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How long do boat trailer tires typically last?
We just bought a 2001 Lund Mr. Pike a couple weeks ago. We went on
vacation last week, and of course had to take the boat with us. About
40 miles from home, the driver's side trailer tire blew out while on
the freeway going almost 70mph. Then, about 100 miles later, the OTHER
trailer tire blew out - this time we were only going 60mph, as we were
paranoid after the first blow-out.These were 14" tires that, yes, were original, so were 6 years old.
They looked good, though. No obvious wear or cracking. I ended up
having to get 15" tires from TSC as they didn't carry 14" ones. Being
that it was 6:00 on a Saturday in a small town, there wasn't really
any choice - either get the 15" tires or get nothing at that point.
The guy at TSC said the 15's are better tires anyway, and would fit,
which they did. He also told me that this happens quite often, and a
lot of people get new trailer tires ~every 4 years, whether they look
like they need replacing or not, as many times trailer tires will go
without any warning, like they did with us. He also told me that 14"
tires are not commonly carried. Another guy that this happened to had
14's and he had to get 15's to put on the trailer, which he changed
out in the TSC parking lot. So if all these boat trailer have 14"
tires, why don't retailers commonly carry them?? |
Aug 23
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| Alot depends on usage of course and having proper inflation. Trailers do
not have really good suspensions as compaired to cars. They are alot
stiffer. We ran the stock bias-plys on our cuddy for about 10 years. But
only took it on a long trip the after about 4 (we moved) But if memory
servers they was suppose to have alot higher pressure then typical car
tires. I think it was 60 psi. But I could be wrong on that. Ours had 14 as well and when they were replaced the tire folks had to
find some at another location. That was in Atlanta so I could see how a
small town they might be harder. Capt Jack R.. |
Jack
Aug 23
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| Let me see here - you bought a boat, were overwhelmed by registration
paperwork, either didn't have a tire pressure gauge/had the wrong one/
didn't know how much air pressure to put in the tires or how to check
the pressure, and with your family in the tow vehicle, went hammering
down the road at 70 mph. Lost one tire at 70, slowed down to 60
'cause you got scared, and lost another one. Try reading your state
DMV publications and take some kind of safe boating class. USPS basic
seamanship classes could save your life.
Once you are on the water (and before) it isn't a joke. |
Aug 23
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| the following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats: |
Gene
Aug 23
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| I wouldn't think it would matter. The big thing is that trailer tires
have a significantly higher air pressure than a car tire. While a car
tire may be 30 to 35 PSI, most trailer tires are more like 55 to 65
PSI. There are a number of trailering guides on the web, but I just
found this one real quick. It gives lots of tips for trailering your
boat. BTW replying to another part of this thread your truck
(Silverado 1500 I believe) should be plenty of truck for a 17' trailer
boat. Without looking up anything I would guess that the boat is about
1,800 to 2,200 pounds (with motor and gas) and the trailer is another
1,000 pounds. I would guess that a Silverado 1500 (which sure sounds
like a 3/4 ton, full sized truck) would have a tow capacity of at
least 6,000 pounds. These are all assumptions (yeah I know what assume spells) so check
your truck manual and consider weighing the boat at an interstate
highway weigh station (I have seen that recommendation on the web - I
do not know of anyone who has actually done this and wonder if people
actually do this.) |
Dave
Aug 23
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| Good idea - wonder if there's a weigh station in our vicinity
anywhere?
