Tire rotation/ tire wear

[RMcNeal]

Originally Posted by brycesteiner

Mileage improving says something. Did you get that mileage both directions?
I've found that when I drive from nothern ohio to southern KY I'll get about 2MPG better driving south than coming back north. I don't know why. Driving north does not equate to driving uphill, even though on a globe it appears that way.

I have noticed the same when going back and forth from Florida to West Virginia. I'll get much better mileage going south. I just chalked it up to all the climbing in the foothills and in Virginia. HMMM

[brycesteiner]

It does not seem to matter which vehicle i take. Same thing. The trip on i-75 is mostly driving north/south, but heading back to ohio the last hour and a half driving I am heading northwest and into the wind. That's the only thing I can think of. Heading south I'm traveling to a higher elevation so that doesn't quite add up either.

[RMcNeal]

I usually go I95 to I26 to I77 northbound. It's not a drastic mileage difference, but it is noticeably less fuel going south vs north.

[MaxwellD]

On everyones advice, I went to a trailer axle alignment mechanic. I was told there were no camber, toe-in, or toe-out problems - the trailer was tracking as it should. They said f the rig wasn't running close to level (if it was nose-high) more weight would be applied to the rear axle and for unknown reasons - only one tire may show the wear from that imbalance. I did change trucks 4 years ago and it is running a little nose high. My understanding is that there should be 6-8 inches of clearance from the bed rail to the bottom of the front cap - I have close to 10 inches there. Plus, I may have added to the problem by filling the fresh water tank to more than 10 gallons. So, now I need to figure out how to lower the pin box about 3 inches, my B&W Companion hitch is already bottomed out. Anyone have experience with that adjustment?
Thanks,
Max

[RMcNeal]

Sorry for the diversion...
I have a B&W Companion hitch also. I have it set to the lowest setting trying to level my rig. It still rides a bit nose high, but I do not have any crazy tire wear from it. I do keep a close watch on my tires as I had the rear hanger on my door side installed from the factory 6" further back than should have been. They paid for a mobile welder to cut off the hanger and weld it back on in the proper location after paying for the second set of tires in less than 6 months and 5,000 miles.
There is a thread or two where others have raised their pin box, effectively lowering the front of the rig to level it while hooked up. In one case, they hooked up to the truck and kept the landing gear holding the rig up, removed the bolts from the pin box, then lowered the rig and reinstalled the bolts in the pin box. The pin box is quite heavy, so the truck hitch held the weight.
Another I have read built some sort of framing to hold the pin box weight while they unbolted it, lowered the rig and bolted it back in place.
I considered it, but honestly I don't think it is that critical to get the rig perfectly level while towing. A little nose high should be fine. Since getting my suspension fixed and appropriately spaced hangers, I haven't had any tire wear issues and I'm about 2-3 inches nose high when hooked up.

[RMcNeal]

One other thing you might check is to reach out to Keystone to get a measurement on where the hangers for the suspension should be and check to make sure they are square and within tolerance.
Here's mine to give you an idea what you're looking for.

[ReneT]

1) Was this mechanic from a rv dealership?
2) Was the trailer fully loaded as if you were going camping while doing the this inspection ?
3) We’re ALL the tanks full of water prior to doing the inspection?

These trailers are designed so that if items 2 and 3 are met, there should still not be any towing problems or tire wear especially from just one tire
IMHO, you may still have an alignment problem. Tire wear like that should not be happening .

Let’s say a guy invents a new style umbrella and runs it through a wind tunnel at 50 MPH and it survives the test because it’s designed to
Then you take the same umbrella and run it through at 10 MPH. Yes it will survive but you didn’t test it like it was designed

[MaxwellD]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

Sorry for the diversion...
I have a B&W Companion hitch also. I have it set to the lowest setting trying to level my rig. It still rides a bit nose high, but I do not have any crazy tire wear from it. I do keep a close watch on my tires as I had the rear hanger on my door side installed from the factory 6" further back than should have been. They paid for a mobile welder to cut off the hanger and weld it back on in the proper location after paying for the second set of tires in less than 6 months and 5,000 miles.
There is a thread or two where others have raised their pin box, effectively lowering the front of the rig to level it while hooked up. In one case, they hooked up to the truck and kept the landing gear holding the rig up, removed the bolts from the pin box, then lowered the rig and reinstalled the bolts in the pin box. The pin box is quite heavy, so the truck hitch held the weight.
Another I have read built some sort of framing to hold the pin box weight while they unbolted it, lowered the rig and bolted it back in place.
I considered it, but honestly I don't think it is that critical to get the rig perfectly level while towing. A little nose high should be fine. Since getting my suspension fixed and appropriately spaced hangers, I haven't had any tire wear issues and I'm about 2-3 inches nose high when hooked up.

