Trailer Tire Alignment / Toe Out

[Deeadza]

I have a problem with the front left tire of my tandem axle Extreme trailer wearing a band on the interior of the tire.  This is being caused by an alignment issue / tire is toed out and this dragging.  Looked around on the site and found a couple places to start to track down the issue but I lack the time.

I have about 1/8" play on both tires on the left side (Previous Owner hit a curb??) that is more than the other side when jacked up and shaking back and forth (top & bottom).  Also need to address oil bath hubs as they dont look very great.

Are there recommendations for a good trailer shop to work on these Extreme trailers in Central Oregon anyone can provide?  Tried one shop already but they were not able to fix it.  Thanks for your help.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Deeadza

[DonT]

Unfortunately I'm in Utah - but when I had a similar issue on my trailer - I went to a specialized alignment shop that works on Semi's, RV's, Horse Trailers, etc.  I had so many issues it was ridiculous - but they got it all straightened out.

They had a long bay where they could have the trailer and tow vehicle all hooked up at once to do the work.

Good luck!

[IdahoAxis]

^^As stated above... Ag or horse trailer specialists should be a good bet. Also, seems our local Les Schwabs do good trailer work and I'm assuming you have one nearby considering you're in OR.

[Deeadza]

4 minutes ago, IdahoAxis said:

^^As stated above... Ag or horse trailer specialists should be a good bet. Also, seems our local Les Schwabs do good trailer work and I'm assuming you have one nearby considering you're in OR.

Have a good relationship with the local LS and they dont do alignments or brakes or really any trailer work anymore on trailers with surge brakes.  They referred me to the other place that couldnt fix it. 

[Fffrank]

Same as the above -- I've got a large vehicle alignment specialist in my area.  I'm guessing you'll need new bearings but your axle is also either out of alignment or bent.  A quick google of Central Oregon heavy alignment led me to this: http://weisnersautoservice.com/alignment.html

[Deeadza]

1 hour ago, Fffrank said:

Same as the above -- I've got a large vehicle alignment specialist in my area.  I'm guessing you'll need new bearings but your axle is also either out of alignment or bent.  A quick google of Central Oregon heavy alignment led me to this: http://weisnersautoservice.com/alignment.html

Thanks for your input.  Weisner's was the one I referred to who couldn't do it - they could not get their equipment around the structural reinforcing on the trailer... said it was the second time in 15 years he has not been able to align a trailer.  

[Deeadza]

Closing out this issue - it was recommended that I continue to run the new tires and see how they ware through the summer.  A couple weeks ago the bearings on the same tire let go, thankfully just down the street from my house, so those were replaced.  I believe the bearings contributed to the issue, but was not the root cause.

It would appear the torsion arm would break prior to the axle, so I dont see a huge problem here of a bent axle.

One item I did find is the previous owner packed the oil bath hubs with grease, and didnt use oil.  So new bearings and caps all the way around.  Surprisingly the bearings are very easy to change!

[dcwilson]

Just bringing this back from the dead as my Extreme trailer has a toe out issue on the left two wheels. The right two are straight. Deeadza, how did yours pan out? I just got new tires and repacked/replaced a couple bearings. I'd like to get them straightened out before eating some new tires. 

[wdr]

On most torsion arm trailers that use UFP components including BoatMates there is no alignment possible. If you hit something hard enough most likely the inner rubber carrier bushing that the splined axle shaft is sitting in is going to be tweaked or destroyed. A whole new axle for mine was @ $200.00 a couple years ago. The shipping was going to be nearly as much fortunately I live close to BM. If you have a leaf spring trailer you may have some adjustment. 

[dcwilson]

Yeah I've realized theres not much I can do. I just got this boat/trailer this spring and it only had 143 hrs on it. I'm starting to wonder if the trailer was toed out of the left side right from the factory. Right side is perfect. I tried replacing a trailing arm and it didn't help at all. I'm currently just going to leave it and see how much life I get out of the tires as the only solution would be to replace both the axles which would cost more than new tires. 

[wdr]

There is no guarantee that replacing both axles will even fix the issue. Its not like these trailers are made at NASA. Perfect axles won't overcome a bow in the frame at the point of axle attachment. My '10 BM had the same issues I just had to keep rotating tires. I don't trailer far enough and didn't keep the boat long enough to see if the new axle fixed the issue, but I doubt it did.