Blowouts

[H20Rat]

Re: Blowouts

Trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls, less contact area, and less traction and for these reasons hold up better during sharp turns on a tandem trailer.

I've always heard those same three reasons, and the one I wonder about is the stiffer sidewalls. The reasoning is that a trailer tire puts more stress on the sidewall than a car would. The only problem with that is that the front tires of a vehicle will put VASTLY more stress on the sidewall than a trailer would.

Compare the thickness of the sidewall of a trailer tire vs a car tire. Car tires are SUBSTANTIALLY thicker...

 

[45Auto]

Re: Blowouts

I think you're confusing "thickness" with "stiffness". I've never seen any reference where "ST" trailer tires have thicker sidewalls. Lots of references to "stiffer" sidewalls on trailer tires though.

A thinner sidewall can easily be stiffer than a thick one depending on the materials used and the ply angles.

Carlisle has a good explanation of the differences at:

http://www.carlisletire.com/product_care/trailer_tires_101.pdf

 

[BoatNoobie]

Re: Blowouts

how can you tell if your tire is a car tire or trailer tire?
And is there a difference between a boat trailer and a regular trailer tire?

 

[45Auto]

Re: Blowouts

P = Passenger car
LT = Light truck
ST = Special trailer

The size of your tire is molded somewhere into the sidewall of your tire. It will say something like "ST205 x 14". The letters in front of the numbers tell you what type it is.

No difference between a boat trailer and a regular trailer tire.

 

[moi]

Re: Blowouts

Just by coincidence, I decided to spring for new wheels & tires just last week.....on my Load-Rite trailer, vintage 1988. I believe the old ones were original. Rig was new to me last year & tires needed a little air periodically.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/moithesaint/Newwheelstires.jpg

 

[Av8nBill]

Re: Blowouts

I didn't have a blow out, but was just one good pothole from it happening:

One of the tires on the well-used trailer I bought last season had a really slow leak so I decided I'm finally breaking down and buying a new one, then making that one a spare. I take it off and aside from a few small dry cracks in the tread (that I hadn't ever noticed till now) it still looks OK for a spare.

So I mount the old tire on the spare carrier with the dry cracks up and a little while later it starts to rain. Next time I look at it, the tread looks white and on closer inspection, there are tiny air bubbles coming up through the tread!! Mind you, this tire is only losing a couple of pounds of pressure a week so I had figured it was the valve stem. Now planning on a new tire for the spare too!

Just because it looks OK, doesn't mean it is. The sun and ozone down here in Texas really take a toll on tires, especially if you don't keep 'em covered. I'm also planning to pull the OEM spare off my truck and replace it now since it's at least a 2000 model. Why take chances, when it's so inexpensive to replace? (At least compared to what it could cost you if it blows out).

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Blowouts

Blew one out myself heading to the cottage earlier this month. Tire was 2 years old. What caused it......no idea but I immediately went to the next town after putting on one of our 2 spares and bought 2 new tires. Did the rest of the trip on the new ones.
If in doubt throw them out. That's all there is to it.
If unknown they should be thrown !!!
Amazing how many trailers you see on the side of the road or highway with a wheel missing and no vehicle with them due to the owners not having a spare and not bothering to inspect them before a journey as the tires "Look O.K."
Reason we have 2 spares is so the odds of us getting where we are going are extremely favorable.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Blowouts

Had a blowout a few weeks ago. Luckily it was on a four lane with a place to pull over but a half hour earlier would have been on a two lane mountain roads with very few places to pull over. Big chunk of tread came off and beat up one of the tail lights. The sidewall split in three different places.

I was one of those listening to the guys that said not to worry about it. Funny how you don't allways pay atention until it happens to you. Only cost $200 for 3 new trailer tires of the correct load rating. Could have been a lot worse.

 

[rickeys]

Re: Blowouts

Well ... just last week I had 2 blowouts when an 18 wheeler blew a tire and the shrapnel caught 2 of my trailer tires. The small town I was near only had carlisle tires. I bought 2 new carlisle Radial Trail tires. I get back and read a lot of bad stuff about carlisle tires. However, most of the bad press is a few years old. My question is .... Has Carlisle improved their tires? Have they resloved their problems?

 

[CPT_Rob]

Re: Blowouts

Well, I'm fairly new to boating and to this forum... Picked up an older boat w/ trailer for our first boat ('89 Galaxy 19' BR). I knew the tires were a little old but I thought it would get me through the rest of this season...NOPE...And of course I didn't have a spare, so after leaving my boat on the side of the road and running for a new tire about 2 hrs later we were on the road again. So this week I get to swap out the tire that wasn't replaced with a new one and get myself a spare. Oh and AAA pretty much said we were SOL...

 

[45Auto]

Re: Blowouts

Glad it worked out OK for you. You were lucky it didn't blow and put you in the ditch. I've also heard that sometimes boat parts go "missing" when you're forced to leave them on the side of the road!

 

[road kill]

Re: Blowouts

I picked up a trailer yesterday that has what looks like original tires.
The rims have no lugs, just bearings. The one kept locking up on the way home, when I jacked it up it was real hard to turn in one spot.
The one tire was real soft but I couldn't find a valve stem, the owner told me that one will never go flat. There's screws all around the edges, and he said he filled the tire with rubber because the rim was bad.
He said he packed it with old inner tubes the best he could and forced the tire back on. I guess the screws were to hold it on. The other two, on the rear axle are bald but hold air good.
The one that kept locking up has flat spots all over it. I liked the trailer becase it heavy duty, the fenders are diamond plate and the frame is real heavy so it won't rust away anytime soon.
I've probably drove by it for 30 years and never even saw it burried in the brush behind an old barn. The thing most likely aint seen the road in years. I was surprised at how well it pulled even with the one wheel dragging a bit.
New tires may not be an option, I called around and no one even knew what I was talking about. No one ever heard of Mohawk tires, let alone 1100x1050 tires. They look like common bass boat tires only really wide. They're nearly a foot wide but real small.

