Trailer Tires

[tdinges]

Just got back to Wichita from an awesome family weekend out at Wilson lake. Great weekend skiing, with a bonus 4 lb striper caught surfacing (no better way to catch stripers IMO).

But...It took my wife and I 5 hours to make it from Wilson to Wichita (usually a 2 hour trip). We ended up blowing both trailer tires. The 1st tire went right at Salina. Got the spare put on and noticed the other was looking pretty rough. Limped it in to Wal Mart and was set to get at least 2 new tires. No place in town had the right trailer tire. Air'd them up and got back on the road. McPherson came along and the other bad tire died. Luckily it was 1/2 mile from the exit and I was able to put the flashers on and limp into Wal Mart. At this point my wife was about to kill me. Luckily they had a car tire that fit the 14" rim and I had them stick that tire on. $70 as opposed to a tow.

Moral of the story...Big weekend coming up, and I know a lot of you will be traveling. Check those tires and check your spare as well. a flat spare is as good as no spare.

Have fun and be careful.

[crappiedoc]

Been there, it sucks. A word of advice-make sure your axle and hubs are maintained, check it all. A snatch n grab isn't cheap, neither are prematuring tires. I had some axle problems a while back, brand new, excellent quality, trailer tires 2 or 3 trips and they were smoked, along with the hubs.

[wheels70]

I too have been there and done that. It sure is not any fun changing a tire on the side of the road, especially a two lane road with no shoulders! I blew a tire on I-70 on my way to Wilson several years ago and trying to change the outside tire with me being in a wheelchair was a really exciting experience! Most people refuse to scoot over and they blow by you at 75-85mph just feet away from me. Would not want to have children present as I was cussing up a storm! lol!

I check my bearings and replace the rear seals on every trailer I own every spring. If the tires are more than 5 years old I replace them. I slow down considerably when the temp gets up around 90 or above. I very rarely pull a trailer over 55-60mph no matter what the speed limit is. Those trailer tires take a beating and the heat makes it even worse. I make it a point to check things very well before every trip and have not had any problems since.

In a similar situation we blew 3 trailer tires on a camper we bought in Enid Ok a few years ago. Finally spent $600 on new tires in Wichita, was running out of spares! lol!

Check them every spring and make sure they are serviced on a regular basis and the problems are must less frequent for me.

Keith

[tdinges]

Has anyone had trouble with Goodyear Marathon trailer tires? I read 1 review online of a guy that would never buy them again. Of course, generally people don't write reviews about good products, only bad. That is what was on my trailer when they blew. I really don't think it was the tires' fault...they were old and the sidewalls had seen there better day.