Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

Hello Fellow Mariah Owners Club Members,

I have an interesting trailer symptom I was hoping to find an answer for:

When I am towing our 1995 Mariah Barchetta 182 on our 1994 Chariot Trailer, we get a noticeable vibration at 35 mph and only a 35 mph. At speeds faster and slower that 35 mph, there is no vibration. I would describe the vibration as a side-to-side shimmy.

Background:

1) This vibration started to occur after we had brakes and a new axle put on our trailer.
2) The first trip after the upgrades the drive side tire ground off the outside tread edge of the tire so bad that the tire eventually split en route to the trailer company (to be fair the tires from the PO were very old and weather checked so that was most likely the reason)
3) Due to the type of axle that was installed, a longer shank was required to lower the back connection of the leaf spring to make it so the tire had adequate clearance from the fender.
4) I have the correct ball mount on our tow vehicle to make sure the trailer is level, but I have tried a couple other ball mount heights, and the symptom still exists.

If you have any questions, or possible solutions, please let me know.

Thank you for your time and have a great day,

Kris

Re: Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

Could it be something as simple as tires not properly balanced?

Re: Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

From the posts I have read on other forums, that could definitely be a potential source...but I had the tires balances 1 month ago when I got new tires (Carisle Radials). If I can't come up with anything else, I will probably take it in and have them recheck the balance.

Re: Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

Slash9point5,

I would be concerned about the tire wearing on one edge. Are the new tires showing this same kind of wear pattern? If yes, you may have a loose, or bad, wheel bearing or the spindle/axle on that side may be bent or not correctly installed. This wear pattern would indicate that you had too much (+ or -) camber or toe in (or out) on that wheel.

If your trailer has brakes, an out of round brake drum may also cause a vibration.

Good Luck

Shabah 198SE

Re: Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

Bad wheel bearing?

Re: Trailer Vibration - Only at 35mph?
 

I believe the issue was the trailer tires being out of balance (even though they balanced them when they replaced the tires).

Just before I put the boat away, I had them rebalanced and I did not feel the vibration on the drive back home. I will be able to tell for sure after a few trips this year, but if I don't repost that was the issue.

I imagine they were improperly balanced because I wanted to switch out the spare tire time with one of the other rims, and of course they forgot. So, I bet they didn't check the balance when they switched them.

As for the tire wearing only on one side. After the tires were replaced, there was no further evidence of this. We trailered to boat up North ~200 miles each way. So I am going to chalk it up to really old trailer tires, and continue to monitor the situation.