Anyone have any input on how to gauge alignment of axles/tires on a trailer?

I pulled my trailer back to its storage spot yesterday, and as I was walking around after we unhitched, I thought the wheels looked a little wonky.

It was on an even surface, although a bit on an incline.  Each side looked a little off.  I'm not sure if I'm just seeing things, maybe the rear wheels were squatting a little bit since it was on a subtle incline?

I towed the trailer about 45 miles from a shop to get some electrical work done, and I thought it was swaying a bit, but I was towing with a regular hitch on my F350, going about 75mph in a somewhat windy stretch of freeway.  But after looking at the tires, I'm wondering if the axles are out of alignment.  Or maybe I was driving too fast.

We have a trip to the Grand Canyon in 3 weeks, I'm wondering if it is worthwhile to run it by a local shop and have them look at it.

Get it on a flat pad, jack it off the ground and gently let it back down. Take 2 jack stands, extend the all the way up and run a string 5 feet in front of the front axel and 5 feet behind the real axel.
Have someone move the stands in twords the tires slowly while you watch.
Do the tops, centers and bottoms.
It is not perfect but it will tell you if a axel is bent or not.
Edit: you could also buy one of these and tow the trailer 10 or 15 miles on a warm dry road and check the temps of each tire. Try to shoot the inside and outside of each tire and see if you have a pair scuffing.

They are only about $30.


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You could have an axel bent, a hanger bent, a bushing worn out, hanger could be cracked or bent,  or the axle hangers could be welded from factory offset.   There's several different levels of possibilities.

I had a single axle that rode rough.  I jacked it up, put it on blocks and took the wheels off.  I put a jack under the axle and lifted slowly.  I could see the bushings were all gone because bolt heads moved in shackles before they moved.  All new shackles, bushings, and bolts fixed my problem.

Camper like OP has I'd look at shackle hangers for cracks at top frame interface and if shackle hanger has bent left or right.

Your suspension isn't adjustable, and something is bent and/or broken.

Check your springs and spring hangers.

OP, were you turning as you backed your trailer in? Mi

Before you get all fancy with methods of repair and worry over cost,…

THIS!!

That is exactly how the wheels should look after having experienced a tight turn, either backwards or forwards.
It means the suspension is doing its job.

There is a LOT of stress on the axles and tires during maneuvering.

Yes, I was.  Thank you and you're probably right.  I need to pull it somewhere flat and straight and look at it again.

To answer some other question, I do have an infrared gun but I haven't used it on the tires/wheels.

It's a 2021 and while I understand trailer qualities are spotty at best, I wouldn't think a bushing or hanger had failed just yet.

There haven't been any accidents or damage that would make me think I bent an axle.

They are Dexter torsion axles with the little arms that act as a suspension, they don't have a traditional leaf spring.

I think the obvious answer is to go back and pull it around to a parking lot this weekend and look at it on flat ground.  I repacked the bearings last fall and I have been meaning to drive it a little ways and check the temp on the wheels to make sure something isn't running hot as well.

You likely parked it with a little side load from a turn.  There is sideload tension on the axles.  Seen it a million times.  

Pull it straight and check it again.  If they are still that way then it is time to worry.

Those are great axles, normally.  Twin axles - not so much.  There is no equalization between the axles, so under some conditions, one axle can be easily overloaded.  

@astrocreep96, was everything ok like we thought or did the wheels fall off?

This

We're good, I think the poster that mentioned backing up while turning was correct.

We travelled 900 miles to Grand Canyon and did fine.

New problem, our solar controller shit the bed somehow (or a wire is loose) and I can't find it.

I wasn't the first to suggest it, but I figured it was something like that about the axle alignment. Good to hear!

As far as electrical gremlins, I'm sorry to hear that while you are on the road. I'm not much help there, but good luck.

Hope the rest of your trip goes well

What kind of solar controller?  Use a multimeter to check the solar input,  if there is voltage there check the battery side for voltage.  On the battery side,  Ideally unhooked from the controller.  

There *should* be a solar side fuse.  And there *should* be a charge side fuse.  

Are there any battery cut switches in the solar system?

It's a Go Power 30amp unit.

I checked the solar and battery fuses, they are good.  I tried doing a soft and hard reset on the controller with no luck.

I pulled some panels in the kitchen to trace the wire as best I could, and crawled around underneath along the frame and I couldnt find anything obviously wrong to my untrained eye.

There are a bunch of wires under the front bulkhead I can't easily access.

The batteries are functioning fine, we have power I just can't recharge.  I don't have a multimeter with me unfortunately.

It's not uncommon for those solar controllers to crap the bed.  What model controller?  



Does it show solar coming in?  


Look for fuses at the batteries.