I want to update the rims and tires on my trailer.....
I hate them with a passion!!!!!
:devious:
I hate them with a passion!!!!!
:devious:
OldMagicfloat
My boat has 31 X 9.50 X 16.5 aluminum wheels, 8 lug. The tires are shot. I am upgrading my wheels too. I think I am letting the 16.5's go shortly. If anyone is interrested, let me know. They are plastic coated and the coating is starting to chip. I am looking for a set of 16" aluminum wheels. Anyone have any with or without rubber? The reason I want to change sizes is because the 16 inch tires are exactly what are on my truck, therefore I can use my used truck tires on the boat. For the boat trailer that means an unlimited supply of trailer tires.
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Word of advice to everyone out there... do yourself a favor and NEVER PUT CARLISLE TIRES ON YOUR TRAILER!!!!! I can't stress this enough. They are the cheapest tires out there and for good reason. I have been running Carlisle tires on my 5th wheel camper for about 5 years. At first I thought I got a bad batch of tires when they only lasted about 2000 miles, then, after the second set, and now 2 1/2 sets later, I finaly realized that Carlisle tires are TOTAL JUNK!!!!! The cheapest is right!!!! Because of Carlisle tires, my fiberglass fenders are trash.
What's wrong with them, you may ask? Either the sidewalls will bulge (like a tumor), or the tread will come apart from the core. If you have Carlisle tires, inspect them often. A bulge is obvious, but before the tread comes off, you will notice that the inner or outer edge of the tread has a larger diameter than the opposite side. It almost appears as though the alignment is bad, but it's not, it's the tires. Take it from an experienced Carlisle customer.
What's wrong with them, you may ask? Either the sidewalls will bulge (like a tumor), or the tread will come apart from the core. If you have Carlisle tires, inspect them often. A bulge is obvious, but before the tread comes off, you will notice that the inner or outer edge of the tread has a larger diameter than the opposite side. It almost appears as though the alignment is bad, but it's not, it's the tires. Take it from an experienced Carlisle customer.
I just invested 800 bones in 7 good year marathon tires from a local goodyear tire place back in PA before i hauled it down to florida.
Good investment.
I only needed the C load rating tires since the whole combo is 10 K lbs on a tri axle trailer.
Great tires, nice and quiet and tracked much better than the bias plys' i had on there before these.
They are pricey with tax and mounting, new valve stems and stuff but definately worth it to me.
Now its a shame i think i have to sell the trailer
Jason
Good investment.
I only needed the C load rating tires since the whole combo is 10 K lbs on a tri axle trailer.
Great tires, nice and quiet and tracked much better than the bias plys' i had on there before these.
They are pricey with tax and mounting, new valve stems and stuff but definately worth it to me.
Now its a shame i think i have to sell the trailer
Jason
What wheel does you truck have? Are the chrome or aluminum? Maybe try to match whats on your truck?
With your boat wieght on a tandem trailer you are fine with 14" wheels. But if the boat was heavier I would suggest going to a 15" wheel. Only for the increased weight rating. Nothing says you can't anyway.
In fact a real tricked out trailer, huge wheels, with low profile tires
Yah!
With your boat wieght on a tandem trailer you are fine with 14" wheels. But if the boat was heavier I would suggest going to a 15" wheel. Only for the increased weight rating. Nothing says you can't anyway.
In fact a real tricked out trailer, huge wheels, with low profile tires
Yah!I have years of trailering experience of ALL types, and plenty of blown out tires on the side of the road, a couple of times being tied up in a strange town overnight. There are 3 things I learned....
1) Never go anywhere without inspecting your tires in advance, including the spare (nothing worse than delaying your trip several hours/days because you found a bad tire).
2) Always put the biggest, highest load tire on the trailer (16" Load Range E if possible) that you can get.
3) Whenever you buy new tires and have them installed, check the air pressure immediately, before leaving the garage. Most trailer tires take more air than car tires and dealers automatically put 35 lbs. of air in the tire. A couple miles of that and the tire is being damaged.
Trust me, diameter and load range are 2 completely different variables. A 14" load range C is a light truck/SUV tire (Ranger, S10). Would you carry your boat on the roof of an SUV and not worry about the tires? If you can fit a 15", buy a 15". If you can find a load range E buy a load range E. If you are thinking to yourself "a load range '?' should be good enough" than it probably isn't. Remember to calculate the weight of your boat, all gear, gas and water, the trailer and then add 10% to determine what tire is appropiate.
10,000# boat on tandem axels should have at least a 15" load range D, PERIOD. Anything less you are begging for road trouble.
Buy smaller and you will save a maximum of $100 and it will cost you twice that in trouble.
1) Never go anywhere without inspecting your tires in advance, including the spare (nothing worse than delaying your trip several hours/days because you found a bad tire).
2) Always put the biggest, highest load tire on the trailer (16" Load Range E if possible) that you can get.
3) Whenever you buy new tires and have them installed, check the air pressure immediately, before leaving the garage. Most trailer tires take more air than car tires and dealers automatically put 35 lbs. of air in the tire. A couple miles of that and the tire is being damaged.
