Should You Rotate The Tires On Your Travel Trailer?

Last Updated on 04/07/2024 by Glynn Willard

Should You Rotate Tires On Your Travel Trailer?

 
Ultimately, yes, it’s a good idea to rotate the tires on a travel trailer.

Rotating your tires on your travel trailer might be controversial and in some cases unnecessary.

But after towing a travel trailer all over the country for over 35,000 miles, I’ve made a few observations.

First and foremost, tire and wheel care on your travel trailer should be every RV owners number one priority for the sake of safety.

So again, some will say tire rotation is not necessary. Let’s see if it is for your situation.

For the duration of this article, I’ll be discussing tire rotation on dual axle travel trailers, but it still applies to a fifth wheel.
 

 

Why Rotate The Tires On A Travel Trailer?

 
It doesn’t take much in the way of axle alignment and your suspension system to have one or more tires with uneven wear.

Some of the misalignments might be negligible and take a while to present themselves.

You can counter this through regular rotation of your tires so that all tires can wear evenly.

Of course, if there’s a lot of tire wear on one tire in particular, it’s time to take additional measures.

We did an entire video about checking your wheel alignment and changing the bushings and shackles.

Check out the article:
 

 
Or watch the video 🙂
 

 

How Often Should I Rotate My Trailer Tires?

 
I never went with a quantified schedule. I’ve read everything from every 3000-6000 miles.

That’s quite a spread! So, I just watched for wear patterns and rotated them spontaneously.

I found it good practice to do regular tire inspections to watch for the tiniest bit of wear and then rotate.

It was part of my constant maintenance of checking the bearings, brakes, lug nut torque, and suspension.

Overkill? No way! That was my house with everything we needed to live off-grid for my family. Definitely not overkill.

Besides, I learned the hard way after one of our wheels fell off to always do proper preventive maintenance.

And yes, I did a lot of this maintenance right on BLM land with no issues. I also never left a mess or disrupted the land in any way.

I write that in the past tense because we have since sold the trailer and purchased a Roadtrek Zion campervan.
 

What’s The Rotation Pattern For Travel Trailer Tires?

 
Again, I’m only discussing rotating tires on duel axle travel trailers.

But, if you have a single-axle trailer, rotate side-to-side since the direction of rotation is likely not an issue.

It always made the most sense to move the front tires to the back and form an X pattern (criss cross) for the rear tires to the front.

In other words, front to back on the same side. Then rear passenger moves to the front driver and the opposite for the opposite side.

This has been standard in the automotive industry on passenger vehicles for decades.

If for some reason you have directional tires, swapping the same side from the front axle to the rear axle will be necessary.

Should you rotate your spare tire into the mix?

This is debatable and opinion-based.

I kept my spare out of the mix to make sure it was worthy in case of an emergency.

If your spare tire has the same tire and aluminum wheels as the other wheels it’s fine to rotate it into the mix.

Your call.

Lastly, make sure you rotate the tires on your tow vehicle too. The rear tires bear a heavy load and should be rotated regularly.
 

 

Why Not Rotate RV Tires?

 

 
I can think of only one reason not to rotate travel trailer tires to different positions.

If you move very infrequently with low mileage, it’s not necessary.

Your tires will likely rot from sun exposure if uncovered or develop flat spots before they present tread wear from road use.

But really, this article is for those of you who move/travel frequently or live full-time in your travel trailer.
 

Should You Balance The Tires On Your Travel Trailer?

 
When I first purchased my travel trailer, I never thought about this. Then I had a fleeting thought.

Do travel trailer tires need to be balanced? I thought about the physics and the answer was a no-brainer.

After speaking with many specialists, my conclusion that you should balance your trailer tires if you have dual axles was correct.

It minimizes the jarring on your suspension and equates to a smoother ride.

Besides, balancing the travel trailer tires costs so little at a local tire shop, it’s cheap insurance.

Therefore, based on my experience, yes you should balance travel trailer tires.
 

Premature Wear On Your Trailer Tires

 
There are a few potential contributing factors that can cause one of the tires on your travel trailer to present unusual wear.

As long as you constantly check your tires and you should, you’ll recognize any unusual wearing, cracking, or bulge.
 

 

• Axle Alignment: What this means is that there’s a small discrepancy in the axle spindle. It can be corrected professionally.

 

• Worn bushings and shackles: This was my issue. Replacing all the components took care of 90% of the problem.

 




The new and the old MorRyde CRE3000.


 
• Tire Pressure: If you don’t maintain the correct pressure in each tire for the weight of the trailer, there can be uneven wearing.
   
  You should be carrying an air compressor in your trailer or tow vehicle.

 

• Weight: Overpacking your trailer above the load capacity of the tires can cause premature and irregular wearing of your tires.

 

• Terrain: The more pavement your tires see, the faster the wear.
   
  Also, if you do a lot of off-roading in rocky environments, this can contribute. But a lot of dirt roads have minimal impact.

 
Again, we cover many of these factors in our article Uneven Tire Wear On Your Travel Trailer? It’s Not What We Expected.
 

Do I Need All Terrain Tires On My Travel Trailer?

 
An all-terrain tire is designed to grip and propel you in loose terrain.

Trailer tires are not self-propelled. They just lazily roll along.

Therefore, mount a tire that will give the smoothest roll on any surface.

That’s a standard highway tire made for channeling water at high speeds.

If you plan on towing through difficult, rocky terrain that includes sharp rocks on the side of the tires, an off-road tire designed for overlanding will be advantageous.

Otherwise, a standard set of tires for a trailer or truck will be fine.
 

 

Other Considerations For Travel Trailer Tires And Wheels

 
Each one of these topics requires its own article. All are of the utmost importance for your and other’s safety.

Not to mention prolonging the lifespan of your travel trailer.
 

 

• Proper maintenance of bearings. Please take the time to do it yourself or have the bearings regreased by hand.

 

• Grease the wet bolts on your shackles and suspension system (without weight on the axle).

 

• Learn the proper torque for your lug nuts and check every second move with a well-calibrated torque wrench.

 

• When buying new tires, make sure the manufacturing date is recent.

 

• A good quality tire manufacturer is crucial. Bad tires are a real hazard on the road.

 

• Learn proper tire maintenance and stick with it.

 
As you can see, there’s a lot more to maintaining your trailer tires for a travel trailer than just tire rotation.

And I can comfortably make that statement since I was also in the dark about trailer tires when I first started full timing.

I hope this article helped if you’re about to purchase a travel trailer or just bought one.

Do you rotate your travel trailer’s tires?
 
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