alignment questions

[Kingfish58]

I brought my trailer in for a bearing re-pack and am told that the two tires on my door side are wearing on one side. The dealer doesn't do alignments, and I'm told I have to take it to a special axle and body shop to do it.

Is this normal? It amazes me that something as common as an alignment can't be done at the dealer. Also, I'm not sure what would cause the tires on one side to lean in or out.

So, I take the trailer to one spot for the bearing pack, another for the tires, and another for the alignment. I'm tempted to get a better set of tires and blow off the alignment. Replace every 3 years.

Tires are 3 or 4 years old. Should I replace 2 or all 4? What would you do?

[Lloyd]

I would get the axles aliened and then put on new tires.
Those axles aren't going to get any better by themselves.

[fhenn]

At that age those ST tires are a time bomb

[Stan]

I had to replace all my tires due to uneven wear on the inside of the tires which were mounted on the curb side of the rig. These were the original cheap ST ones that came with the RV. I bought better quality Maxxis tires 10 ply and the wear issue went away. I believe the original tires were were just not stout enough for the weight which caused the overloading wear issue. Depending on the quality of your tires you may not have an alignment issue as much of a weight/overloading issue.

[harley]

These cheaply built axles were probably bent right from the get -go.
The 3500# ones are probably only good for 3200# at best . Ditto on the alignment and new tires. Dealers cannot do alignment as chains and pull pressure is used for bending steel back into place.

[travelin texans]

The alignment on tube axles requires the axles the bent, not just twisting a few bolts, to get the proper castor & camber, which is why you go to a specialty shop, but once aligned your done, it should only need to be done once unless you are constantly jumping curbs or hitting huge pot holes. Have it aligned, buy 1 step up heavier than original tires (E to F, F to G) & go enjoy.

[Kingfish58]

Thanks for all the replies.

Has anyone heard of Prometer tires? They have a D rating (up from oem C's) and were recommended by the dealer who did the bearing work, even though they don't sell them.

Also, anyone have an idea of what an alignment should cost?

[travelin texans]

My alignment done in Indiana was $125 per axle & was reimbursed under warranty.
If you have any stroke at your dealer, maybe yours could be covered.