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Broke down

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Sitting at turnpike near mile marker 94 on route 476 pa on our way to ny :) Big puff of black smoke thought it was my turbo ..,, but was my trailer tire ... Oh .. And here's my spare :( Haha live and learn - stupid Aussie

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Yea Mike... Not speed believe it or not... Bald tires... I know, I know...

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Back on the road though. At least it wasn't my turbo which is what I initially thought with all the black smoke:-)

Yikes.

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Ummm.... Ok I'll dive in on this one... Which axle is this happen on the most? (Front or Rear) What it looks like is happening is either the trailer is not sitting level on the truck or the axle is bent.

ok - didnt get you all the info clearly as I was driving dealing with that today. Actually I replaced the RH front tire with the spare as it was almost bald down to the wire - thats the 2nd pic above (my spare). Didn't get the spare replaced/fixed - not sure why now :doh: Then today I came over the hill around 60mph and felt just something out of whack - looked in rear view saw a cloud of black smoke thought my turbo had gone. Pulled over quick and realized it was my tire. This time it was the diagonal opposite. The left hand REAR.So the pics you have above are 1) Blown left hand rear tire 2) The spare I had from replaciing the front right side tire 3-4 weeks previous. So both diagonals were worn on inside edge.:shrug:Anyway got it all fixed - $300 for 2 new tires and back on road in under 2 hours and glad my truck turbo and engine all ok :thumb1: Still taking the big hills at 55-65 in OD and passing all the trucks but now not downshifting almost ever and engine temps under 200 and EGT between 1000-1220 on biggest pulls.
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Yeah but as its both axles on opposite sides not sure it's bent ... Might be sitting wrong Probably have to take to a camping world or something with multiple large enough jacks

Camping world? Drive one wheel on a curb so the other is in the air. Check bearings in suspended wheel. Repeat process for other wheel. There shouldn't be any play in the wheel bearings if you move the wheel in and out. If there isn't any play check all the bolts used to attach the axle. Is the suspension torsion axles or leaf springs?

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Trailer tires should never wear a tapper like that. Thin on the outside and thick on the inside. You might call around to truck shops too that can straighten trailer axles. The only way I know to create that tapper is either...* Bent axle* Trailer isn't sitting level while towing (front to rear)

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Camping world? Drive one wheel on a curb so the other is in the air. Check bearings in suspended wheel. Repeat process for other wheel. There shouldn't be any play in the wheel bearings if you move the wheel in and out. If there isn't any play check all the bolts used to attach the axle. Is the suspension torsion axles or leaf springs?

Leaf springs Guess I can get the single wheel up fine with my bottle jack to check bearings .... Just 12-6 and 9-3 test right looking for play ?
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Trailer tires should never wear a tapper like that. Thin on the outside and thick on the inside. You might call around to truck shops too that can straighten trailer axles. The only way I know to create that tapper is either... * Bent axle * Trailer isn't sitting level while towing (front to rear)

You can straighten an axle ? How to tell if bent there is a little flex but didn't seem extreme ..., Would a pic help ? Or it wont be that extreme ?
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You can straighten an axle ?

How to tell if bent there is a little flex but didn't seem extreme ...,

Would a pic help ? Or it wont be that extreme ?

Flexing is BAD. Have you check the trailer for weights lately? :whistle:

In all the years I've been driving I never had the experience of a blow out. I've had flat tires yes from running over debris. But never had a sudden blowout on the highway either truck or trailer.

I think a strong crosswind will do the same thing. I rode with a guy with probably the same size camper as you and going 70 down the interstate with a very strong crosswind ended up taking out a tire. You can feel the trailer pushing to the side and having to turn a lot to keep the thing straight, I wouldn't doubt it would be rolling the tire a little and causing that kind of wear. But I've been wrong before.

I'd do a bunch of measuring, cross-measuring, etc to see what is out of square. Also I wouldn't waste the time trying to straighten it, I had a trailer that got hit by a car. I used chains, come-alongs, boomers, etc and got it all square again. A few years later it started wearing tires funny again. Measured and it was getting bad again. $70 later I had a new axle beam and was better off. This was on a 18' 7k car hauler trailer.

In my opinion, something is wrong in the trailer suspension. Now, remember, all tandem axle trailer tires scuff when turning, the sharper the more scuff... but this is crazy wear. Bearings... probably alright but still possible. Bent axles, possible but again, not probable. What kind od suspension do you have? Springs? Condition of pins, equalizers, springs? (any failurses there could allow tire misalignment) Diagonal opposites is what has me scratching my head... EDIT: Add articles from Google research: http://www.etrailer.com/question-31229.html http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/004220.html

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