G'Day, I am in the throws of designing a semi off road van

[J.REEVES]

Hi Milton,
Sounds like you have had some good trips with your van and having no dust problems is a good thing.

My single axle van is similar weight to yours and from memory we have similar tyre size, mine are 285x16x75, I only run at 50psi using BF Goodrich AT’s as they have three side wall layers so have less side movement.

Anyway I had a similar wear pattern to you but it took about 50,000Km to appear and my tyres were RS at about 80,000Km’s so sounds like you have a worse problem.

Assuming the suspension was mounted exactly square and left and right are equal distance from the tow coupling I would consider adjusting the toe in or toe out.

It was recommended to me by Neville Withers (Sugar Glider suspension) to set the front of the tyre about one to two mm further out in relation to the rear of the tyre, toe out.
Your suspension probably has an adjustment on one of the swing arm pivot points for toe in and toe out.
I removed the wheel and horizontally laid a straight edge across the front of the brake drum and found a reference point like the main chassis rail to measure to. I then adjusted the suspension so the front end of the straight edge was about 2mm further out than the rear of the straight edge. Naturally the straight edge was marked so I had equal distance from the centre and the distance from centre was the tyre radius.

I am now on by second set of tyres and have about 40,000Km’s up and have no sign of uneven tyre wear.

toe out.JPG

JR

[Milton477]

Thanks for the help JR,

I run 245/75/16 tyres so a bit smaller than yours. As I have changed my tug & now have 19" tyres on the tug any thoughts of tyre interchangeability is in the toilet so I'll go with the biggest that will fit for the next set. This will also allow lower running pressures & have a bigger window to the maximum load per tyre.

All was welded on square - well the hinge tubes were. I checked toe in/out over the weekend & found that I was 7mm toe in on one side & 10mm toe in on the other. I have adjusted them to be equal now as best I can using the awning middle rail as a straight edge. I will take your advice & adjust them to be toe out slightly.

The other complication is my suspension has camber adjustment too. I need to find a perfectly level surface & a digital level to possibly correct this too.

Thanks again for your advice. Gee, you have done a lot of k's!

Rory

[J.REEVES]

Rory, this is not very scientific but to get a rough idea if the wheels are square with the ground I just park on level hard ground (cement) and look under the van from the rear one side at a time and see if the tyre belly is the same on the inside and outside of the tyre.

10mm sounds a lot so once you get rid of that toe in you may have your problem solved.
Do you have enough adjustment to get the toe out right as I doubt my suspension would be capable of adjusting 10mm.

JR

[A'van]

I wonder what toe in or out a van about the same size and the same suspension, would have from a manufacturer, also the camber. If you could get hold of that, you would have an idea about what yours should be.
What does the suspension manufacturer recommend?
Maybe you should get a professional wheel alignment. A truck shop should fit you in, including the tug.

Hans

[J.REEVES]

Rory,
I have got it back to front, just checked my notes and it was recommended that the front of the tyre to be 2mm in compared to the rear of the tyre so you should have 2mm toe-in not 2mm toe- out on each tyre.

So you need to move your 7mm toe-in by 5mm to 2mm and your 10mm toe-in by 8mm to 2mm toe-in.

Sorry about that JR

[Milton477]

Hans, if all else fails, read the manual, or in this case watch the video: http://www.vehiclecomponents.com.au/res ... on-systems

JR, your notes are correct. 2-3mm toe in. I have been "eyeballing" the camber so it is probably incorrect. What I don't understand is why if both wheels have been toe in, it has scrubbed the outside of one wheel & the inside of the other.

Vehicle Components also states that if unusual tyre wear has started, it probably cannot be stopped by corrective action or wheel rotation. I probably ran under pressure for a few thousand ks at the outset while I worked out what pressure worked. Damage already done?

Thanks
Rory

[Milton477]

Added a home made generator box to the rear bar instead of the second spare wheel. Bought some self adhesive sound deadening material off evil bay & made the box from offcuts from the build. The door on the right is left open when the generator is running so that the exhaust & cooling air can exit. If I need 2 spares, the box can be removed & the spare wheel re-instated. Stability wise, no difference even though the front boot is minus the generator. Convenience: ++++

Question: What about running the generator while travelling?

20160423_105712 (Custom).jpg

In case anyone is wondering, that is the Little Bowen River crossing where we are stopped.

20160423_105651 (Custom).jpg

[J.REEVES]

Rory,
That is a great video link and is not very scientific. I must admit that using the straight edge on the tyre is even rougher than what I do. I considered the tyre rubber surface not good enough to take measurements from but there you go.

It looks like your suspension has a very good range of adjustment up and down and back and forth. It’s interesting that when you adjust the suspension on one pivot point bush the other bush on that side will then not have the pivot pin in its bearing running true anymore, well that is what happens with the Sugar Glider.

I have no idea why your tyres have worn different but from my experience just adjust and hope the rot stops but you can never reverse the wear and will not be sure the problem is fixed until you fit new tyres and then watch them like a hawk.

Now why do you need to run the generator when travelling?
Next question where is Little Brown River Crossing?

JR

[Milton477]

JR,

We use the generator to run the microwave occasionally. This will change once I upgrade to Lithium batteries however. I have been working in the Collinsville area for the past month & there has not been a day below 30deg. Mostly, we get power from customer sites but the generator also runs the aircon on occasions when no power is available. Wouldn't dream of running it around others though. Most sites I go to however are fairly remote so neighbours closer than 10 km are not a problem.

Maps for you. The night at Little Bowen, only 2 vehicles passed by in the 18 hours or so that we were there.

Little Bowen 00 (Custom).JPG

Little Bowen 01 (Custom).JPG

Rory

[J.REEVES]

Thanks Rory for the location of Little Bowen ?Brown? River looks great. Know wonder I could not find little Brown River!

As usual I misunderstood your question about the generator as I thought you were asking about running it when you are driving along the highway.
I think if I had a generator I would certainly be using it to run the air if in 30 degree plus temperatures.

JR