24V Tires blowing out

[johnbandrews]

Jack for the trailer

I was re-reading this thread and saw that some of you are using bottle or scissor jacks to change your trailer tires. Do yourself a favor and go buy a small floor jack at Walmart ... They're about 40 bucks for a 2-3 ton jack, don't take up too much room, and sure beat the heck out of the other options when you're at the side of the road.

Someone also mentioned AAA, Progressive, etc. for changing the tires. That's all well and good, but frankly, I can do it myself and am too impatient to wait for a tow truck to come change a tire when I'm in the middle of the desert. (Which is where the problems always seem to occur!)

Just my 2 cents.

[talltigeguy]

Where would you suggest storing that jack? I don't want it getting wet all of the time in the boat (it seems too bulky to keep in there anyway).

[johnbandrews]

I just throw mine in the back of our SUV. It came in a plastic carrying case and isn't that bulky ... about 24" long by 8" wide and tall. It's easy to get to and doesn't add to the tons of junk I seem to accumulate in my boat ...

[Morry Jones]

The rest of the story

Well everyone, I ended up getting two checks. One from Carlisle and one from Goodyear totaling about $1200.00. I am very happy the way it turned out. It didn't pay for everything but it was close. I really think this web site had a lot to do with the response I got so once again Thanks Tige Owners .com!!!

[talltigeguy]

Morry,

I am still waiting for my check. I did receive 1 new tire directly mailed to me. I may have to rattle them again. How long did you have to wait for your check?

[Morry Jones]

Check

After I got all the paper work and tires to Akron it was only about a month.

[drgibson]

Something that I haven't seen mentioned in this otherwise good thread is the wheel alinement on a trailer, esp. the dual axle ones. I haven't ever had a flat tire but I have worn out a couple of tires by the alinement getting so far off, the tires were not rolling straight ahead. Wheel alinements on a trailer are more complicated than a car because the axle has to be bent, just like the front end of a tractor trailer truck. It also then costs quite a bit more than my car does for an alinement but it sure tows better when the wheels are alined. I use a Goodyear truck tire shop for my alinements as they have the heavy duty equipment in the alinement pit to do the job. I have a Dorsey trailer with Goodyear tires that I run at 50 psi. I store my boat indoors and put the trailer on blocks over the winter to protect the axles and wheel bearings, not the tires. Once when i was getting my bearings rechecked, the mechanic told me he could see marks on the tapered part of the axle where the bearings had been pressing against it for the winter. Now I get the weight off the axles which probably doesn't hurt the tires either.
David

[Morry Jones]

Trailer Alignment

I have not had a trailer that has worn out the tires prematurely because of alignment. I suppose it's possible but why would the axels have to be bent? The u-bolts may have to be loosened and the axel aligned this way and the u-bolts retightened but bent?? Alignment shops do 4 wheel alignments so it shouldn't be that much of a hassle. I would have to look at the tires to see the type of wear to determine what's happening plus I would check with the trailer manufacturer to see if they recommend bending.

[raythompson]

Re: Trailer Alignment

Originally posted by Morry Jones
I have not had a trailer that has worn out the tires prematurely because of alignment. I suppose it's possible but why would the axels have to be bent? The u-bolts may have to be loosened and the axel aligned this way and the u-bolts retightened but bent?? Alignment shops do 4 wheel alignments so it shouldn't be that much of a hassle. I would have to look at the tires to see the type of wear to determine what's happening plus I would check with the trailer manufacturer to see if they recommend bending.

Axles cannot be moved on the springs because of a locating pin on the axle that fits into a hole on the spring. If one relied simply on the axle brackets to hold the axles in place on the springs any large bump would move an axle severely out of place on the spring.

Ford F-150 pickups with the twin I-Beam suspension required that the I-Beams be bent to align the front wheels. But most vehicles have adjustment locations to adjust the alignment and the suspension system are complicated. Trailers just have an axle and springs. There is not even shock absorbers. There is nothing adjustable.

Short of cutting the spring mounts loose on the trailer and rewelding, the only other option is to bend the axle to affect small adjustments in the axle alignment.

[drgibson]

Re: Trailer Alignment

Originally posted by Morry Jones
I have not had a trailer that has worn out the tires prematurely because of alignment. I suppose it's possible but why would the axels have to be bent?

Why the axles have to be bent has already been explained but my question (to myself, not this forum) is what am I hitting that knocking the tires out of alinement. Our lake is about 60 miles away and there is this one railroad track crossing that I think contributes to the problem even though I slow done to about 50. I'm curious if the flex in the tires from the sharp turn around on the ramp and from backing into the driveway at home both before and after the trip, forces the axles to bend. Doesn't make sense to me but something is requiring me to do an alinement about every 2 years while most dual axle trailer guys I know have no idea the trailers can be alined because they never have needed it.