The truck is a 1/2 ton, not 3/4. But still...it's not like 17' is a
HUGE boat or anything. I would think it's alright for the truck, but
would like to know how much the boat/motor and boat/motor/trailer
weighs anyway, just to be 100% sure. I think the Capacity weight on the trailer stamp said 3500 or 3700
lbs. |
Aug 23
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| > Good idea - wonder if there's a weigh station in our vicinity anywhere? Got any sand & gravel pits around? The town dump? |
thunder
Aug 23
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| Yeah - I can check there. Thanks. |
Aug 23
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| You just said something important. You **MUST** make a point of knowing
about the tire pressure. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 23
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| Yeah, I know. It was so hard this time, being as we JUST got the boat
a week before, and had all the legal stuff to take care of
quickly(registration, insurance, etc.), getting the wiring squared
away to connect for the trailer lights, and figuring out what all to
take, etc. My husband tried checking the pressure with the gauge he
has in his truck, but it only went up to 40, and it went well past
that. I think he said the 14" tires were rated for 50psi. |
Aug 23
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| By the way, this is just the beginning of the boat antics. 1) Sometimes you might need to stand in the water at the boat launch to get
the thing onto the trailer. Take your wallet out of your pocket, and maybe
your keys, too. Ramps are slippery. 2) Got a drain plug in the boat? One day, you may remove it while washing
the boat in the driveway. Then, you won't put it back in. Have the bilge
pump ready at the next launching. :-) 3) How long are your dock lines (ropes), and how thick? They're not the
colorful plastic kind, are they? |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 23
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| I always clipped the drain plug onto my boat keys, so I won't forget.
Now when I winterize the engine, I place one of the hose clamps onto the
key ring to remind me to put the plugs and clamps back onto all of the
hoses in the spring time. |
Reginald
Aug 23
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| Believe me - I've already thought of the drain plug. :)
We got to the cottage so late that we decided to wait until the next
day to launch it. It rained pretty hard that night. The next morning
hubby pulled the drain plug to let the water drain out. I made sure to
remind him to put that plug back in before we launched it!
I've just subscribed to Trailering Boats and Bass & Walleye Boats
magazines, and printed a bunch of stuff off from one of their websites
on towing, for future reference. I think we have both the colored plastic/nylon ropes that came with
the boat from the guy we bought it from, plus I bought another regular
thicker rope. Why? |
Aug 23
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| Plastic: If it's the scratchy kind, it's made for towing skiers or
something. It's stiff and will sometimes untie its own knots. That's not
good. As to my more general question, try this in your yard on a very windy day.
Measure a distance of 25 feet. Try to throw a bundle of your boat rope into
the wind, to a person standing 25 feet away. If you can't do it in one
throw, your rope is too short and probably too light (skinny). One day,
you'll be trying to dock the boat when some sort of bizarre wind has kicked
up, and someone one the dock may offer to catch a line for you. You can
figure out the rest. Don't be one of those fools who's got shoelaces for
boat rope. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 23
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| Well, on future trips, you should check it daily. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Aug 23
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| You don't want to use PolyProp lines, but there are some colored nylon
lines that are good dock lines (they are normally white, black or blue).
Polyprop will fray easier, degrade in UV quicker, will not have as
much give as nylon, which can be tough on your cleats, and will not
allow you to belay the cleat properly. http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/cleat.pdf PolyProp is a floating line used to pull tubes and skiers only. |
Reginald
Aug 23
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| This may not apply so much in your case..but the bow & aft lines should
normally be nylon.
If's better to have a little streatch and springness to allow for the ebb &
flow at a dock.
That polyproplene stuff may float but doesn't streatch.... so it might be
good if you were using it as a 'painter' on a dinghy. |
Don
Aug 23
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| There is another point here. Yes, the tires could be underinflated.
Yes they could be undersized for the weight of the boat and trailer (I
get about 1115 pounds for the boat). Yes, you could have picked up
nails in both tires, short enough to not (yet) affect the tires on the
towing vehicle, but long enough to lose tire pressure on the trailer
and blowout. When you say "had to take the boat with you", did you stuff it full of
"bringalongs" like a U-haul? There are weight limits on tires... David A. Smith |
Aug 23
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| No, most of our vacation gear (luggage, etc.) was in the bed of the
truck. The boat had the trolling motor (attached), life jackets,
rope, fishing poles, bait box, the anchor, fish finder, the lights for
night boating, fishing net - stuff like that. Mostly lighter stuff
except the anchor and trolling motor. Oh - and from the 2nd blow-out
on, it carried the three 3 old 14" tires (or what was left of
them). :-S The sticker on the new tires said "capacity 1800 lb" - I assume that's
per tire, so a total weight, boat/motor/trailer, of 3600 lb.? |
Aug 23
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| Yes. |
Short
Aug 23
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| For boats in the 1500-2000 pound range... 13" tires seem to be the norm
here. That's what I had on my new boat trailer. |
Don
Aug 23
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| When I had a boat and trailer, the tires were 20 yrs old. I kept the
tires covered so they would not have UV degradation, and they were the
original tires when I sold the boat. I would guess the tires were under
inflated, and that will cause the tires to get hot. |
Reginald
Aug 23
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| That's what I was thinking, heat, improper inflation. Especially since
all of them went. |
Aug 23
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| Well, I do know that the original owner kept the boat/trailer in a
pole barn, so it wasn't exposed to the elements.
