Diagnosing and Fixing Persistent Tire Scalloping on Trailer Wheels

[Wileykid]

Here is some pictures of some tire scalloping on my front left tire, and I don't understand how it is happening. Some backround on the tires, over the last several years, I have had two broken wet bolts, and a broken spring on the rear, each causing the rear axle to be out of alignment for 100 or a little more miles before I saw the issue's and pulled over. There was some scalloping from that, and I have continued to run the tires, figuring they would wear down without much issue's. Other then the scalloping getting worse on the front left, and a small amount on the front right, they are wearing evenly. Trailer sits about an inch, to an inch and a half nose high when towing and tracks straight. I can feel the tire scallops on freeways with groves, but smooth on non-grooved roads. Suspension was replaced last year with the Roadmaster system. Bearing were good at the beginning of the season, and lug nuts double checked. Tires have about 20K miles on them.

Question is, is it what originally occurred due to the axle being off causing scalloping and just getting worse, or something else. I have a tire I can replace the worse one, I just don't want to replace it, and still have an issue, causing the new tire to scallop.

 

[MtnGuy]

I see no mention if the tires have been balanced.

 

[Wileykid]

I see no mention if the tires have been balanced.

Not since new.

 

[Skilletface]

Cupping can be caused by any one of the issues you’ve had up to this point including a bent wheel or the tire not being seated properly.
You may try having them remounted and balanced to rotate in the opposite direction. Modern belted tires are non directional.
Unfortunately once cupping starts your options are limited to reposition, remount, rebalance or have the tire trued up.

 

[ChuckS]

I would be checking the hub bearings for excessive free play and also the suspension for worn out bushings, bolts ( yes I read you replaced ) suspension last year and that does not mean a thing..

Regarding tire balance i have not balanced an RV tire in the last 35 years and never have cupping or scalloping.....

I would also check and see how the wheel itself was torqued down... If the lug nuts were not tightened in a star pattern with 3 step sequence your wheel hub may not be centered to the axle

RV wheels are not like auto wheels ( RV wheels are LUG CENTERED ) versus auto wheels are HUB Centered..

incorrect torque sequence will cause wheel to be off center to the hub and will cause the wear you are seeing

 

[MtnGuy]

Not since new.

Were they balanced when new ??

Most RV dealers do not balance tires before delivery. Now many manufacturers use balance beads…….my Imagine came with balance beads.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

FWIW, I've found it almost impossible to find a shop that will balance trailer tires using the lug centric system. The ones I've questioned say they can balance a wheel/tire and it will work fine on either lug centric, or hub centric. But I simply cannot grasp how that can be, unless the trailer wheel is both lug centric and hub centric located. But the guy I talked to was quite vehement about lug centric balancing being unnecessary. I still remain skeptical.

 

[dbarks]

I have my own private tire shop and can tell you that if you mount a lug centric wheel (like a trailer wheel) on a normal hub centric setup (99% of tire machines) and spin balance it, one of two things happen. 1. The machine provides a solution, you put the weights on per the tire balancer solution and re-spin and it zeros out. "See Mr. Customer, it is balanced!" Then if you loosen the wheel and spin it a bit on the tire balancer shaft, tighten it back down and re-spin, it almost always says it is out of balance and provides a new solution. Or 2. you spin the tire, get a solution, add weights and re-spin only for it to call out a new solution (this is called "chasing weights").

I have found that if you have lots of time on your hands and spin it in static mode (not dynamic) you can at least find the heavy spot and offset it a bit. While not perfect, it probably helps.

Seems like balancing beads are really the best way to go. No shop is likely to mess around with trailer tires like I have.

 

[traveldawg]

My advice - take you rig to a trailer alignment shop and get an alignment.

I’ll stay clear of the balancing debate other than to say I’ve always had mine balanced and have always had good/true wear. Maybe I’m lucky.

 

[Wileykid]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. One of my thoughts is when I back my trailer into my driveway, which is usually around a 50° turn, the left side is on the outside, and leaves tire marks on the concrete from the turn (right side is in some rocks that extend the width of the driveway). Should be not a big thing, but it could be exacerbating an issue, or help causing it. Everything with the Roadmaster looks great. All the other tires are wearing great, with minor scalloping that is not getting worse (from prior problems), this seems to be limited to the left front. For piece of mind, I am going to find an alignment shop and have it checked, along with me double checking the bearing on it, and go from there.

As far as balancing, I have done it on prior trailers, but not this one. Tires, other than this left front, are wearing great. Maybe I will try the balancing beads, kinda put off on them when they caused issues on my motorcycle. When I put tires on, I do the star tightening to make sure the rim is sitting correctly.

 

[Steven@147]

With regard to wheel balancing, I provide the following link as an alternative for your consideration.

Wheel Balancers by Centramatic | Vehicle Tire Balancers

Boost your vehicle's performance with Centramatic wheel balancers. Discover our range of durable wheel balancer solutions for optimal balance and stability.

centramatic.com

We have been running the 300-318A plates for almost 6 years.

 

[trailrydr]

With regard to wheel balancing, I provide the following link as an alternative for your consideration.

Wheel Balancers by Centramatic | Vehicle Tire Balancers

Boost your vehicle's performance with Centramatic wheel balancers. Discover our range of durable wheel balancer solutions for optimal balance and stability.

centramatic.com

We have been running the 300-318A plates for almost 6 years.

I too like this /\ /\ /\ solution better than the beads. Have read testimonials by those who have used balancing beads in the past with issues of tire seal compromise over time.

 

[Wileykid]

From talking to people, and comments here, I am pretty sure my problem is isolated to the one wheel, for piece of mind to make sure, I am taking it to a place that only services/fixes trailers, they work on anything from a single axle to commercial semi trailers. Going to drop the trailer off next week and see what they find. They are 3 weeks backlogged, but are going to try and fit mine in next week, or the week after.

I was talking to a tire shop that does commercial tires about the Centramatic, he said that he purchased a tire balancer that can do a road force balance, and he now has stacks of the Centramatic's in the warehouse that the truckers no longer need.

 

[Wileykid]

Picked up my trailer from the trailer shop (they had it for four days), they said that there was too much end play on the front left, and with the tire in the condition that it was in, was the perfect mix. One contributing to the other, compounding each other. I had them check and re-grease all bearings. I had a new tire from a prior incident, and that was used to replace the scalloped tire. A check of the alignment showed all within the 1/8" spec. The trailer has always towed great, and on the way home, no real difference on how it tracked. Interesting though, the truck appeared to be getting up to 1 mpg better, although I need to do a trip to see if that is actually true.