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Tire Rotation (split from tire pressure


Landrover

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Since we are still on the topic of tires.  Unless this needs  to be a new post. Tire Rotation  does any one do it? Should it be done? And how to rotate them according to the mfg?  I rotate them when I take them off to grease the suspension.  In the old days I was told only rotate radial tires front to back do not crisscross tires.  My understanding this may now be different? JD your up? Thanks

Grant  2022 GMC Denali 2500 HD 2019  Elite 11😎

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Landrover -

I split this because it probably deserves its own space and will be easier to find in the future.

I've swapped mine - front to back - but not side to side.  I've kept a keen eye on the tread of all four looking for any signs of wear that might indicate any issue and all four still look amazing even after something like 50,000 miles.  Most likely I will be retiring these at the end of this coming year due to age and not due to any wear issues with them.

Bill

2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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1 minute ago, topgun2 said:

Landrover -

I split this because it probably deserves its own space and will be easier to find in the future.

I've swapped mine - front to back - but not side to side.  I've kept a keen eye on the tread of all four looking for any signs of wear that might indicate any issue and all four still look amazing even after something like 50,000 miles.  Most likely I will be retiring these at the end of this coming year due to age and not due to any wear issues with them.

Bill

Thanks topgun 2  i just replied to jd. maybe this could all be one thread rotation, Wheel weights and possibly tire wear and age for replacement?

Grant  2022 GMC Denali 2500 HD 2019  Elite 11😎

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It’ll be interesting to see what’s recommended,  I wouldn’t think it’s as necessary on the trailer as compared to a car or truck.   On a car or truck it’s done because the front tires wear much faster since they are doing a LOT more work with having to do the steering function and most of the braking, and the rear tires typically wear more slowly, so rotating the tires front to back extends the life of the whole set of 4.   On a trailer, unless there is some really odd loading situation or alignment problem, they should all wear pretty evenly.  After two years of traveling our original Ollie tires appear to be wearing pretty evenly all around.  I couldn’t find any recommendation about rotating the tires in the tire section of the Ollie manual.   

Edited by FrankC

 

 

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Just why is it that at my age the words, "age for replacement", make me nervous?

Anyway, point well taken but given how difficult it is to "search" for things, keeping even related issues separated can make it easier to find them again in the future.  Sure would be nice to lump all things related together - TIRES for instance to include the things you mention plus brand, size, etc. but if anyone is searching for any one of these it just might be buried.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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I rotate all five, every 5000 miles approximately. Spare to LF, LF to LR, LR to RF, RF to RR, RR to Spare....Because I can - it is what I do with all my vehicles, unless they have directional tread snow tires. I pull them off, pressure wash and inspect the back (inside) for tire cuts or rim damage, look for and remove any metal objects from the tread, clean and wax the wheels, on both sides. My trailer is normally indoors out of the sun, so weather damage is absolutely minimal, I doubt if I will have to replace them due to that reason.

Tandem trailers do indeed wear the tread fast, whenever you do tight turns on pavement. My driveway gets full of rubber stripes by the end of summer. I probably would not bother with an LE1 because that wear does not happen, but you still need to look at the hidden areas for problems. Go to a boat launch sometime, watch for a guy with a heavily loaded triple axle trailer doing tight turns before putting the boat into the water. The front and rear axles slide almost sideways! It is more than a little scary to see.

.John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited by John E Davies
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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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Whether or not anyone decides on rotating tires of either Oliver they should keep an eye particularly on those passenger side tires.  And this is particularly so if you tend to drive on a lot of roads that have a high "crown" or tend to overload the passenger side/curbside of the trailer.  Both these situations tend to put added weight on those curbside tires.  In addition, many roads have "issues" with that curbside lane or track which causes more wear on these tires.

Bill

p.s.  of course the same thing applies to your TV too.

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Whether or not anyone decides on rotating tires of either Oliver they should keep an eye particularly on those passenger side tires.  

That is excellent advice. Those are the tires that tend to drag on concrete curbs if you are parallel parking on a city street, and they often get hit harder by potholes or by taking turns too tight, since it is harder for the driver to see them.

