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Old 02-21-2012, 09:33 AM   #1
jimmy77
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Trailer tire ROTATE YES-NO???

I think most of us agree that tire balancing is a good idea. But what about rotation. Front to back, criss-cross or something else. How many miles? Any thoughts on this.
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Old 02-21-2012, 01:28 PM   #2
hankpage
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Originally Posted by jimmy77 View Post
I think most of us agree that tire balancing is a good idea. But what about rotation. Front to back, criss-cross or something else. How many miles? Any thoughts on this.
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I do front to back when greasing hubs and checking brakes ...... it may be old-school but I was always told not to switch sides with radials.
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Old 02-21-2012, 01:50 PM   #3
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I do front to back when greasing hubs and checking brakes ...... it may be old-school but I was always told not to switch sides with radials.
Same here.
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Old 02-21-2012, 02:54 PM   #4
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Same as Hank
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Old 02-22-2012, 07:02 AM   #5
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I also rotate tires once a season when I grease and adjust the brakes. I follow my tire recommendations from my truck, which shows across rotation including the spare tire. So this means the driver side front tire now becomes the spare. The spare tire is the new passenger side rear tire. The passenger side rear tire now becomes the passenger side front tire. The passenger side front tire now becomes the driver side rear tire and the driver side rear tire goes to the front driver side.
I always have had good luck in following this rotation on both my truck and trailer. This has provide the most mileage life in tires I also monitor the air pressure monthly for my truck and every trip for my trailer.
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Old 02-22-2012, 07:10 AM   #6
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I follow the same as Jim on my trailer tires as on my truck and car and have gotten good mileage from my tires with no problems. I do the truck and car every 5000 miles and the trailer usually once a season unless doing a lot of miles then twice a season.
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Old 02-22-2012, 07:00 PM   #7
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Well for me, it depends.

When I buy a new TT with non-Chinese tires (I do that as part of buying process) I then have five new tires. I rotate all 5 of them in a clockwise manner every spring. This gives me 20% more mileage before I need to replace the tires (assuming I need to replace before my personal maximum age limit of 7 years).

Once I need to buy new tires, I take the best of the 5 and make it my spare. I replace the other four.

From then on I take tires on rear axle and swap them with front axle every few years.

Hope that makes sense.
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Old 02-23-2012, 05:34 AM   #8
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I used to do like chuck&gail and rotate all 5 tires until I bought my 99 superduty. I found out when I pulled the spare out from under the truck that it was a blackwall and didn't match the white lettering on the rest of the tires also the wheel was a black steel wheel, not the "sophisticated cast wheel" that I'd paid so much extra money for...

At any rate, the truck manufacturers have pretty much made the 5 tire rotation obsolete with that move to save money...

As for trailer tires, Tirerack.com has several tire rotation recommendations. Most of them include rotating back to front AND side to side. As for me, I just don't know if I want "maypops" (ST tires) to change rotational direction every year, so I only rotate front to back each spring when I repack wheel bearings and adjust brakes. I haven't heard of any "verifiable" reason not to rotate side to side, I just suspect that the "squirming forces" that trailer tires are subjected to in turns, etc, it just makes sense not to twist them in any "unnecessary" directional forces...
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Old 02-25-2012, 03:57 PM   #9
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I'll go against the flow here... I see no harm in rotating the tires on your trailer (I do rotate on my driven vehicles), but, I don't rotate the tires on my trailer(s). Never have.

You rotate tires on your driven vehicles to spread the wear and tear amongst them because the front tires, in a RWD vehicle, are subject to scuffing from the various radius changes made when making a turn. The rear drive wheels are subjected to different stresses in acceleration and in the good ol' days you used a front to back cross over pattern because only the right hand rear was the driven wheel (not counting us "wild kids" with our "posi-trac" rear ends. The tires in use on a steering axle suffer different wear patterns from a driven axle. In an FWD vehicle, most all the "wear" is on the front while the rears suffer very little and rotation, there, too, is quite beneficial, but, tire rotation is done to "equalize" or "even out" the differing wear exposure of the set of tires.

On my trailer, the axles are located very close together. They neither drive nor steer and their "wear" is due to scuffing, which, in their close proximity to each other, should be virtually the same since the pivot point when turning is between the closely located axles. If your trailer is loaded properly, with virtually the same loading on each axle, the wear should be the same, no matter what its position. If one set of tires is wearing noticeably more (front or back) it should be cause to look at axle alignment or loading.

I've never rotated trailer tires and never noticed increased wear in the front tires vs the rear tires and visa versa. Just my experience in a lot of years of towing a lot of different trailers. You can rotate with no harm done, but, it does require boosting both axles up to get the tires off. I do my brake and bearing inspection one tire at a time. One axle up, tire off, do my inspections, tire back on and move to the next one. If I had a tri-axle 5ver, I would consider rotation, but, that is due to the different geometry of a tri-axle setup where the center axle would have less scuffing than the fore and aft axles since the center axle becomes the pivot point. Our trailer tires, unlike an OTR transport, are located centrally under the weight mass...only 15-16% on a bumper pull or ~20% on a 5ver is moved forward for stability.

