Dump trailer wheels had major camber change when turning with heavy load? - Diesel Forum

clydesdale · 06-13-2006, 10:53 AM

The dump is a cam superline 12 foot dual axle 13800 gvwr and it weighs 4000. I had 3 yards of gravel in it and when backing into the driveway it looked kind of scary. I noticed that the forward axle wheels had a serious camber change the the top of the tires were leaning in toward the trailer. It straighted out when I had the trailer straight, but looked pretty ill when turning. This is a heavy duty trailer, i couldnt have been over weight. Is it supposed to look like this? Thanks

Dr.Evil · 06-13-2006, 11:08 AM

What's REALLY SCARY is when You see this on a loaded semi trailer when making pivot turns on the trailer tires in tight parking lots. You have a Lot of weight.... and a lot of force acting sideways on Your wheels & tires.... Something is reacting to that force.... mostly the tire, probably the wheel center.. and even the spindle & axle a bit.

olddieseldude · 06-13-2006, 11:44 AM

My trailer did that a couple of weeks ago, I just decided that I needed to do a better job of keeping the trailer wheels rolling while making a turn. I was needlessly forcing the trailer to pivot around the axles. I'm sure there are times when it's unavoidable but that was not my case, just lack of practice. We need some way in a pinch to raise one axle, like the big rigs do! LOL

clydesdale · 06-13-2006, 01:08 PM

ok, is this driver error? Do I want to make gentler turns when loaded like this? How much does 3 yards of gravel weigh? Thanks

Flywheel · 06-13-2006, 01:32 PM

If that's a GN, then it's even more susceptable to tight turns and you can get the two axles working against each other pretty good - to the point of dragging a set - triple axles even worse....

Heard stories of folks poping the tire right off the rim (prolly not help that tires were at 50 lbs instead of 80)...but yeah, you'll notice the wheels / axles deflecting.

Try to keep the wheels rolling a bit and not dragging - but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Try to get your hard turing done on the gravel or dirt and keep the pressures up high.

clydesdale · 06-13-2006, 01:39 PM

It is a ball mount receiver hitch set up. Will this damage the trailer? Or just potentially pop the tires off? I wont make a habit of this, but what can happen? Thanks

twobit · 06-13-2006, 02:17 PM

What CAN happen is bent wheels, ruined bearings, bent axles, tires dismounting from rim, loose or stripped lug nuts. Triple axle heavily loaded gooseneck trailers often have bent front axles from this. Non-radial tires will help as will not making tight jack-knife turns on hard dry surfaces. If ever buying a used three axle trailer pay close attention to the front axle. If you here of someone recomemding tandam-dual trailers vs. three axle trailers, that is why.

Dr.Evil · 06-13-2006, 02:17 PM

Weight of crushed rock depends on many things like size of the rock, amount of fines in the rock, and of course moisture. But I think 3000#/yd. is close, maybe a bit high. The tire should slide sideways before anything breaks but it does grind a lot of rubber off the tire and shorten their life. Like was mentioned try turning on loose surfaces with sand or dirt, gravel, etc.

olddieseldude · 06-13-2006, 07:01 PM

As stated there are several variables that make these numbers somewhat inaccurate but...

loose earth = 75 Lb/CuFt
sand = 100 Lb/CuFt
gravel = 109 Lb/CuFt
crushed stone = 130 Lb/CuFt

1 CuYd = 27 CuFt
3 CuYd = 81 CuFt

81CuFt * 109Lb/CuFt = 8829Lbs

Interesting webpage - weights of commonly hauled materials...

V10 man · 06-14-2006, 01:06 AM

This is called scrub. It happens to all tandem axle trailers. This is why ST tires are recomended over regular passenger tires. They have a stronger sidewalls. (and better UV protection)

rubystargoats · 06-15-2006, 04:32 PM

Also can tear the sidewall cord (which you can't see) and cause a blow out later on down the road. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]