edk
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 2 
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Post by edk on Dec 24, 2017 11:53:35 GMT -5
I have a 2007 Spree by KZ, 24 foot. Love the trailer and good for getting into State park smaller sites. I have noticed a problem with abnormal tire wear. It is a dual axle but 2 of the 4 tires get abnormal wear on the outside edge of the tire. 2 look great, the other two needs to be replaced after about 5,000 miles.
Has anyone else experienced this problem and, if so, have any suggestions on where to turn for a solution. I have measured and inspected everything but nothing is apparent as to any damage to hardware or adjustments that can be made. It looks like everything is solid mounted with no tracking adjustment available.
Suggestions?
Thanks
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Post by Chuck on Dec 24, 2017 12:43:48 GMT -5
edk Have you looked directly at your wheels front to back or back to front, what I mean is kneeing in front of your tires about four foot away an looking at them directly. See if one is out of alignment with the other, thus seeing if you have a bent axle ... The other thing is that many not only Kz will put cheap what are called "China Bombs" on new trailers in an effort to keep cost down... Many owners swap out tires shortly after they buy their trailers because as with you these tires do not last long ... Also something else comes to mind, you might check jacking up a wheel an see if you can shake the wheel or it has any amount of play, if so you may have loose or heaven forbid bad wheel bearings which can cause premature tire ware as well ... I'm sure others will chime in with there thoughts on such, please let us all know what you find out so other may benefit from what you found out  Safe Travels an Merry Christmas Chuck |
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Post by lynnmor on Dec 24, 2017 13:38:21 GMT -5
First, KZ uses minimum size axles and tires. My axles were bent from day one, the dealer was useless. The axle manufacturer, Al-Ko, confirmed the bend but would not pay for replacement. The spring manufacturer, Emco, would not return my calls about a spring made wrong aggravating the alignment issue. KZ factory wouldn't help, saying it was the fault of the axle manufacturer. That is the very short version of my story. I am convinced that my dealer backed the trailer into a curb bending the right rear spindle forward and up. I am convinced that they knew exactly what happened and when confronted with the problem chose to hose me rather than pay a few hundred dollars to replace the worst axle. Since I was hung out to dry by the dealer, Al-Ko, Emco and KZ, I ripped out everything below the frame and replaced the tires, wheels, brakes, bearings, axles, springs, shackles, bushings and all hardware with quality items. I added wet bolts, shocks and trusses between the hangers. I now have a trailer that visited most of the states without issue, something that I wouldn't have attempted to do with the original junk. Like edk mentioned, do a crude check of alignment. You can use a straightedge like a known straight board to see if it contacts the tires at all four places. Of course pull the trailer straight ahead on a level surface for some distance before checking. Report back what you find. Here is my miserable PhotoBucket library for much of what I have done to make my trailer usable: link |
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Post by nvguy on Dec 24, 2017 22:51:37 GMT -5
If the 2 tires that are wearing poorly are the same axle, more than likely the axle is bent. If they are spread across both axles (both left / right side or diagonal) then first guess is two bent axles. It's unlikely that your frame is bent, as it takes very little to bend axles nowadays & you really have to work to bend a frame. All this is assuming the equalizers/ shackles / wheel bearings are not worn & none of the hangers have cracks and are moving about as you go down the road.
If you have access to a smooth slab you can check alignment yourself with a framing square and a plumb bob. Lots of how-to's on the web, so I am not going to explain the whole procedure here (yeah, I am taking a shot cut here). If you don't feel like dealing with it a good RV shop will know how to check alignment or find a truck / trailer shop that does light duty work.
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edk
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 2
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Post by edk on Feb 28, 2018 21:01:54 GMT -5
Thanks all for the info. Looks like it could be a combination of a few things, mostly related to my tow set-up. Checked for bent axles and worn parts but everything looked good enough I wasn't moved to changing out axles. Will monitor my new set-up and weight balance to see if it improved.
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Post by nvguy on Mar 3, 2018 21:31:27 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. Let us know how things work out.
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