole axle is still "square" to the trailer frame?
Is there a chance the entire frame is bent?
What wear pattern would one see on the tires if the entire trailer was "crabbing"?
Maybe drive down a straight road at speed and have someone follow you to make sure the trailer is pulling true.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
My suggestion is to double check your tire gauge against another quality gauge just to be sure. You never know.
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Did that. Also checked it against my Pick up pressure readers, my wifes car pressure reader, and the air pump pressure reading at Costco. I thought maybe the same but nope
 
Carl said:
I've run the same size tires on similar trailers with similar size loads at the same PSI (45) since 1998.
Never did I see a problem like this.
Before I pulled my trailer from Mobile to Tampa (~570 miles) i put on new tires and greased the hubs.
When I got to Tampa, the tires still looked new.
So I'm baffled as well.
My gut tells me the one spindle being slightly bent would not do this to both tires.
Did you check to see if the whole axle is still "square" to the trailer frame?
Is there a chance the entire frame is bent?
What wear pattern would one see on the tires if the entire trailer was "crabbing"?
Maybe drive down a straight road at speed and have someone follow you to make sure the trailer is pulling true.
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Trailer is square. I'm leaning towards bad OEM tires but want to check everything before putting the new ones on and seeing the same issue.
 
HenryHawthorne said:
I've always been taught that trailer tires are to be inflated to full rated pressure, regardless of load.
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I agree. In this case, maximum tire pressure was 60 psi. I inflated to 45 psi. The wear pattern on the tires screams over inflation. everyone I have shared the phots with have said the wear is due to over inflation. Thus all my questions as this I have not seen before.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
Like to see a photo showing this. Have you checked the overall axle alignment?

What it the date of manufacture shown on the original tires?
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Tire date was 2021. Here are pictures of the Axel spindle. On the bent one, the front of the hub is 3/16" farther out from the leaf spring than the back of the hub. Axles measure square.
 

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Mark W said:
I agree. In this case, maximum tire pressure was 60 psi. I inflated to 45 psi. The wear pattern on the tires screams over inflation. everyone I have shared the phots with have said the wear is due to over inflation. Thus all my questions as this I have not seen before.
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I agree that is where the mind goes on seeing them, but, I have to say the damage is much more significant than I'd expect from marginal overinflation in 500 miles.

We're not talking about marginal underinflation. It was run (and stored) 25% below spec. On long runs (if there were any), it almost certainly overheated significantly. That level of underinflation would have also really stressed the sidewalls. I'm no tire expert, so pure speculation, but I'd speculate that as these were "newer", unworn tires the treads tried to hold their form but the weaker and unsupported sidewalls are what "gave way", causing this unexpected and abnormal wear.
 
Mark W said:
Tire date was 2021. Here are pictures of the Axel spindle. On the bent one, the front of the hub is 3/16" farther out from the leaf spring than the back of the hub. Axles measure square.
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I would replace the axle or it could be bent back to be at least better than it is now. Had to do this at a launch once when the trailer dropped over the edge of a road curb. (launching over the edge of an abandoned roadway) the empty trailer climbed right up and over. The fully loaded trailer just bent the axle about 20 degrees. A strap wrapped around the hub and leverage from a high lift jack to the tongue, got the axle straight enough to get home. Good thing my BIL carried that jack around with him. Used the jack as a winch to pull the bent axle back around.

Probably just as cheap to replace than to pay someone to straighten.

HenryHawthorne said:
We're not talking about marginal underinflation. It was run (and stored) 25% below spec. On long runs (if there were any), it almost certainly overheated significantly.
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I suspect Henry is correct about the heat generated. Very light loads would not deform an under inflated tire. Thus the typical wear pattern was not produced. High heat could have significantly lowered the wear resistance of the tread.
 
Mark W said:
Tire date was 2021. Here are pictures of the Axel spindle. On the bent one, the front of the hub is 3/16" farther out from the leaf spring than the back of the hub. Axles measure square.
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That bent one looks significant in the photo. Is it just the spindle or the end of the axle that's bent? If the bend is as pronounced as it appears, you've been dragging it around with the tires toed out relative to each other. I'd replace the axle and spindles before replacing the tires.
 
A bent axle will eat a tire in no time and that one looks pretty bent. Every revolution results in dragging the tire sideways. It only take a few degrees of bend to destroy a tire. However, I think there is more going on because only one axle looks bent while both tires are wearing at an alarming rate. I guess one tire could be pulling the other with it. I'd get the axle straightened. It looks bad from where I'm sitting.
 
Mark W said:
Tire date was 2021. Here are pictures of the Axel spindle. On the bent one, the front of the hub is 3/16" farther out from the leaf spring than the back of the hub. Axles measure square.
Click to expand...
You sure you aint crab walking with this fine tune up of a bent axle down the road?! How you gon hit me with its "barely bent" and then show me Steve Buscemi teeth crooked for an axle! That aint just a wee bit bent, that sucker is not looking well. Replace and will certainly help. I dont think this all your problem though, and I agree with statement above due to a light load, this isnt a weight issue. I run my trailers 5-10 psi shy all the time and never had wear issues this bad and I know for a fact im well underload for the rating of the trailer. Also I just pulled an empty boat trailer across the country, last fall, with nothing on it and had 0 issues. Made it from Tenessee to Idaho completely empty, no issues at all. Weight is not the reason it chewed up these tires. I might start inflating to spec though due to whats being said on this thread. In fairness I have a range of PSI on my tires sidewall, and its always within range, just not max inflation like some are claiming it should be.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
That bent one looks significant in the photo. Is it just the spindle or the end of the axle that's bent? If the bend is as pronounced as it appears, you've been dragging it around with the tires toed out relative to each other. I'd replace the axle and spindles before replacing the tires.
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But a bent spincle would create a different wear patttern. On the outside of one tire and the inside of the other from what I have read and picture I have seen
 
Eric Patterson said:
A bent axle will eat a tire in no time and that one looks pretty bent. Every revolution results in dragging the tire sideways. It only take a few degrees of bend to destroy a tire. However, I think there is more going on because only one axle looks bent while both tires are wearing at an alarming rate. I guess one tire could be pulling the other with it. I'd get the axle straightened. It looks bad from where I'm sitting.
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Axle is straight and square, Spindle is bent.
 
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