torsion axle questions

[dentvet2]

I have dexter torflex axles (7000#) under my trailer. I run 235/85/16 tires. Yesterday I had to pull over due to a heavy tire smoke plume. One tire was burning its sidewall against the inner fender. I was thinking bad bearing or bent axle tipping the tire inward. The tire itself looked fine other than the melted sidewall, it wasn't shredded or lumpy. When i jacked it up to take the tire off, the bearing felt fine. the inner fender is aluminum so i beat it with a blunt object to deflect it inwards. When I put the spare on, it didn't look like the axle was bent or that the tire was leaning inwards. The tire had about as much clearance to the inner fender as the other 3, but all only had about 1/4 to 1/2 inch clearance. So I pressed on and drove it another 100 miles without incident. How do you tell when an axle is bent or shot, is there a camber spec or other way to tell? My common sense diagnosis is that for some reason, the inner fender was distorted from a previous blowout perhaps. The tire began rubbing and got progressively worse until things started to heat and swell leading to the fast-progressing, tire melting episode. Or perhaps that is wishful thinking. Any thoughts?

 

[ericlb]

thats not very much clearance there, it could have been a underinflated tire on that wheel, if it were me, i would jack the trailer up [ if you havent done this already] and grasp the wheel and tire assemble on the top and bottom, and shake it to see if there is any play in the axle stub, you may need to do a spring over axle conversion on the trailer or run a different size tire to gain more clearance, maybe I A tire guy will see this and offer some tire advise

 

[ericlb]

what i ment to say was you may have to do a axle mount change to get more clearance, you dont have springs, i do and got them on my mind, sorry

 

[jose bagge]

That 235 is a pretty big tire also- most trailer applications are 215/85-16 from the factory, so clearance might be on the thin side.
235's are more common as used tires due to the dually application- if they clear the fenders, swell.
Check toe on both axles by measuring outside to outside of each tire front and rear. the numbers should be within 1/8". If not, somethings bent.