Again, for those that rotate, good on ya'...it certainly can't hurt, but, I've never seen any benefit and it is more "work" for me to get two jacks out and get both axles up at the same time; much easier on this old body to work on one at a time
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Old 02-26-2012, 05:06 AM   #10
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Web slave is right on the money IMHO, I would add that the most beneficial move for safety and wear is check the tire air pressure before moving the trailer and check the lug nut touqre every trip, especially with aluminum or alloy wheels.
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Old 02-26-2012, 05:31 AM   #11
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I rotated mine side to side, after 12 thousand miles of towing mostly in the right hand lanes the road crown was causing wear on the outside edges of the passenger side tires and the inside edges of the driver side tires. Some areas like Florida have quite a bit of crown and what ever the highways are made of they seem more abrasive.
I didn't use a jack but instead used the Traileraid ramp and used the spare tire, changing the tires one by one. Was good training for tire changing on the road.
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Old 02-26-2012, 09:29 AM   #12
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(sic)...
I didn't use a jack but instead used the Traileraid ramp and used the spare tire, changing the tires one by one. Was good training for tire changing on the road.
That works fine if you have all steel wheels and your spare matches. On many of the trailers produced now, styled aluminum wheels are used on the running gear while the spare is a "plain jane" steel wheel; in my case, a plain black steel wheel while the running gear are nice aluminum styled wheels - my spare will rot under the cover (unless needed and I do inspect it to make sure it is "road worthy" and aired up periodically).

I concur with flybouy...the most important things you can do for your tires is keeping the air pressure up, loads within ratings, and speed down if you are outfitted with ST tires. ST tires are rated for 65 mph. The most damaging things you can do to your tires is run them underinflated, overloaded, and at speeds consistently over 65 mph. Keeping them covered when not in use for more than a week or so, will also go a long way in longevity.

I'll relate a little example I observed (upclose and personal) last summer while coming across Texas... I was in the right hand lane doing my usual 58-62 mph when I noticed a heavily laden Dodge overtaking me in the left hand lane. Before it got up to me I remarked to my wife that "Boy that guy's in a hurry...must be doing 75 or better!" Well, it didn't take him long to get up beside me and start passing and I glanced over at his load (about an 18' utility trailer loaded to the gills with what appeared to be scrap metal) and had just started to remark to the DW that his tires looked low, when the leading tire on his trailer on my side let go explosively. I immediately let off the gas and started slowing and it wasn't more than 15' before that wheel had let go of all the rubber, ripping most of the trailer's fender off and peeling it up like an orange rind. Another 20 or 30' saw the remaining tire, unable to support the entire load on that side let go and take out the rear spring shackle on that side. At that point, thankfully, I was well behind him as the trailer, without axle attachment on the curbside, started weaving severely... My hat's off to the driver for maintaining enough control to get off the road without losing the trailer completely, but, he was dead in the water and I was equally glad that I had started slowing when he was overtaking me...had I kept on the gas and been broadside of him, he probably would have taken me out or at least caused damage to my rig.

Again, I can't stress enough; loading, air pressure and speed are the biggest contributors to tire failure. Very few tires nowadays, fail from wear, most fail from improper useage and/or road hazards. While rotating tires can do no harm and may, in some instances, be beneficial, nothing can do more for your safety and tire longevity than using and maintaining them properly. I had almost 50K miles on the Duro Radials (yeah, I know "China Bombs") when I traded my 4 year old FunFinder in on my 5ver...the dealer asked my how many miles I had on the "new tires" on the trailer...

Drive safely, defensively, always pay attention to your surroundings, think ahead, and enjoy your trip! Wave as you pass by, I'm actually quite friendly, I'll wave back, but, I'll be the the old guy doing 59 mph, no matter what the posted speed is, that you're cussing at for being a slowpoke!
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Old 02-26-2012, 09:56 AM   #13
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Tires

I to agree with Webslave.

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Old 02-26-2012, 10:12 AM   #14
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I to agree with Webslave.

2011 Sprinter 297RET Travel Trailer.

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Let it Happen Campin.
me to. Although I can't see any harm in rotating. We tow about 10K miles/year, and tires always have worn evenly front to back and side to side on the trailer. If they didn't I'd first look to see if there is an alignment problem with the axles.

Rotating on the tow vehicle absolutely!!
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Old 02-26-2012, 02:07 PM   #15
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"That works fine if you have all steel wheels and your spare matches. On many of the trailers produced now, styled aluminum wheels are used on the running gear while the spare is a "plain jane" steel wheel; in my case, a plain black steel wheel while the running gear are nice aluminum styled wheels - my spare will rot under the cover (unless needed and I do inspect it to make sure it is "road worthy" and aired up periodically)."


I only used the spare while swapping the tires, just needed it to use while moving the trailer back and forth with one tire off.
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Old 02-26-2012, 02:39 PM   #16
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Tires

I'll be right behind you doing 58-60. I have about 13k on the OEM Towmax tires on my 318SAB and they look about new. Balance, maintain pressure and keep under 60 and you will probably be OK.

One thing that gripes me is looking on the mirror when backing into a tight 90 degree RV space is watching the tires scrape sideways without rotating. That has to be REALLY hard on them. I love pull through sites.

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Old 02-27-2012, 03:31 PM   #17
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My TT came new with five non-Chinese tires as part of our sales negotiation.

Year one is over. For the next four years, you all will be able to recognize our TT, as it will be the one with three aluminum wheels, and one steel wheel. New tires are too expensive to not use.

Yes I tend to wear them out before my personal 7 year lifetime limit.
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