I think I like the idea of hooking up and using manual mode to set the height and then re-bolt. Could prove to be a finger smassher (or worse). I agree, I am not going for plumb-level but the mechanic's argument makes sense to me.
Thanks for the response!

[MaxwellD]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

One other thing you might check is to reach out to Keystone to get a measurement on where the hangers for the suspension should be and check to make sure they are square and within tolerance.
Here's mine to give you an idea what you're looking for.

Spot on! I had the same issue with my rig and one time at a Fall rally the Dexter tech came and performed the adjustment you described - they threw in a new 7K axle to boot. I think that issue was rectified.
Thanks!

[MaxwellD]

[QUOTE=ReneT;1298515]1) Was this mechanic from a rv dealership?
2) Was the trailer fully loaded as if you were going camping while doing the this inspection ?
3) We’re ALL the tanks full of water prior to doing the inspection?

These trailers are designed so that if items 2 and 3 are met, there should still not be any towing problems or tire wear especially from just one tire
IMHO, you may still have an alignment problem. Tire wear like that should not be happening .

1. No. This was a big rig trailer alignment man - solid reputation.
2. Not really - just partially loaded.
3. No - just fresh water partially full.
The part I don't understand though is why would anyone pull their rig with all tanks full? Seems like that would be bad. Maybe I am missing the point...
Thanks for the reply,
Max

[RMcNeal]

Originally Posted by MaxwellD

The part I don't understand though is why would anyone pull their rig with all tanks full? Seems like that would be bad. Maybe I am missing the point...
Thanks for the reply,
Max

I agree. I never have my tanks full, but I can see travelling with a full tank of fresh water if you don't have access to fresh water at your destination. Black and gray water should be dumped before travel though, IMHO.
I usually travel with 5-7 gallons of water in the black tank (added back after dump and flush), and around 10 gallons in the fresh tank. Gray tanks are normally empty during travel.
I have read concerns about the sloshing of a partially filled tank being worse than the weight of a full tank with relatively little sloshing. Not sure which is better or worse.

[ReneT]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

I agree. I never have my tanks full, but I can see travelling with a full tank of fresh water if you don't have access to fresh water at your destination. Black and gray water should be dumped before travel though, IMHO.
I usually travel with 5-7 gallons of water in the black tank (added back after dump and flush), and around 10 gallons in the fresh tank. Gray tanks are normally empty during travel.
I have read concerns about the sloshing of a partially filled tank being worse than the weight of a full tank with relatively little sloshing. Not sure which is better or worse.

Has anyone ever read in a brochure or owners manual that you should never travel with all the tanks filled? I never had and I don’t believe anyone else has. If the engineers who design these things were concerned about traveling with full tanks they would let buyers know.
Think of the liabilities if damage did happen because of poor engineering. Manufacturers can’t afford this.

[mlh]

I sometimes travel with my tanks full and always a full water tank. When you boondock you fill up the tanks with no place to dump them without leaving an awful mess.
Lynwood

[MaxwellD]

Hooking up to truck to hold up pinbox while making the adustment to lower the nose did work - but boy oh boy - if you are not dead straight on the kingpin, you will get enough binding between the two pieces to make this a really tough job by yourself!

[RMcNeal]

I'll bet. Glad it worked out for you.
How close to level were you able to get the rig when hooked up to the truck?
I might reconsider raising mine as my ODS front compartment door is starting to bind a bit when hooked up. It's fine when rig is leveled and off the truck.

[MaxwellD]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

I'll bet. Glad it worked out for you.
How close to level were you able to get the rig when hooked up to the truck?
I might reconsider raising mine as my ODS front compartment door is starting to bind a bit when hooked up. It's fine when rig is leveled and off the truck.

Well I dont even know yet - I think I have closer to 7 inches now between the bed rails and bottom of the front cap. I got all the bolts in but now just need to go tighten and torque them. The job kicked my butt yesterday!. I was running about 10 inches there and it always felt like I was pulling the rig up hill. Makes sense to me now that the crown of the road on the passeenger side rear induced tire wear from the uneven weight between the two axles. Anxious to see how this goes later this week - off on a short road trip to see Foreigner.
The compartment door-bind is puzzling to me in relation to this issue...ideas?