Tyre wear on xtrail

Submitted: Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:04
ThreadID: 106526 Views:2666 Replies:4 FollowUps:5
This Thread has been Archived
hello guys, I have a caravan 16ft which I pull with an Nissan X Trail Can anyone advise me on how to get the best mileage out of the rear tyres. They seem to be wearing quickly. Is it caused by to much weight in the x trail. Are dual wheels on a van better for towing? Any advise would be greatly appreciated johno How often should the wheels be rotated when towing a van? To much weight at the front of the van?
Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Notso - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:40

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:40
The rear tyres will always wear faster than the front when towing. Keep them at the correct pressure for what they are carrying. Rotate them regularly, say every 10,000ks.

Make sure you aren't overloading the tow ball. I've had both dual and single axle vans and as far as I'm concerned it is personal choice, providing the suspension can handle the load and the ball weight isn't excessive.

AnswerID: 527584

Reply By: Ross M - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:24

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:24
There is a chance the tyres are rated at a high speed which usually means they may be softer and really only suitable for the vehicle alone.
Perhaps it's worth investigating alternate, lower rated but still legal tyres, to give more tread life. ie, More AT than just road.
They will possibly be cheaper than a higher rated tyre.

All the items mentioned previously are still valid too.
AnswerID: 527589

Reply By: gbc - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:32

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:32
Independent rear suspension is terrible on tyre wear while towing vans. Talk to a pajero owner. Independent suspension can only be aligned at a given height. You either need to control the tow height (adjustable air bags etc) or get it aligned every time you put the van on, or just put up with a bit of premature tyre wear.
AnswerID: 527591

Follow Up By: johno59 - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:56

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:56
Thanks Guys, The independent suspension comes at a cost then? Are their vehicles more suited to towing a van? IF the load in the rear of the X Trail is kept to a min and the load in the van is over the axle,this would surely help. What is your opinion? thanks johno
1
FollowupID: 810020

Follow Up By: gbc - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 15:56

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 15:56
Be careful what you wish for. I'd recommend loading the car and van properly to keep the correct amount of downforce on the towball or you could end up in strife.
Any vehicle with a rear axle is going to get better rear tyre wear as a tow vehicle because they cannot go out of alignment at any point; but that doesn't necessarily make them a better tow vehicle if you know what I mean.
It may just be that your xtrail undertakes more extreme duties than others, and if accelerated tyre wear is the cost, then so be it?
0
FollowupID: 810068

Reply By: KevinE - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:45

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:45
Hi Johno,

Obviously, some tyres are softer than others & wear very quickly.

The Bridgestones that came with my last 2 new Utes are pefect examples!

I tow a dual axle work trailer with very heavy loads, day in, day out. I also tow a single axle CT when I go away. The work trailer weighs around 400kg when it's empty, just carrying tools (chainsaws, leaf blower, fuel cans, First Aid Kit, chaps, PPE, yadda, yadda) The CT weighs around 700kgs when loaded, BUT the dual axle work trailer is MUCH harder to take off from a standing start with, even when empty. The difference between the single axle & dual axles of my 2 trailers is simply HUGE, but I need the carrying capacity of the dual axle for my work.

Keeping tyre pressures up around 40 psi on the work trailer certainly helps, but the rear Bridgestones on my last Ute wore out at around 17,000kms & I'm very much an old man when driving.

I put Goodyear AT3's on my last Ute after the Bridgestones wore out & they did quite well by comparison. They had around the 42,000km mark on them when I traded it in & were still quite good. Same daily workload & touring as the Bridgestones, but they were just simply more durable. I didn't notice ANY difference in performance between these 2 brands doing what I do with the Ute.

I'm thinking of putting Toyo's on this Ute when the Bridgestones wear out, but I'm still very undecided. The Bridgestones currently have 12,000km's on them & are showing very obvious signs of wear on the rear wheels.

Others will have different experiences to mine I'm sure, but my Ute tows big loads everyday & is probably an extreme case.

Hope this was of at least some help!

Cheers,

Kevin.
AnswerID: 527599

Follow Up By: johno59 - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:57

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:57
thanks Kevin. It was a help. Thought I was the only one having rear tyre excessive wear. johno
0
FollowupID: 810028

Follow Up By: Darryl E - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 23:36

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 23:36
Hi i have a T31 x trail and at times pull single axle car trailer ( all up about 1 tonne) long distances, eg 5000km round trip x 2 last year. So about 40% of yearly work is as a tow vehicle.

I will get 40 thousand out of the tyres, maybe more .. these are the originals. I rotate every 10 and it looks as if the fronts are wearing a little more than rears... as i would expect as i am in front wheel drive 98 % of the time , even though it is the diesel 4WD version.

The trailer with small car , i ensure carries its weight just forward of axles etc keeping a medium to light weight on towball, i do however fit tow levellers. The car is usually reasonably well laden on the long trips as well
I do these stints in long stretches though, so not a lot of stop and go stuff, which would put more stress on the rears.

So i don't emulate your experience., just to let you know
0
FollowupID: 810042

Follow Up By: KevinE - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 09:00

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 09:00
I hear ya, but I haven't been able to get any reasonable wear out of the original tyres on the last 2 Utes I've bought.

Mine is all city driving with the work trailer empty on the way to a job & mostly with a felled tree in it after the job is done (2.5T + is not unusual).

I put all of the heavy logs in the back end of the trailer to minimize ball weight where I can.

I never had this issue with the previous Ute which came with a different brand of tyres. They lasted very well doing the same work.
0
FollowupID: 810049

Sponsored Links