Cupping
Cups or scalloped dips appearing around the
edge of the tread on one side or the other al-
most always indicate worn (sometimes bent)
suspension parts. Adjustment of wheel align-
ment alone will seldom cure the problem. Any
worn component that connects the wheel to
the trailer (wheel bearings, springs, bushings,
etc.) can cause this condition.
Worn components should be adjusted
or replaced with new ones. The worn tire
should be balanced and possibly moved to a
different location on the trailer. Occasionally,
wheels that are out of balance will wear like
this, but wheel imbalance usually shows up
as bald spots between the outside edges and
center of the tread.
Second-Rib Wear
Second-rib wear is normally found only in
radial tires, and appears where the steel
belts end in relation to the tread. Normally, it
can be kept to a minimum by paying careful
attention to tire pressure and frequently
rotating the tires. Some tire manufactures
consider a slight amount of wear at the
second rib of a radial tire to be normal, but
excessive amounts of wear indicate that the
tires are too wide for the wheels. Be careful
when having oversized tires installed on
narrow wheels.
One side wear
When an inner or outer rib wears faster than
the rest of the tire, the need for wheel align-
ment is indicated. This occurs when there
is excessive camber in
the axle, causing the
wheel to lean too much to the inside or out-
side and putting too much load on one side
of the tire. The trailer may simply need the
wheels aligned, but misalignment could be
due to sagging springs, overloaded trailer or
an unbalanced load on multi-axle trailers. Be-
cause load has a great effect on alignment,
be sure the trailer is loaded to balance the
weight on the axle or axles. Trailers should be
towed with the trailer in a level condition. This
is particularly important with independent
suspension trailers using torsion axles.
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