Trust me, diameter and load range are 2 completely different variables. A 14" load range C is a light truck/SUV tire (Ranger, S10). Would you carry your boat on the roof of an SUV and not worry about the tires? If you can fit a 15", buy a 15". If you can find a load range E buy a load range E. If you are thinking to yourself "a load range '?' should be good enough" than it probably isn't. Remember to calculate the weight of your boat, all gear, gas and water, the trailer and then add 10% to determine what tire is appropiate.
10,000# boat on tandem axels should have at least a 15" load range D, PERIOD. Anything less you are begging for road trouble.
Buy smaller and you will save a maximum of $100 and it will cost you twice that in trouble.
I just bought a brand new set of 5 of the Carlisle tires last fall. Price was decent and I guess that is what atracted me to them Also, I got the exact replacement tire that was on the trailer. Did I make a wrong desision? I don't trailer far, but I frequently trailer. About 10 miles one way to the water.BajaIceBreaker said:
You will probably be OK with local trailering. But keep an eye on the tires, A CLOSE EYE. Check for uneven tire surface and bulging sidewalls. Chances are that if you check your tires regularly, they won't go bad in 10 miles. But check them often, I am completely serious about that. If you have a blow out, your fenders WILL BE mangled.
Thats good advice Baja.....
The way mine is set up the highest tire rating I can get on my rim size is just about equal to the wieght of the boat and trialer
I bought four chrome wheels back last summer, and have kicked my slaf ever sice for not going to a bigger rim.
Another item to check is keeping the trailer as level as posible. Adjust the hitch reciever acordingly. I see to many trailers being pulled with the nose down because the truck drops with the weight. This puts more weight on the front axle, instead of evenly over the two.
The way mine is set up the highest tire rating I can get on my rim size is just about equal to the wieght of the boat and trialer
I bought four chrome wheels back last summer, and have kicked my slaf ever sice for not going to a bigger rim.
Another item to check is keeping the trailer as level as posible. Adjust the hitch reciever acordingly. I see to many trailers being pulled with the nose down because the truck drops with the weight. This puts more weight on the front axle, instead of evenly over the two.
You are absolutely correct... for many boats. Although a squating tow vehicle isn't good for anything, it actually only affects a trailer that has torsion springs. My trailer, and many many other trailers have leaf springs and load equalizers. The equalizers are mounted between the axle's to the leaf springs of both axles. They eliminate the problem of more weight on one axle than another. But in any instance, a squating tow vehicle usually rsults in increased sway, therefore causing excess wear on the trailer tires.Canada Jeff said:
Baja..., your pertty educated on trailers, have you just had many bad exp, or is your work related?
I have had many, many, bad experiences (I also have a lot of stories to go with it). Out of those bad experiences I have learned the phrase "it happens, alot".
I also have a lot of experience towing. I take a camping trip to Florida every year for the past 8 years (34 foot 5th wheel), and I used to live in Wisconsin when my family was from Buffalo. So I would travel 1200 miles a weekend at least once a month. Now that I live in Cleveland I drive back to Buffalo less often, but still very often, and very seldom without a trailer (boat, utility, camper, car carrier).
What can I say, I like trailers
I also have a lot of experience towing. I take a camping trip to Florida every year for the past 8 years (34 foot 5th wheel), and I used to live in Wisconsin when my family was from Buffalo. So I would travel 1200 miles a weekend at least once a month. Now that I live in Cleveland I drive back to Buffalo less often, but still very often, and very seldom without a trailer (boat, utility, camper, car carrier).
What can I say, I like trailers
15x8's with late 90s GM 4x4 centers and Goodyear Marathons. Before I put the centers on , I kept losing bearing buddies and/or BB bras at the marina I launched at. Strangely enough , with the centers on there , they don't come off any more. Still only take a minute to grease them
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Goodyear Marathons are the only way to go. I just installed five of them on my boat trailer. Sorry Jay, I only paid $450 complete. Ok so I have a "source"!!! And it was a day from hell last week... I bought 11 tires in one day!!!
As far as load range goes, bigger is better.....To a certain point! If you go to high on the tire rating all the road "noise" will be transmitted to the trailer and then the boat. It is a balancing act, everything must work together..... Just like building an engine and proping the boat etc.....
My .02
As far as load range goes, bigger is better.....To a certain point! If you go to high on the tire rating all the road "noise" will be transmitted to the trailer and then the boat. It is a balancing act, everything must work together..... Just like building an engine and proping the boat etc.....
My .02
Lot of good info being said here.
Good Year Marathon radial trailer tires.
tongue height has no effect on axle load on leaf spring trailers.
Also to expand on chjohns point: a suspension rating way more than needed also transmits every bump in the road to the hull of the boat. The springs need to be rated properly to absorb the road bumps. Ever hit a hole with an empty trailer? jumps off the ground w/o the springs even flexing. Same concept, but exaggerated for visual aides.
Good Year Marathon radial trailer tires.
tongue height has no effect on axle load on leaf spring trailers.
Also to expand on chjohns point: a suspension rating way more than needed also transmits every bump in the road to the hull of the boat. The springs need to be rated properly to absorb the road bumps. Ever hit a hole with an empty trailer? jumps off the ground w/o the springs even flexing. Same concept, but exaggerated for visual aides.
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