Trailer Tires to small?

[cshirley]

I have a 94' Rinker Captiva 180 with original trailer. I bought it from a friend last summer and moved away. While moving it to our new home, one of the tires lost it's tread and by the time I barely made it to the house before it was completely flat. The current tires are Nankang Load Max Radial 175 80 R13. To be honest the tires always seemed stressed to me as at operating PSI, they were pretty loaded down even with a dry and unloaded boat. I'd like to be making 300 mile roundtrips with it this summer so I'd like to see if I'd be better moving to a bigger tire.

I looked up the dry weight of my boat and it comes in at around 2500lbs with the 3.0 Merc. What concerns me is that this tire and others that I'm seeing appear to be a load range C with a weight capacity of around 1360 per tire or 2720lbs total. The boat weight will most likely hit that with gear loaded for the boating trips and be over that with the trailer weight.

Does anyone have thoughts or opinions on where to go from here on tire sizes?

Thanks

Curtis

 

[Bondo]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

Ayuh,.... What's the diameter of the axle quills,..??

Puttin' heavier tires on an under-weight axle, Doesn't increase yer weight capacity...

 

[pevaguy]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

Loosing the tread could have resulted due to the age of the tire. I don't trust any trailer tire over four or five years old. Check the date code on the tire. Example of a tire manufactured since 2000 with the current Tire Identification Number format:

DOT U2LL LMLR 5107
51 Manufactured during the 51st week of the year
07 Manufactured during 2007

 

[emilsr]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

I'd like to be making 300 mile roundtrips with it this summer so I'd like to see if I'd be better moving to a bigger tire.

Curtis

Going to a larger tire/wheel can cause other issues. Better to stick to that size, but something with more loat capacity would be a good thing.

Probably just old tires. After 4-5 years of sitting outside they start to rot. I lost one that was 7 years old once; after that experience I started buying a new set every 4-5 years.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

Look at the GVWR rating tag on the trailer. It will specify the capacity of the trailer with as many as three or four different tire sizes. But as pointed out, bigger tires does not increase the load capacity if the axle and spring capacities are not capable. There should be a tag or stamp somewhere on the axle to indicate it's capacity. I'm guessing here, but that trailer probably has a 3500# axle. But remember, the trailer itself is carried by those tires, springs and axles, so even at 3500# the trailer may be overloaded significantly. The only way to know for sure is to load it up the way you travel and get it weighed.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

I would go to a D or a E load range and hit it.

 

[emilsr]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

I would go to a D or a E load range and hit it.

Kumho makes a load range D tire in 14" but not in 13".

 

[tazrig]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

I would go to a D or a E load range and hit it.

I agree. Remember when you're figuring what the tires are rated to carry you have to figure in the weight of the trailer itself in addition to the weight of the boat.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

Tread peeling is usually a tire age related thing. As already mentioned you should weigh the outfit and read the trailer plate before making any further decisions.
Just my thoughts though.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Trailer Tires to small?

your dealing with tires that are 19-20 years old. that is what caused it to go.

as others stated, make sure the tires are correct for the axle, verify it is correct for the load (Boat + trailer + fuel + GEAR)

also, I run Load range D 13's (8-ply) you will most likely have to order them