Tyre scrubbed/wheel alignment

Submitted: Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 10:32

ThreadID: 146066 Views:2417 Replies:7 FollowUps:13

This Thread has been Archived

yakfishdave

Hi all, we have an Island Star van, 18.5 ft single axle with the Dexter Torflex suspension. While checking tyre pressures the other day, I noticed a bulge in the sidewall of the RHS tyre, so to be safe I removed it to fit the spare, but then found that the tyre had badly scrubbed on the inside. (LHS tyre is fine) We stopped at a local tyre shop to have the tyre replaced and they had a look underneath the van for possible causes, but said, as I suspected, that this type of axle/suspension cannot be aligned. As we are in central Queensland and nowhere near any caravan specialist, I am going to continue heading home, (Adelaide), and measure the tread wear regularly and hope for the best. I have done numerous measurements and checked angles etc to see if there is any misalignment, and all seems OK, however my checks are very basic. Does anybody have any experience / thoughts/ suggestions with this type of axle. As these tyres are cheap Chinese stuff, and the fact it bulged at the sidewall makes me think it was just a faulty tyre and was distorted causing it to wear like it did?
Cheers Dave

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Share

Reply By: Nomadic Navara - Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 11:15

Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 11:15

"As these tyres are cheap Chinese stuff, and the fact it bulged at the sidewall makes me think it was just a faulty tyre and was distorted causing it to wear like it did?"

Back in the 2000s Dunlop tyres produced a lot of bubbles in the side walls. I think you are on the right track. Get a new tyre and head home. You may not be doing enough distance to check for ware due to misalignment. However, whether there is a sign of uneven wear or not, check with the Dexter agents or your van supplier about what can be done to check and realign your suspension.

PeterD
Retired radio and electronics technician

Lifetime Member
My Profile Send Message

AnswerID: 644225

Reply By: RMD - Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 20:02

Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 20:02

G'day Dave
Are your heavy items in the van on the RHS? Possibly the torsion section embedded in the rubber has squashed a bit at it's outer end and allowed the whole suspension arm to be providing some negative camber. That combined with the weight of van trying to slew sideways on road crown may cause increased inside rib wear. I'd the rubber has deteriorated the arm will also be causing some toe out on that wheel and scrubbing the inside ribs more than the middle or outer of the tyre.
Compare the clearance at the top of the arm on both sides where it rotates. If the RHS is closer to van floor then the unit is probably crook. Any tyre will wear the same if the arm isn't correct.
If not exactly the same as other side then the suspension possibly needs to be replaced.
A
Alignment can be checked fairly easily with a digital level.
A long straight beam across the tyre face and projected to ground should reveal any toe out if present relative to the van centreline.

AnswerID: 644229

Follow Up By: yakfishdave - Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 09:54

Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 09:54

Thanks RMD, I'll check out what you've suggested, I have put a spirit level (bubble type) against both rims, vertically, and they're both perfectly vertical.

FollowupID: 924242

Reply By: Phil G - Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 21:42

Saturday, Aug 05, 2023 at 21:42

Let me guess - the tyre was a 235/75R15 with a load index of 116 and the parent company was Doublestar. A caravan brand that I am most familiar with eventually changed their tyre supplier because of badly bulging sidewalls on these Chinese tyres.
Can't help you with the suspension, but a couple of suggestions - firstly, heavy single axle caravans like yours require a lot of tyre pressure - do the calcs - you most likely have a load of 1200kg each tyre and a max pressure of 80psi. My caravan needs 65 psi for the tyres to wear evenly.
Secondly, if they continue to wear on one side, get the tyre turned around on the rim.

AnswerID: 644230

Follow Up By: yakfishdave - Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 10:07

Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 10:07

Wrong guess Phil, they are 265/75R16 LT the brand is SURETRAC, not sure of the load index but being a light truck version it should? be ok for the load. The placard on the van says Max 65psi. Anyway, I'm going to replace them when we get home with some quality ones after getting everything checked by someone qualified in this field.

FollowupID: 924243

Follow Up By: Phil G - Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 11:06

Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 11:06

Bugger! Worth a guess though.
Read the sidewall, not the placard - it will have the load index written there - most likely 123 for your tyre, and " max load 1550kg at max pressure 80 psi cold."
Then its simple maths to work out the tyre pressure you need: 1200kg/1550kg x 80psi = 62psi cold if you have 1200kgs on each tyre.

FollowupID: 924244

Reply By: qldcamper - Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 07:35

Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 07:35

Don't be afraid to give new brands a go.
When I was an apprentice with my first car I was restricted price wise to buy the cheapest new brand japanese suposedly junk tyres on the market.
Got a good run out of the first set then there was a cheap Korean junk brand next time around and same thing, very good tyres.
What were they?
Yokohama and Kumho , now premium brands.

