KCStudly wrote:...Positive and negative camber are far from the same. With positive as you load the trailer it goes towards neutral and tire wear will be less affected. with negative camber as you load the trailer it gets more negative, and tire wear may be more affected.
A little negative camber doesn't really wear much more than no camber; but with more weight, it can become extreme. The first axle on my TTT was 1.25" square tube, unknown weight rating, and with slight negative camber. It tracked fine, even with the surely overweight condition of my 1600+ lb. TTT. That axle would flex on the road (surely contributing to minor tire wear and eventual tearing-away of the spring hanger), so I replaced it with a no-camber 3500lb. axle. I don't think my TTT axle will have camber problems now. But, when I bought my dove-tail tandem trailer that I used for my drag car, it was previously used for hauling a bobcat or something heavy, which had slightly bent the two 3500lb. axles into negative camber (rear axle moreso than the other). Having little to spend for a trailer, at that time (racing for trophies-not money-is not financially rewarding), I couldn't pass this trailer by for the price asked. When I used it, I tried to compensate for the camber by loading more weight on the tongue, upon which I could measure the negative camber evening out somewhat. Even so, the tires did wear more on the rear axle. Several years and many miles later, after repeatedly using fresher tires on the rear axle, to compensate for accelerated wear, I had no other problems with the negative camber situation, until I used the trailer to pickup round-baled hay for my father-in-law. While I was away from the scene, the guy loading it drove his super-heavy tractor onto the rear of the trailer, and made the slightly-negative camber into a major-negative camber. Later, after racing season started, I had tires wearing at twice the previous rate. After one tire blew out, on a long trip, I changed out both axles with new 3500 lb no-camber Rockwell American axles with electric brakes (previously only the forward axle had brakes). I was then able to load my Chevelle more centered, with less tongue weight, and had no appreciable tire-scrub problems. Now, after I quit racing, I just have my Chinese-made trailer tires rotting from age! From my experience, I believe in using an axle higher weight-rated than you need, with no-camber.