Towing without a tire

[StarTed]

Went down to the Snake for some fishing last week and towed my home built trailer along.

The tires were shot but I figured that I should be able to get in one more trip before taking the time to replace them. Well, that didn't quite work out as planned.

Somewhere along the way home one of the tires blew out. It may have happened up to 20 miles before I finally figured out something was wrong. The pickup began to vibrate so bad I thought something was wrong with the front end. I pulled over a little east of Dusty along highway 26 to check on my pickup's front end. To my surprise the right trailer tire was gone and most of the rim as well. The rim was down to the old brake drum.



Here's a picture of the spare and the old wheel along side.

My trailer is very tongue heavy 20 to 25% and it towed along just fine except for a feeling occasionally of a washboard road.

I put on the spare and drove slowly back to Dusty and added air. It took 40# to bring it up. The tire is labelled for 35# so that tells me it's overloaded. During the tire chand 2 locals stopped to give me a hand and that made all the difference.

I continued on to Colfax where I stopped at Les Schwaub and purchased a new wheel and 2 new tires. The new ones are load range E and were pumped up to 70# for tires rated to 80#. Much better. Now I'm set for a few more years.

 

[bruceb58]

Your old tire is also not a trailer tire in case you didn't know hence the 35#. Out of curiosity, what was the date code on the old tire? Let me guess....10 years old or over?

How heavy is your rig and why are you towing with such a heavy tongue weight?

 

[StarTed]

bruceb58 Thanks for the input and observations

The trailer just happened.

I know that the tire was not a trailer tire. The wheel was a Jeep wheel that a friend gave me along with the springs. I built the rest of the trailer including the axle.

I think the tire was purchased from a tire dealer around 5 to 6 years ago. The original tires on the trailer were also car tires that made 2 trips to Alaska before leaking through the cracks so bad that I replaced them while on the road in Idaho.

I built the trailer originally as a canoe trailer that went over the scales at 1060# before I added the 8 canoe rack. I still have it around here. It was built to take canoes for a Boy Scout trip to the Bowran Lakes in British Columbia. It made 2 trips up there and another couple to the Missouri River in Montana.

After that I used it a little as a light duty flat bed trailer. It has a 16' bed plus the tongue. I have a heavy duty flat bed trailer that can haul equipment so I didn't really need it for that purpose so I modified it to make a camping trip and haul a 12' boat for a fishing trip on the Missouri. That design was only used one time and proved to be a nightmare to set up so I modified it again.

Now it is a custom camp trailer that I can raise 27" using a crank that connects from side to side into 2 winches. That works well but it still takes too long to set up so I just use it lowered. It's around 54" high inside so I can move around stooped over but it works OK for sleeping and sitting inside. I'm off the ground and out of the weather.

I put in a Suburban furnace that I use as a seat. It's nice to have a hot seat when out fishing in the winter.

The entry is on the driver's side in front because I had installed the jack on the passenger side and didn't want to change it. Then I welded on some heavy expanded metal on the tongue to scrape off dirt from my feet. That works well. I also have a 5 cu ft freezer in front with lots of ice in it that moves between it and my ice chest. My generator keeps the freezer frozen. All that stuff up front makes the tongue quite heavy. Two people cannot lift it. The back end tapers down so the freezer will not fit there. A cot fits comfortably in the back so that's where I sleep.

It is a unique trailer and everyone at the Snake knows it and many come by to say hi. The main problem is it's difficult to sneak around with it. :joyous:

 

[lncoop]

I require pics of this engineering marvel. Sounds like my kind of critter.

 

[rbh]

OUCH on the tire and rim. How did you like the Bowron Chain of lakes? did you do all and the portages?

 

[StarTed]

Here are a couple of pictures taken some time ago. The first one was taken in the fall of 2014 somewhere near the border of NB and Maine. It is down in the travelling mode and hooked up behind my camper. My daughter, son-in-law and grandkids slept in it. They had a king size bed in the rear and the little ones slept on pads on the floor. It's better than setting up a wet tent and the heater makes quite a difference.



This one was taken even earlier in Seward Alaska. It is set up with the solid sides which have been replaced with canvas ones.



The solid sides took up too much space inside while travelling. They are also kind of heavy for me to set in place by myself. The canvas sides take too much time to set up when I can just duck in and hit the sleeping bag. I have to access the sides all around to attach them inside. The clips on the sides are upside down to hook loops of 1/8" bungee cords for the bottom. It has clear vinyl windows that can be rolled down and mosquito netting set up with velcro. That works OK.