Question Buying first Travel Trailer - confirming seller's claim

[Mirage]

Good Evening!

We're new to this site!

We were out shopping for a lightly used RV today and one that we looked at, has two axles, which is okay. But we noticed on one side of the RV, the outside of both tires are wearing on them to the point they are bald.

When I asked the seller why both tires are like that, he said it's because the axles are far apart, and when the vehicle is being parked at a site, or setup, somehow that side tends to wear more. Like the weight is being shifted differently on the trailer.

I have no explanation, and we are new to this , I thought it sounds odd. I didn't take a pic of the tire wear, I can only provide of a pic of the whole unit.

The side that is wearing is the driver's side. The Passenger tires are not wearing at all when we inspected them.

Other RVs we looked at today (2) did not have any wear on them, but maybe those axles are closer together?

This is a private sale, not a RV dealer.

Can this be possible or is there possibly a different explanation?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Old Bubblehead]

The force is strong in this one! Great instincts! They must only park this rig from one direction, and very frequently, to drive premature wear on the tires. Sounds like an axel alignment issue to me, but the best way to find out (if you are very serious about buying this rig) is get an independent inspection and let an expert diagnose this issue.

The salesman is only an expert around separating you from your money.

Best of luck.

 

[John&Andrea]

I agree, sounds like axle alignment problem. My advise is pass and keep looking.

 

[Amigobaja]

Whoa if you like this rig dont pass. Used trailers are always in short supply so use your knowledge of the problem and negotiate a deal that allows you to get this fixed. One of the benefits of trailers everything can be fixed. No one problem like a blown motor makes the rig invaluable. Get with a good repairshop and price axle replacementand base your offer on this. Muy suerte

 

[Mirage]

Hi, thanks for all the feedback, it helped alot!
This trailer was second on our list as it stands, we're looking at a slightly longer one, three years newer and a few thousand cheaper.
The nice thing we liked about this trailer was that it had an island with the sink on it.

 

[LSG]

Leaf springs usually ( almost always) have a bolt or pin going through the spring that sits in a hole in the axles retaining plate. You might be able to crawl under the trailer and see if either of the drivers side axles have slipped or sheared there pin off even. In which case it may be as simple as jacking it up supporting the trailer by the frame unbolting the U bolts and either re positioning them or replacing the pin or bolt in the spring. This isnt all that uncommon ive seen it on boat trailers where the pin rusts off or maybe they backed into a curb or parking block and it slipped or sheared its pin.

It would take a lot of one direction cornering to wear one side really off to the other side I have a triple axle trailer the distance from the front to rear tires is substantially more than dual axle travel trailers and I back that thing into a tight corner thats up hill I can literally watch the sidewalls roll when i do this. And I cant telll a difference in wear side to side.

 

[Mirage]

Hi, thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply!
We purchased a different trailer and are very happy with it!

Happy trails!

George and Suzy