And nasty debris tends to get tossed toward the right side of any road and accumulate there; whenever I experience a flat it often happens on that side. The front tire will flip up a nail or screw, and it stabs into the next tire behind. This is why carefully inspecting the entire tread is important. If you find it soon enough, a short screw can be pried out before the head wears off and it gets driven through the plies by road forces. At that point you have a leak and the tire will have to get patched inside, and hopefully it will be repairable. If it is too close to the sidewall, the shop may refuse to do it. I have extracted many little screws or nails over the years, those usually are picked up around areas where lots of new houses are being built. The contractors let them spill out of their trucks🙄 and I try hard to not drive on those streets. They are deadly for bike tires too.

A contractor usually won’t bother to pick stuff up if he drops it in the dirt in the street! When my house was completed, I bought a shop floor bar magnet and pushed it around the foundation many times. I collected several pounds of screws, nails and steel clips

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited by John E Davies
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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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All good advice - I have more experience with the right side of the road hazard than I wish. Spot on comments.

I purchased a clone tire wheel - at Oliver purchase. I rotate front to back, back to spare and spare spare, Spare to front - and spare spare to front. 6 tire rotation.  Can't recall - but I believe I kept rt on rt, Left on left, marked the tires appropriately. I believe I researched rotation, and got mixed information. Rotated at approx 8k. Would have to go look in the  log to verify. Tires look very good. If I don't get busy - they will age out before they wear out. 

 

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I have never been a supporter or trailer tire rotation, as we usually do on a motor vehicle.  Tire balance is necessary I believe for several reasons.

The primary reason to rotate is to maintain equal tire wear, so they all wear the same.  The big contributors to tire wear are driving force (the power transferred to the wheels to push the vehicle), turning and cornering (front wheels where wear is caused by turning right or left), and tire load (weight distribution).  Most tires on a trailer will “age” out of use long before they ever wear out the tire tread.  Since a trailer tire see’s little of these main contributors, there is really little need to rotate on a scheduled basis.

I do rotate when the wheels are removed for maintenance, but never rotate just for the sake of rotating.  Tire pressure and tire balance are most critical for tire longevity.  I do believe the correct pressure is most critical as heat is the biggest cause of tire failure.  I have also found that tires with higher pressure are more resistant to picking up nails, screws etc.

I have owned many motorcycles over the past 55 years, and driven them many thousands of miles.  Over all those miles I experienced tire punctures most from tires that were at lower pressures (but still within spec’s).  This has been confirmed with fellow riders.

Heat is the big problem in tire failure.  The greater your load the more heat you generate....tire pressure can compensate for that.  I have found that a small handheld infrared heat thermometer to be extremely handy for quick side of the road checks...a big plus being you can quickly and easily check not only the tire, but the wheel bearing.  Picking up a higher temp reading on one bearing quickly tells you of a potential problem waiting to occur.

Steve R.

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2015 Oliver Elite 2

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2019 Ford F-250 Super Duty, 6.7 diesel 

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Tandems do indeed wear tires. They do not simply roll along... the further the distance between axles, the worse the effect. Semi trucks really have issues, and they can literal pop a tire off the rim if they encounter a low curb. Here is a double axle RV turning hard.

Trailer axle and tire flex while turning

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited by John E Davies
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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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I just replaced my tires after 5 years and 60K miles. They had plenty of tread on all of them.  Had some small cracks appearing so went ahead and put on new tires.  As long as the tread wear appears pretty even on the tires I won’t be rotating.  Mike

Edited by Mike and Carol
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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

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4 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Tandems do indeed wear tires. They do not simply roll along... the further the distance between axles, the worse the effect. Semi trucks really have issues, and they can literal pop a tire off the rim if they encounter a low curb. Here is a double axle RV turning hard.

Trailer axle and tire flex while turning

Time to invent a system that will lift one axle when making tight turns.  Don't some semis have axles that will turn slightly when cornering?

Relating this back to the pressure thread, higher pressures should limit the tire flex shown in that video and make the tires scrub more rather than flex.  Something to think about.

Edited by Overland
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Also a note to remember we are dealing with actual truck tires. Not the china bomb tires found on most travel trailers  one of the selling points for me. Very happy to have them.

Edited by Landrover
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Grant  2022 GMC Denali 2500 HD 2019  Elite 11😎

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