While on my last trip I noticed the rear tires are worn unevenly on the insides... the ones on the front axle are fine. (photo is of the right rear tire which is worse than the left)
Now that I'm aware of it, it's easy to spot the tires are cambered in at the top, especially in the side mirrors during turns (I'd always thought this was natural movement of the axles in a turn
). Additionally we measured and got 1/2 inch longer distance between the hubs on the right than on the left so it seems to be twisted slightly to the right.
I don't weigh it every single trip, but every time I have weighed it while loaded the tandems have always come in under 7000 (often quite a bit lower, just depending on the mission). So I think I've done a good job at not overloading it.
Starting to put things together in my mind... long story short, a couple of years ago while it was in storage in a shared space, someone that we know to be "shady" moved it without my knowing, despite my using a tongue lock. They called me afterward and told me the axle looked twisted as if backed in at a curve, so they "did me a service" and pulled it forward and back a few times to straighten it out. They never have fully admitted what method they used to do this.
In talking with some "experienced" family members (some in trucking, some in towing, some in trailer repair), we now suspect those that moved my TT jacked up the entire trailer by just the rear axle under each u-joint, used an engine hoist to raise the tongue, and then pushed the entire thing to its left about 2 feet on the floor jack wheels to put it where
they wanted it. Now I realize their phone call to me was likely a CYA move once they realized THEY had bent the axle.
I have an appointment with a trailer shop to have both axles checked and, if able, "mechanically aligned". Soonest available is middle of September, so it looks like my season is done
. Cost is $160 per axle, plus parts if needed. Sure hoping the axle doesn't require replacement.
They're Dexter 3500-lb standard axles.