AnswerID: 644232

Follow Up By: Batt's - Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 08:58

Sunday, Aug 06, 2023 at 08:58

I've been using Kumho tyres on 4wd's amongst other brands since the late 80's and never had issues with the Kumho's.

FollowupID: 924240

Reply By: Member - FLNGO - Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 08:03

Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 08:03

I have experienced the same inside edge tyre wear on the passenger side of my camper, the issue was toe out on that wheel.

A simple way to verify toe out is to place some tape on the rear of the tyre at the same height of the chassis rail, mark it and measure the horizontal distance from the mark to the chassis rail (a vernier will make this step easier). Roll the van forward until the mark is on the front side of the tyre at the same height relative to the chassis rail as the 1st measurement. Take that measurement. If it is larger you have toe out.

Note - roll the van in the direction of travel to replicate the same suspension loads as travelling.

I have successfully used this approach to correct accelerated tyre inside edge wear on my camper.

Hope this helps.

Regards Fabio

Lifetime Member
My Profile Send Message

AnswerID: 644239

Follow Up By: RMD - Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 19:41

Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 19:41

Fabio.
How does detecting the presence of toe out / in, on a wheel, correct that toe error?? To me, it simply shows it is there and won't stop abnormal tyre wear!

FollowupID: 924259

Follow Up By: Member - FLNGO - Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 21:32

Monday, Aug 07, 2023 at 21:32

RMD,

Just suggesting how to determine the cause of the symptoms articulated in the original post, if mentioned I missed it :)

My camper has trailing arms with cam adjustment on the swing arms so I can correct toe/camber.

Lifetime Member
My Profile Send Message

FollowupID: 924260

Follow Up By: RMD - Tuesday, Aug 08, 2023 at 14:32

Tuesday, Aug 08, 2023 at 14:32

Fabio
If you can use that info and adjust cams then it is a good thing. Unfortunately for the OP the rubber stuff isn't easily altered to correct deterioration of components. Anyone got a stock of shim plates?

FollowupID: 924263

Reply By: yakfishdave - Saturday, Aug 12, 2023 at 17:27

Saturday, Aug 12, 2023 at 17:27

Thanks everyone for your responses and suggestions.
I have had the alignment checked by a truck alignment specialist and the wheel in question had a toe out variation of 13mm. They have given me a print out of the findings which I have emailed to the van supplier, and am awaiting a reply. Hopefully they will find a solution, but I'm not holding much hope of it being done under warranty or quickly.

AnswerID: 644266

Follow Up By: yakfishdave - Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 14:41

Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 14:41

Hi all, we are finally home and trying to get some answers from Alko, but without any luck. Phone calls go to a leave a message, no one rings back and emails haven't been responded to. I spoke to a caravan wheel alignment business, he said that he sees this type of axle out of alignment often, and from new and the van manufacturers won't cover it under warranty. He reckons these axles are very robust and would be near impossible to knock out of alignment. He quoted me $600 to straighten it by bending it on his 10 tonne press, and the press struggles sometimes, that's how solid they are. Anyway, I'm going to try for a warranty fix, but I can see this being a long, drawn out affair.

FollowupID: 924686

Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 16:19

Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 16:19

"Hi all, we are finally home and trying to get some answers from Alko, but without any luck. Phone calls go to a leave a message, no one rings back and emails haven't been responded to."

The reason you will not get a reply from Al-Ko probably is that you should do all your warranty dealings with the supplier of the van. If you got it from the Island Star dealers in Adelaide, then approach them.

PeterD
Retired radio and electronics technician

Lifetime Member
My Profile Send Message

FollowupID: 924687

Follow Up By: yakfishdave - Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 19:41

Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 19:41

Thanks Peter, but the retailer has told me to go direct to Alko, as they've said that alignment isn't covered under warranty, so I'm getting the runaround from everyone which is becoming very annoying. For now, all I want is answers, is it warranty?, who can inspect it in Adelaide?, how long will it take to fix?, cost etc? They're all lucky I'm a patient sort of guy, but that could change soon. GRRR!

FollowupID: 924688

Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 23:18

Tuesday, Oct 03, 2023 at 23:18

So it looks like the retailer is going to give you the run around.

PeterD
Retired radio and electronics technician

Lifetime Member
My Profile Send Message

FollowupID: 924689

Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Wednesday, Oct 04, 2023 at 12:55

Wednesday, Oct 04, 2023 at 12:55

Dave,
The Australian Consumer Laws provide for warranty cover for all goods sold and sellers cannot simply decline cover. Furthermore, this is the responsibility of the business that sold the goods to you even though the response to a warranty claim may come from a distributor or manufacturer. The retailer cannot sidestep his responsibility. The reality of course is that any of these people can give you the run-around in the hope that you will abandon your claim.
You can lodge a complaint with the ACCC but even that can be a long process. However, informing the retailer of such intention may motivate them into action.
This link is to a Guide to the ACCC.