Uneven tyre wear on the van

borstalboy

Active Member
Apr 17, 2012
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Northern Subs SA
Any ideas as to why I might be getting uneven wear on the left had side tyre of my expanda. The tyre pressures are at 44psi both sides but the right hand tyre seems really good, the other side the tyre seems to be wearing on the outside edge its almost like need a wheel alignment if it was a car.
 

BUSH PALACE

Well-Known Member
Sep 4, 2011
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LOBETHAL S.A
Yep what Cracka said , slide underneath and measure from the spring eyelet to the axle on both sides , measurement should b the same
 

Ch00ka77

Active Member
Apr 28, 2012
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Maffra VIC
Any ideas as to why I might be getting uneven wear on the left had side tyre of my expanda. The tyre pressures are at 44psi both sides but the right hand tyre seems really good, the other side the tyre seems to be wearing on the outside edge its almost like need a wheel alignment if it was a car.
Funny that I had a similar issue and after measuring and looking I found the centre bolt that holds the spring pack together had decided it doesn't want to be there anymore and this caused the springs only on one side to slip back only about 1/4" inch but was lucky to find it before something worse could of happened. Also checked the others and all good. Maybe worth a look though.
 

DaveS

Active Member
Jan 10, 2014
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Funny that I had a similar issue and after measuring and looking I found the centre bolt that holds the spring pack together had decided it doesn't want to be there anymore and this caused the springs only on one side to slip back only about 1/4" inch but was lucky to find it before something worse could of happened. Also checked the others and all good. Maybe worth a look though.


Alko used to tell us that that bolt was only to hold the spring pack together and wasn't essential, now they peen the thread to stop them coming out ......... go figure ........... the bolt "should" be put in so that it's captive by the axle, so if you undersling reverse the bolt and peen the thread.

when i triangulate a van i put it on stands remove wheels and hub, and drop a plumb bob to the ground from the centre of each axle and the centre of hitch, mark them all on the ground and then measure to the centre of the hitch, also measure between wheels if it's tandem, usually within a few millimetres if all good. and it's usually leftside we see problems with, as this is the working side of van, with potholes and road edges taking their toll on tyres, rotate your tyres as often as you can. the play on the axle pad to the spring bolt is enough to throw it out a bit, so i always push the axles forward or back on the bolt to try and keep them all the same if i've had the u bolts off.
also keep an eye on any suspension play especially broken welds on the head of the bolts, centre bolt on tandem is important as if that bolt comes loose and wears the hanger a new hanger will be needed to be welded to chassis, seen it so many times it's not funny and costly as well. easy to check by jacking one side and using a pry bar to see if there is any play
 

Burnsy

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Mar 26, 2012
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Newcastle
I could never understand why Jayco weld the bolt heads anyway, just makes it a pita to replace. I assume the suspension bolts would be high tensile? and if they are they should be pre heated before welding to avoid the weld cracking!
 

BUSH PALACE

Well-Known Member
Sep 4, 2011
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@Bushman - yep we have the wheels balanced (including the spare!) At least one tyre needed quite a few weights in order to balance.

Id be taking it back andget them to spin the tyre on the rim to a different position then reballance - anything over 150 grams they should do this - nothing worse than seeing a whole stack of weights hanging off a rim ...
 

DaveS

Active Member
Jan 10, 2014
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I could never understand why Jayco weld the bolt heads anyway, just makes it a pita to replace. I assume the suspension bolts would be high tensile? and if they are they should be pre heated before welding to avoid the weld cracking!
I've never tested the bolts, assume they are high tensile as well .... pre-heat .... hmm it is jayco we are talking about, pre-heat is something they do at smoko to a pie :)
without those heads welded the bolts tend to strip out the spline holes very quickly and they are only tightened onto nylon bushes in most cases so they can't be super tight anyway so after a few miles without the welds they start moving around flogging out the holes and then dear old Dave has to get out the welder and four pounder for some gentle repairs :)
 
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