 

[Mr Crabbs]

Re: Blowouts

Well ... just last week I had 2 blowouts when an 18 wheeler blew a tire and the shrapnel caught 2 of my trailer tires. The small town I was near only had carlisle tires. I bought 2 new carlisle Radial Trail tires. I get back and read a lot of bad stuff about carlisle tires. However, most of the bad press is a few years old. My question is .... Has Carlisle improved their tires? Have they resloved their problems?

Carslile tires are on my travel trailer and I've had no problems. There has been some chinese tire bashing going on though.

Carslile is one of the worlds largest rubber producers and have been a leader in rubber roof membranes that have virtually replaced tar roofs. They know what they're doing.

Two spare tires are good for tandem axle trailers. If a road hazard gets one, it might get the second one.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Blowouts

Well, I'm fairly new to boating and to this forum... Picked up an older boat w/ trailer for our first boat ('89 Galaxy 19' BR). I knew the tires were a little old but I thought it would get me through the rest of this season...NOPE...And of course I didn't have a spare, so after leaving my boat on the side of the road and running for a new tire about 2 hrs later we were on the road again. So this week I get to swap out the tire that wasn't replaced with a new one and get myself a spare. Oh and AAA pretty much said we were SOL...

AAA has a RV upgrade that you have to have to get any trailer service.

I use BoatU.S. for my unlimited water related towing and emergancy service...only costs around $12 per month. With the unlimited plan your tow vehicle and trailer are also covered, and any problems on the road are included. The only time that I had to call them was at a boat ramp when my truck starter went 'south'...they dispatched two tow trucks to take my truck, and my trailered boat, to my designated place. No questions asked...and not a dime out of pocket!

Happy boating!

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Blowouts

I can't say that I really agree with most of the sentiment here, although it makes for good reading...I'm not certain why auto tires are knocked as unsuitable for trailers, but it really doesn't matter to me...

Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean new information is wrong.

A trailer tire is built differently than an auto tire. It should matter to you. You should also (for your little tiny tires) know that the load range of the tire is important too.

People are dissing what you wrote because you are making assumptions with only a partial set of information. FYI.

 

[road kill]

Re: Blowouts

I don't see where it makes much difference if your not pulling any weight?
My one boat weighs only about 500 lbs, the trailer has two new car tires because that was all the tire store had in stock, and they were $22 each brand new.

My thinking was that the softer sidewalls will ad some cushion to the ride back there as well. The passenger tires don't bounce all over like the 50 psi trailer tires did.

The boat and trailer are aluminum, I can live either side by hand with little effort. They wanted $65 per tire for trailer tires, and they had to be ordered. For the two miles every few weeks that I drive to get to the water, that just wasn't going to happen.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Blowouts

I don't see where it makes much difference if your not pulling any weight?
My one boat weighs only about 500 lbs, the trailer has two new car tires because that was all the tire store had in stock, and they were $22 each brand new.

My thinking was that the softer sidewalls will ad some cushion to the ride back there as well. The passenger tires don't bounce all over like the 50 psi trailer tires did.

The boat and trailer are aluminum, I can live either side by hand with little effort. They wanted $65 per tire for trailer tires, and they had to be ordered. For the two miles every few weeks that I drive to get to the water, that just wasn't going to happen.

You are not the average situation...and this apparently works well for you!

But this shouldn't be a guideline for those of us that have heavier hauls....

Happy boating!

 

[JimS123]

Re: Blowouts

Just because you don't know about something doesn't mean new information is wrong.

A trailer tire is built differently than an auto tire. It should matter to you. You should also (for your little tiny tires) know that the load range of the tire is important too.

People are dissing what you wrote because you are making assumptions with only a partial set of information. FYI.

I currently own trailers that were purchased in 1999, 2003 and 2005. They all came with ST tires and they all work fine. No problem!

My other trailer is a TeeNee that I bought in 1984. It came factory equipped with B78x13 auto tires. Never had a problem with those tires and they carried the boat just fine.

I don't know when ST tires were first made available. I don't know if TeeNee made their trailers "on the cheep" in 1984 or not. All I know is that my car tires did not seem to be a problem.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Blowouts

Most 6K car trailers around here come with radial car tires on them, not trailer tires. Never had an issue on any of my car haulers, which were used for thousands of miles over 15 years.

Biggest problem with using car tires on a boat trailer is that you can't normally get a high enough load rating on car tires that fit. My boat uses 185/80/13 in a D rating, so it gets ST tires.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Blowouts

I was loading my boat this morning, standing next to my trailer about knee deep in the water, between my trailer and another trailer that was putting in. I noticed bubbles coming from his left tire. No sooner I hollered to the guy that his tire was leaking, it popped, it sounded like someone tossed brick in the water. About a 6" long section of tread popped and flapped back leaving the tire with a 4x6" hole where the tread used to be. I wasn't sure what happened when it went, between loading my boat, watching to see what someone else's dogs were doing jumping all around me, and him banging his boat all along the dock and trailer unloading. I wasn't sure whether the tire actually popped right in front of me or if a fish jumped, or a dog jumped in the water again, or if something fell off my boat. I never saw a tire just break up like that sitting still. It didn't seem to bother him at all, he just parked the trailer and drove off in the boat. I didn't see a spare so I guess that meant a rim ride home later.