Scrubbiing tyres

[James_374349923]

Does any one have experiance of there caravan scrubbing tyres badley on the inside. It looks to me like the wheels have gone out of true.

Is there a fix for this at all? What are the options?

Thanks

 

[GeorgeB]

James,

There are many reasons that a tyre can wear unevenly, from the composition of the tyre itself, the way the caravan is loaded, the balance of the wheels, the tyre pressures, through to miss alignment of the "offending" wheel, the latter being the more common cause, the good news is that it can be fixed, the bad news is that it's likely to be expensive.

The things that can cause miss alignment are:

Worn or damaged suspension on the offending side.

Tracking: the way the front and rear of the wheel is aligned in relation to the horizontal and to the wheel on the opposite side of the axle.

Camber: the relationship of the wheel to the vertical axis (the way the top of the wheel leans in or out in relationship to the vertical, positive camber top of wheel leans out, negative camber top of wheel leans in.

Then there are the "caster", the "King pin inclination" and the thrust angle, but these 3 are very technical figures & settings, and quiet frankly beyond the scope of us mere mortals!

Having eliminated tyre pressures as the cause, the easiest way to check the first 3 are to take the caravan to a tyre specialist, let them look at the wear & take a view on whats causing it, then get them to check the tracking with an optical alignment gauge & give you the figures, then get them to check the camber & give you the figures, armed with these you can then contact the caravan chassis makers technical dept, explain to them that you are experiencing unusual tyre wear, give them the tracking & camber figures & they can advise you from there, but be warned, if it is these that are causing the problem you will either have to take the caravan to their premises or remove the entire axle & send it to them for rectification.

 

[James_374349923]

James,

There are many reasons that a tyre can wear unevenly, from the composition of the tyre itself, the way the caravan is loaded, the balance of the wheels, the tyre pressures, through to miss alignment of the "offending" wheel, the latter being the more common cause, the good news is that it can be fixed, the bad news is that it's likely to be expensive.

The things that can cause miss alignment are:

Worn or damaged suspension on the offending side.

Tracking: the way the front and rear of the wheel is aligned in relation to the horizontal and to the wheel on the opposite side of the axle.

Camber: the relationship of the wheel to the vertical axis (the way the top of the wheel leans in or out in relationship to the vertical, positive camber top of wheel leans out, negative camber top of wheel leans in.

Then there are the "caster", the "King pin inclination" and the thrust angle, but these 3 are very technical figures & settings, and quiet frankly beyond the scope of us mere mortals!

Having eliminated tyre pressures as the cause, the easiest way to check the first 3 are to take the caravan to a tyre specialist, let them look at the wear & take a view on whats causing it, then get them to check the tracking with an optical alignment gauge & give you the figures, then get them to check the camber & give you the figures, armed with these you can then contact the caravan chassis makers technical dept, explain to them that you are experiencing unusual tyre wear, give them the tracking & camber figures & they can advise you from there, but be warned, if it is these that are causing the problem you will either have to take the caravan to their premises or remove the entire axle & send it to them for rectification.

Thankyou for that info, I think it is the axle is the most likely fault. Where is the best place to go to get more info about getting the axle looked at?

The only trouble i have is that if it is expensive to fix then it may not be worth doing it because it is a 1992 caravan so has little value

 

[James_374349923]

Thankyou for that info, I think it is the axle is the most likely fault. Where is the best place to go to get more info about getting the axle looked at?

The only trouble i have is that if it is expensive to fix then it may not be worth doing it because it is a 1992 caravan so has little value

 

[sandt_374242043]

Thankyou for that info, I think it is the axle is the most likely fault. Where is the best place to go to get more info about getting the axle looked at?

The only trouble i have is that if it is expensive to fix then it may not be worth doing it because it is a 1992 caravan so has little value

Hi

Can I suggest you pull the caravan along the road and get someone to follow you and check if it is pulling in a straight line. If it does not pull straight you need to take it to a specialist repairer.

Sandy

 

[GeorgeB]

Hi

Can I suggest you pull the caravan along the road and get someone to follow you and check if it is pulling in a straight line. If it does not pull straight you need to take it to a specialist repairer.

Sandy

James,

If it's that old try sourcing a complete axle from your local caravan breakers, you'll have to give them the make & model of your van & it's probably best to give them the axle type number from the plate fixed to the beam axle.

Once you get an idea of the price of a second hand axle you can then decide if it's a viable repair