I Hate Trailer Tires

[talltigeguy]

i dont have a lot of experience with boat trailers but do with my 16'cargo with torsion axles with 8k lbs on it and have to use 10 or 12 plys just to get 10k miles cause the axles but my 16' staight axle i pull excavators with gets twice the like with 8plys and same weight . if you can sacrifice some ride with harder tires like 10 or 12 ply higher psi thus harder tires theyre less likely to seperate in the heat cuz less distorsion ,ive been watching my carlisles with 3yrs on them and they look really soft with ample air cold and they make me cringe when watching others make tight turns in my sequoia looks bad on the axles but ride smooth. so it will be a toss up for me lower maintenance with more confidence or smooth ride constantly checking pres. and turning wide

Most of our trailer tires are 14 inch rims or have lower profile tires with the same outer diameter. That is complete crap, especially with an RZ4 or 24Ve. Trailer tires also have a designated Load Range...which is what Shawn is talking about here, as it is usually related to the higher ply number.

There is only one 14 inch tire that is a load range D, and that is the Kumho 857. All other 14 inch tires are load range C.

I really wish the trailer manufacturers of these larger boats would put 15 inch rims on the boat trailer.

On a side note, the previous owner of my boat told me he replaced the tires 1-2 years ago...they were manufactured in 2007, so he either got old ones put on, or he lied. I am going to try to get through this year, and looks like I really ought to consider replacing them next, at that point it will be 5 years.

[urbanstd]

I am in the process of replacing my tires. The Goodyear Marathons look great but One of them had tread separation the last time I took the boat out.

I have been doing a bunch of readings on other boating forums and speed towing and air pressure plays a big part in how well trailer tires hold up.

65 MPH is maximum the tires are rated for. Tire heat breaks down the sidewalls creating more heat. Some tire MFGs allow you to tow faster than 65MPH but require more tire air pressure to do so. If the rims can support it, a D rated tire with more air pressure would hold up better than the C rated tires that came with our trailers. The down side is the boat will have a rougher ride.

I am going to try the Maxxis trailer tires. On the Maxxis site they have a load chart for trailer tires and it appears that I can bump the pressure up 10PSI and have a D rated tire. I have debated getting a tire pressure monitor from camping world to use on my camper and boat so I have a warning before the tire starts coming apart.

My trailer is a 06 MFG date and the tires were 05 maybe a total of 2000 miles on them. The boat is stored in doors out of the sun. 5 to 6 years tire life.