Does my sway bar cause uneven tire wear?

RollinWithShirley

I recently noticed very uneven wear on the inside of my left tire.  I rotated the tires and made an appointment to have my axle checked out.  But, I wonder if the sway guard on the right side of my trailer might be cause uneven tire wear on the left side.   If so, can that be remedied?

[Deleted User]

I've always used a sway bar and I've never noticed uneven tire wear. The sway bar is only really doing something when there is a significant force of wind against the trailer. It's just there most of the time waiting to be needed. 

Sharon_is_SAM

@RollinWithShirley - did you balance the tires?  Unbalanced tires can result in uneven wear.  

https://www.natm.com/blog/trailer-tires-to-balance-or-not-to-balance

tabiphile

That is an interesting question. The jury is out on sway bars. If they are not properly installed, what is the affect?
The story with the tires is more easily answered, albeit not necessarily remedied. Much like you can "read" a motors condition from it's spark plugs, you can read a tire to understand the causes of uneven wear.
Wear on one edge of a tire indicates an alignment problem. Is your axle not set square to the frame? Does the sway bar impart a torque? That will need to be assessed by an expert.
Un-balanced tires have their own unique signature. They will show a diagonal and patchy wear pattern around the tire. The wear will not be equal around the diameter of the tread.
Underinflated tires tend to wear on both edges of a tire, so the wear you are seeing but on both sides.
Overinflated tires wear in the middle. The edges show less wear.
Of course you could have a combination all of these. An out of balance under inflated tire would have patchy diagonal wear towards the edges. 
Since your tires are indicating an alignment problem, tire rotation is a good place to start as is having the axle checked.
How many miles are on the tires? 

RollinWithShirley

Thanks Tabiphile.  I think the issue was overinflation--somewhere I got the idea that they were supposed to be at 50 psi.  I replaced with balanced tires and will see what happens with the wear before I get the axle looked at.

atlasb

Dexter has had issue with some axels not properly heat treated and the swing arms will angle outward at the lower edge.  Check for that also.

VictoriaP

RollinWithShirley said:

Thanks Tabiphile.  I think the issue was overinflation--somewhere I got the idea that they were supposed to be at 50 psi.  I replaced with balanced tires and will see what happens with the wear before I get the axle looked at.

Well, depending on your trailer, 50 psi may be correct; it is on mine. There’s a placard near the front of the trailer (mine’s on the driver’s side sidewall) that lists the appropriate inflation level.

tabiphile

An over-inflated tire would show wear in the center of the tread. Think about too much air making the center of the tire "bulge". An under-inflated tire will show wear on the outside edges. 
Trailer tires should be run with quite a bit of air in them. They are designed for that. As @VictoriaP notes, follow the manufactures recommendation, and if they are replacement tires, follow what is imprinted on the side walls. Replacing with balanced tires is not your cure and neither is running them with less air.