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  1. #1
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    Trying To Fix Uneven Tire Wear

    Seems like the axles on my trailer are out of alignment a lot. About every two years or so I take it to the shop and have the alignment done. I'm mainly talking about camber, which causes the tires to wear mostly on the edges. They fix it by bending the axles. I have 5200# axles and was thinking about upgrading to 6000# ones. Does anybody think this will help and be worth the expense-about $1200 I'm guessing. The alignment usually costs about $300. I would probably go with Dexter axles. Thanks.
    John & Nadine Bagby
    2016 Reflection 303RLS
    2006 Chevy 2500HD CCLB Diesel

  2. #2
    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    John - we know that our 303s can be 1000 lbs. heavier on the street side when heavily loaded. This 5000 lbs. or so street side vs the 4000 lbs. or so curb side is really pushing the limits of the 5200 lb. axle ratings on the street side in just a static situation. Factor in movement dynamics and forces going down the road (even worse in rough roads of course) the springs and spindles can be stressed.

    Now this said, many folks have experienced no problems but we, Rob (Cate & Rob) and a few others did see unusual tire wear usually on the street side tires. Ours was wearing on the inside front tire worse than any of the others. Seems the folks who do pay attention to this reported similar wear problems. We had about 12000 miles on our RV original tires over four seasons.

    When we had our walls replaced, I communicated with Jerry McCarthy that I would like to upgrade to 6K axles and 16" tires/wheels and we did that. You may recall that 303s changed from 15" to 16" tires (still on 5200 lb. axles) in the 2016 or 2017 models years as I recall with the addition of the 2" tube to the frame. We had that done too accommodate the change to 16" tires/wheels. Heck our very early build 303 even had "D" rated tires which required de-rating our original 5200 axles to 5080. See my yellow sticker attached.

    We don't quite have 4500 miles on our new 6K axles and 16"tires but the change was a good one. No more rubbing of tires on the underside of the RV floor in the "wheel well', no more sagging springs, the RV sits a little (maybe an inch higher), we tow level with our truck now, and we can load heavily if we choose w/o knowing that we were pushing the limits.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Dan
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

  3. #3
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    Thanks for replying, that was good info. I was thinking of staying with the 15" LRE tires just to keep the cost down, especially since my brakes, drums and tires are practically new. But the tires are barely good enough for the street side per your info. I use Maxxis ST225/75 which are 2830#. I'm curious, though, about you having your walls replaced and about the tires rubbing in the wheel well. I guess I could go to F load range tires next time.
    John & Nadine Bagby
    2016 Reflection 303RLS
    2006 Chevy 2500HD CCLB Diesel

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    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnrb View Post
    Thanks for replying, that was good info. I was thinking of staying with the 15" LRE tires just to keep the cost down, especially since my brakes, drums and tires are practically new. But the tires are barely good enough for the street side per your info. I use Maxxis ST225/75 which are 2830#. I'm curious, though, about you having your walls replaced and about the tires rubbing in the wheel well. I guess I could go to F load range tires next time.
    John - when we were heavily or even mildly loaded and traveling over bumpy roads or roads with heaves/dips, the tires would actually rub up against the black material covering the bottom of the floor. And since this material sags abit, the street tires actually rubbed a small hole in the material leaving the wood floor unprotected from possible water intrusion when traveling in the rain. I never let this happen as I placed duct tape of the rubbed areas.

    A number of folks have reported similar situations across a number of models and manufacturers. The industry practice to build RVs with minimal load suspension components, tires, and axles is (can be) problematic.

    The addition of the 2" tube to the frame to mount the frame spring hangers in factory builds starting in 2016/2017 sometime, resolved this problem even though 16" tires/wheels were also part of the change as an option at first (as I recall) and then standard production after that. Even after adding about a 1/2" in tire height due to changing over to the 16" tires we still have about and 1 1/2" plus of clearance between the top of the tire and "wheel well" RV floor bottom now vs the point when our 5200 lb. springs were sagging on the street side.

    Let me know if you need more information.

    Dan
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

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    The only difference between 5200# axles and 6000# axles is the bearings. Both use the same 3" x 3/16" tube.

    https://www.etrailer.com/question-338949.html

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    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by goducks14 View Post
    The only difference between 5200# axles and 6000# axles is the bearings. Both use the same 3" x 3/16" tube.

    https://www.etrailer.com/question-338949.html
    Thanks, for the link. I have (and I suspect John too) LCI axles. If I recall correctly the change to Dexter was 2017 sometime due to the "greasy brakes" fiasco.

