trailer tires

Mark T · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:47 pm

Bought our new to us boat back in October, ( 1994 Sundowner ) have done some work on the boat, so it is close to being ready for warm weather. Now to the trailer, Everything works fine, but when should you replace the trailer tires ?? ( besides after one blows ) The tread is fine, no cracks on the sidewalls, but I have no idea how old they are. I know we are going to be hauling this boat all over the place, so am I better off just replaceing all ?? to be safe. I do need to get a spare as the trailer does not have one. Just don't want to be rolling down the highway at 70 and have one blow.

230 Mike · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 2:51 pm

Rule of thumb on trailer tires is that they should be replaced every 5-6 years regardless of how they look. If you wait until the tread looks low they'll be 300 years old, so that's no indication. Sidewall cracks are a good thing to look for but they don't tell the whole story either. On a multi-axle trailer, only one axle can follow the arc of a turn so the tires on all other axles get pulled sideways every time the trailer turns. That's very hard on tires.

You can find out how old your tires are. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=11 .

fun2bethad · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:41 pm

Bought our boat back in April of '11 and towed it from Michigan to Ohio. No problems towing it back but one weekend in May, I blew a tire. Next weekend, another. Ended up having to replace all four even though they looked PERFECT. If I had to do it all over again, I would have replaced them right from the start just for the piece of mind. We have a 238 Vista and it's a pretty heavy boat so changing tires on the side of the highway was NOT fun. Just my two cents.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:50 pm

fun2bethad wrote:

Bought our boat back in April of '11 and towed it from Michigan to Ohio. No problems towing it back but one weekend in May, I blew a tire. Next weekend, another. Ended up having to replace all four even though they looked PERFECT. If I had to do it all over again, I would have replaced them right from the start just for the piece of mind. We have a 238 Vista and it's a pretty heavy boat so changing tires on the side of the highway was NOT fun. Just my two cents.

So you're tires were not even a year old then. Sound more like defect or over inflated, yes??

Paul I. · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:54 pm

I was not sure my self, but use this link and please read point #7. http://www.wikihow.com/Know-when-Car-Ti ... -Replacing

Very interesting....

Mark T · **Posted:** Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:16 pm

230 Mike wrote:

Rule of thumb on trailer tires is that they should be replaced every 5-6 years regardless of how they look. If you wait until the tread looks low they'll be 300 years old, so that's no indication. Sidewall cracks are a good thing to look for but they don't tell the whole story either. On a multi-axle trailer, only one axle can follow the arc of a turn so the tires on all other axles get pulled sideways every time the trailer turns. That's very hard on tires.

You can find out how old your tires are. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=11 .

Thanks, I would have never thought of Tire Rack and their home office is right here in town. I think I will just add new tires to my growing list of items for the boat I have yet to put into the water....

230 Mike · **Posted:** Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:00 pm

You might want to have a read through this:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8233&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=maxxis

As an update, the "new Carlisles" I had put on our band trailer last fall have been fine so far.

Last time I looked, the only ST tires Tire Rack sold were Marathons. Run away.

To be clear, when we say "new Carlisle" we specifically mean the Radial Trail RH. Carlisle made other trailer tires for years (and may still) and many people had horrible experiences with them.

Mark T · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:28 pm

230 Mike wrote:

You might want to have a read through this:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8233&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=maxxis

As an update, the "new Carlisles" I had put on our band trailer last fall have been fine so far.

Last time I looked, the only ST tires Tire Rack sold were Marathons. Run away.

To be clear, when we say "new Carlisle" we specifically mean the Radial Trail RH. Carlisle made other trailer tires for years (and may still) and many people had horrible experiences with them.

Thanks SO MUCH. I know we are going to be hauling the boat all over the place. Did get a slip in St. Joe, MI, but it is going up to Torch Lake ( 520 mile round trip ), over to Gibralter on the east side of Michigan, ( 400+ miles ) and who knows where else the Admiral will have me haul it to, so I be I will put at least 2,000 miles on the trailer this years, so better to have the right tire setup.

230 Mike · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:10 pm

Following up, I think the "old Carlisle" line was called "Radial Trail." So the names are very similar - be careful to get the new ones (if you go with Carlisle that is). The single most important thing with trailer tires is to keep them inflated to max cold pressure. Everyone talks about that with cars & trucks, but with trailers, it really is that important. Just the loss of a couple of pounds can mean the difference in the life of a trailer tire.