Don't know about the tire pressure - maybe that was the problem, since
BOTH of them blew out hours apart.
What a horrible day that was - it took us 9 hours to get someplace
that it should have taken us 4-1/2.
Believe me - it's made me NOT want to trailer that boat anywhere
again! |
Aug 23
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| Air pressure. The tires overheated. |
Short
Aug 23
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| OK - for future reference with these new tires....do you check the
pressure with the trailer loaded, or unloaded? I'm assuming loaded. |
Aug 23
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| Loaded and cold. |
Short
Aug 23
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| Check them loaded and every time you use the trailer. This is probably
overkill, but I supported the trailer on 3 jacks so the weight was
actually on the jacks, and not on the tires. I put one on the front of
the trailer and 2 behind the tires. That way if the tires deflated over
the winter, it would not have a negative impact the sidewalls. |
Reginald
Aug 23
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| That's nothing compared to what happened to me on the very first road trip I
took with my new (2006) 'custom built' boat trailer.
After numerous e-mails, phone calls & a letter at time of mailing my $600.00
deposit last year stating that I wanted excess capacity for a sailboat rated
at 1200 lbs dry... (I demanded a carry capability of 200 lbs) the idiot
small time manufacturer put a 2500 lb axle & 2000 lb rated springs on the
trailer.
I found out about this at a gas station about 500 km from home on my way to
a regatta another 1500 km inland.
The springs gave way, and the hanger shackles in the rear flattened up
against the frame. This lowered the fender right on top of the tire and
quickly wore away 2/3rds of the thread and burned right through a heavy
steel fender. This of course happens at 1800 hts in a rural area. We found
a truck spring shop and the next day,after mulling the problem over, decided
on heavier springs. This got us another 100 km down the road where we had
to drop into a second shop who welded new pivot eyes on the trailer frame
1.25" further back to support the rear hanger/shackle.
The rest of the trip was fine after spending a total of $300.00 plus the
loss of that one tire (only good for spare) and the beat up fenders.
Too add insult, the original manufacturer is blaming everyone from the
spring supplier to the devil for the problem and refuses to accept
responsibility.
Looks like small claims court might be the only way to get something back on
this fiasco. |
Don
Aug 23
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| Another question - how do you know how much the trailer/boat weighs?
It's a 17' Lund Mr. Pike with a 115hp motor, plus the 2001 Trailmaster
trailer. There's capacity label on the trailer, and I'm assuming the
boat/motor falls within that rating, since it was sold as a package
when it was new, to the guy we bought it from. Just wondering, for the
truck we're using ('99 Silverado 1500), what the total tow weight is,
etc. |
Aug 23
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| yada yada... Forgot to mention...we weighed the boat and trailer at a gov't highway weigh
station and boat/trailer combo hit the scales at 1060 kg...
about 2337 pounds.
Outboard, gas can & anchor were in the pickup bed & not included in this
weight. (nor was any non-boating stuff like luggage) |
Don
Aug 23
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| Mu guess, too. Underinflated boat trailer tires heat up and then
explode. Check your tires for the correct inflation, typically 50-65
PSI, depending on the tire, if memory serves. |
Harry
Aug 23
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|
Check them when the tires are cold. |
Harry
Aug 23
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| My new trailer has a "capacity" stamped into the frame, but that is the
Gross Capacity, which includes the 900 or so pounds of the empty trailer. |
Harry
Aug 23
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