    This said, I recall the obvious spring pack being different between the LCI 5.2K and 6K as well as one or both bearings (thus maybe spindle size) and other things with our LCI axles. I don't recall if there were any axle tube sizing or thickness differences between the 2 LCI axles. I could pull up the LCI site and go through it but not on the "honey do" list for today.

    Dan
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by goducks14 View Post
    The only difference between 5200# axles and 6000# axles is the bearings. Both use the same 3" x 3/16" tube.

    https://www.etrailer.com/question-338949.html
    My LCI information show the same bearings for 5200# and 6000#. If I could figure out how to insert a document I would. Maybe Dexter is different. Good to know that the tubes are the same size. I'm thinking now to just upgrade tires to 16" and leave axles. The axles seem plenty adequate-my axles are carrying about 8400#. Thanks for everyone's comments.
    John & Nadine Bagby
    2016 Reflection 303RLS
    2006 Chevy 2500HD CCLB Diesel

  8. #8
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    I don't see the bearing size listed, but the site says they fit AL-CO and Dexter as well. If thats true then the outer bearings are a different size externally but the inner dia is the same. It's my understanding that the axle thickness and spindles are the same between 5200-6000. What changes when going to 6000 is the outer bearing. The overall dia is larger than the 5200 but the inner dia is the same.
    Many axle makers do this.
    https://store.lci1.com/bearing-repla...-repl-kit.html

    5200#
    Inner bearing: 25580 (1.75" inner diameter)
    Outer bearing: LM67048 (1.25" inner diameter)

    6000#
    Inner bearing: 25580 (1.75" inner diameter)
    Outer bearing: 15123 (1.25" inner diameter)

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by goducks14 View Post
    I don't see the bearing size listed, but the site says they fit AL-CO and Dexter as well. If thats true then the outer bearings are a different size externally but the inner dia is the same. It's my understanding that the axle thickness and spindles are the same between 5200-6000. What changes when going to 6000 is the outer bearing. The overall dia is larger than the 5200 but the inner dia is the same.
    Many axle makers do this.
    https://store.lci1.com/bearing-repla...-repl-kit.html

    5200#
    Inner bearing: 25580 (1.75" inner diameter)
    Outer bearing: LM67048 (1.25" inner diameter)

    6000#
    Inner bearing: 25580 (1.75" inner diameter)
    Outer bearing: 15123 (1.25" inner diameter)
    I guess my LCI manual had a typo. It seems odd though that etrailer has the same hub/drum assembly for 5200# and 6000#.
    John & Nadine Bagby
    2016 Reflection 303RLS
    2006 Chevy 2500HD CCLB Diesel

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Canyonlight View Post
    John - when we were heavily or even mildly loaded and traveling over bumpy roads or roads with heaves/dips, the tires would actually rub up against the black material covering the bottom of the floor. And since this material sags abit, the street tires actually rubbed a small hole in the material leaving the wood floor unprotected from possible water intrusion when traveling in the rain. I never let this happen as I placed duct tape of the rubbed areas.

    A number of folks have reported similar situations across a number of models and manufacturers. The industry practice to build RVs with minimal load suspension components, tires, and axles is (can be) problematic.

    The addition of the 2" tube to the frame to mount the frame spring hangers in factory builds starting in 2016/2017 sometime, resolved this problem even though 16" tires/wheels were also part of the change as an option at first (as I recall) and then standard production after that. Even after adding about a 1/2" in tire height due to changing over to the 16" tires we still have about and 1 1/2" plus of clearance between the top of the tire and "wheel well" RV floor bottom now vs the point when our 5200 lb. springs were sagging on the street side.

    Let me know if you need more information.

    Dan
    I discovered something interesting today shopping for wheels. The Jaguar wheels that come on the 303 are rated 2830# in 15" and 3200# in 16" according to etrailer. I had been assuming that the wheels would be equal to the tires but not so I guess. The Maxxis ST235/80/16E are 3420#.
    John & Nadine Bagby
    2016 Reflection 303RLS
    2006 Chevy 2500HD CCLB Diesel

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