EvilZ · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:14 pm

230 Mike wrote:

The single most important thing with trailer tires is to keep them inflated to max cold pressure. Everyone talks about that with cars & trucks, but with trailers, it really is that important. Just the loss of a couple of pounds can mean the difference in the life of a trailer tire.

+1

fun2bethad · **Posted:** Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:04 am

Paul I. wrote:

fun2bethad wrote:

Bought our boat back in April of '11 and towed it from Michigan to Ohio. No problems towing it back but one weekend in May, I blew a tire. Next weekend, another. Ended up having to replace all four even though they looked PERFECT. If I had to do it all over again, I would have replaced them right from the start just for the piece of mind. We have a 238 Vista and it's a pretty heavy boat so changing tires on the side of the highway was NOT fun. Just my two cents.

So you're tires were not even a year old then. Sound more like defect or over inflated, yes??

Paul,
I suspect the tires were original to the trailer which would have made them close to 9 years old. They looked PERFECT as the trailer was never used. Just parked and sat. But father time does his work whether is shows or not. It's no fun having a blow out on the highway two weekends in a row. The good thing is that it motivated me to get a spare holder and a new spare. I'll never be caught without again.

Mark T · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:17 am

fun2bethad wrote:

Paul I. wrote:

fun2bethad wrote:

Bought our boat back in April of '11 and towed it from Michigan to Ohio. No problems towing it back but one weekend in May, I blew a tire. Next weekend, another. Ended up having to replace all four even though they looked PERFECT. If I had to do it all over again, I would have replaced them right from the start just for the piece of mind. We have a 238 Vista and it's a pretty heavy boat so changing tires on the side of the highway was NOT fun. Just my two cents.

So you're tires were not even a year old then. Sound more like defect or over inflated, yes??

Paul,
I suspect the tires were original to the trailer which would have made them close to 9 years old. They looked PERFECT as the trailer was never used. Just parked and sat. But father time does his work whether is shows or not. It's no fun having a blow out on the highway two weekends in a row. The good thing is that it motivated me to get a spare holder and a new spare. I'll never be caught without again.

I've changed plent of tires ( two this year ) on my vehicles, but never a trailer tire. Will my scissor vehicle jack work ok ? or do I need a special jack. My vehicle is a Ford Expedition, which weighs a little more than my boat and trailer so jack should handle it.

ric · **Posted:** Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:27 am

My trailer currently has two 14" rims/tires. I'm going to bump up to a 15" with stylish aftermarket aluminum rims. Why not, it's dirt cheap and gives me a safety barrier when it comes to weight. Also, the sale of my two new 14 rim/tire combo will pretty much pay for most of it.

As far as jacks go... I've had one of these for YEARS. Love it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-lightweight-aluminum-racing-jack-with-rapid-pump-68051.html

Mark T · **Posted:** Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:25 am

ric wrote:

My trailer currently has two 14" rims/tires. I'm going to bump up to a 15" with stylish aftermarket aluminum rims. Why not, it's dirt cheap and gives me a safety barrier when it comes to weight. Also, the sale of my two new 14 rim/tire combo will pretty much pay for most of it.

As far as jacks go... I've had one of these for YEARS. Love it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-lightweight-aluminum-racing-jack-with-rapid-pump-68051.html

My boat is right at 4,000 lbs without trailer, but since I'd only be lifting one side at a time, I would think this would work ???

ric · **Posted:** Wed Mar 07, 2012 9:44 am

Mark T wrote:

ric wrote:

My trailer currently has two 14" rims/tires. I'm going to bump up to a 15" with stylish aftermarket aluminum rims. Why not, it's dirt cheap and gives me a safety barrier when it comes to weight. Also, the sale of my two new 14 rim/tire combo will pretty much pay for most of it.

As far as jacks go... I've had one of these for YEARS. Love it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-lightweight-aluminum-racing-jack-with-rapid-pump-68051.html

My boat is right at 4,000 lbs without trailer, but since I'd only be lifting one side at a time, I would think this would work ???

Rule of thumb the jack should be rated for 3/4 total weight you are jacking. Figure you're total weight is 5000lb. 3/4 of that is 3750lb. Also make sure to grab at least one 4000lb rated jack stand. Never jack a car/trailer without resting it on one even if you're only putting it in the air for minutes. People loose body parts and their life cause they don't use them....quite commonly.

The aluminum "racing" jacks are the dogs bollocks. They are very light and easy to store.

www.iFourWinns.com

trailer tires

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