Rotating tires on double axle trailer

[Gregory N Whitis]

My Jayco service rep said it was a waste of money rotating tires on my Jay Feather 26RL. I plan on getting all the goodie I can—safely— before buying new tires. What does everyone else think?

[Jaykol]

Until this year, we camped locally or within a couple hours max. Tires would get old and check/crack before tread wear was an issue. Now we are driving more this year, I looked at them and they seem to be wearing evenly so far. Goodyear site says 6 years or 10-12k miles, and as they say, your mileage may vary. But if the wear stays even I won't rotate them unless they are off for another reason like brakes or bearings, if then why not?

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Gregory N Whitis

My Jayco service rep said it was a waste of money rotating tires on my Jay Feather 26RL.

They usually age out (5/6 years) before they wear out. I averaged 7 to 8 thousand miles a year and never rotated trailer tires.

[Gregory N Whitis]

Thanks for reply. We typically travel 500-1000 miles on a trip. I use a tire monitor system and being a little nerdy, note which tires are running hot. All four can be highly variable which to me indicates they’re experiencing different weight loads. So maybe wearing at different rates. Hence my thought on rotating. Maybe I’m just overthinking?

[TaftCoach]

I've never done it but why not give it a try and let us know how it turns out? It can't hurt.

[Gregory N Whitis]

I’ll take better notes on which tires are running hot and rotate them with the cold ones at 10,000 miles. Maybe measure tread depth while I’m at it. It’ll satisfy my nerdiness.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Gregory N Whitis

I’ll take better notes on which tires are running hot and rotate them with the cold ones at 10,000 miles. Maybe measure tread depth while I’m at it. It’ll satisfy my nerdiness.

I'd switch the senors to see if it's a glitch

[Gregory N Whitis]

Good idea. They’re not foolproof for sure!

[Markb5900]

We have about 32,000 miles on our Goodyears. They are two years old and all wearing evenly, never rotated them.

[Route 66 Traveler]

When I do my bearings I rotate the tires front to back on the same side. Got 5 years on my last set of GY Endurance, all worn evenly.

[Route 66 Traveler]

I probably should have mentioned the reason why….When fully loaded for a trip I had my trailer weighed with a scale under each tire. The tires all had different weights…not much, but they were all different. Can’t do any harm and it’s easy once both tires are off the ground.

[Russc25]

Rotating them won't hurt anything and might help even out the wear.

As for the sensors, there's such a thing as data overload. The more you know the more you think and the more you think you have to do about it when it's within normal operating parameters. There's variation in weight, inflation, sun, wind, sensor drift. You see a few degrees and start thinking about it but it's just stacking margins. Tons of time and effort chasing ghosts. now, if you see trends where one sensor or tire reads consistently high, that's different.

Years ago ford put an actual oil pressure sensor in vehicles. Problem is many engines are perfectly fine with just a few psi at hot idle. Owners complained, demanding new engines under warranty because the gauge wiggled around and dropped low (but still fine). For decades, ford wired the gauge to a switch so any time it saw more than 5 psi, the gauge read dead center and didn't move. poof, complaints disappeared.

[kblast523]

Originally Posted by Gregory N Whitis

My Jayco service rep said it was a waste of money rotating tires on my Jay Feather 26RL. I plan on getting all the goodie I can—safely— before buying new tires. What does everyone else think?

I own a 2018 JayFeather 23RL, and on my second set of Goodyear Endurance tires. First set lasted five years, had varying degrees of wear but were all at 5/32nds or less and had never had a lugnut loosened in over 25K of towing. Have been less camper active, but just before getting new skins, I took it to a shop and found both axles needed attention. Worse wear on left front tire and it is the one that not only had -3 degrees camber, but was also toed out. Left rear was only -2 degrees camber and toed IN! Right front wheel was -1 degree camber and toed in also. Right rear was -2 degrees camber, dead straight. All measurements taken under load, and corrected by bending the axles with chains and hydraulic jacks. Left front tire had 3/32nd inch of tread on inside, 5/32nd on outside. Left rear tire was 4/32nd inch all the way across. Right front 3/32nd inch outside across4/32nd inch inside. Right rear was 5/32nd all the way across. The Lippert (axle) manual included with my Jayco mentions on page 21 that "Regular checking of the trailer's axle alignment will prevent premature tire wear and heat related tire failures." You can rotate your tires on a multi axle trailer but remember: there are no 'drive' tires; There are no 'steer' tires. Those are the two primary factors in rotating motor vehicle tires (except BMW's).

When the shop was done with my trailer, my wallet was $185 lighter but all four tire positions were dead ahead, and zero camber. Trip to Arizona last November proved it was worth it.

[Gregory N Whitis]

All the replies are appreciated. I’ve decided to check tread depth on each tire on the inside and outside at 10,000 miles and weigh ( no pun intended) whether a rotation is warranted. I do have a sensor that consistently reads high on the left rear tire. Wish I could remember where I read trailer rotation isn’t a dumb idea.
Again thanks to all of you!