A bent axle wears both inside edges, and alignment will not fix it
Trailer tire wear usually gets blamed on alignment, and often rightly. One pattern points somewhere else, and it is worth recognizing before booking, because it changes what the visit needs to do.
Look at both tires on the same axle, one on each end. If both are wearing on their inside edges, the axle itself may be bent. An axle that has sagged in the middle tips the top of each wheel inward, so each tire rides on its inner shoulder. Alignment sets the direction an axle points. It cannot straighten an axle that is no longer straight.
Grain trailers are exposed to this more than most. They are loaded heavy, sometimes heavier than intended when the bin is topped off in a hurry, and they spend part of their working life on field roads and farm lanes where a loaded wheel drops into a rut or a washout. Either can bend an axle without anything dramatic happening at the time.
Reading the tires
- Both inside edges worn on one axle: suspect a bent axle.
- Both outside edges worn: less common, and still worth having the axle checked.
- One tire worn on one edge, the other even: more often an alignment or hub problem on that end.
- Feathered tread across the face: usually the axle is not square to the trailer, which is what alignment corrects.
What to ask for
Say which axle and which pattern when you book. The visit can then check the axle as well as measure the alignment, rather than setting the alignment on an axle that will keep wearing tires anyway. If an axle is bent, it is repaired or replaced first and then the trailer is measured.
Plan the visit
The store opens at 7:30 AM. Pair the trailer with its tractor where it is due for heavy-duty truck alignment, and set the work up through a fleet account if you run several. The national trailer alignment page covers what the measurement includes.
About this store
The Henderson store runs sixteen services and is managed by Derrick Madewell.
See the national trailer alignment page for all 36 locations.