I saw 4 tires blown out on the way home from Lake of the Ozarks this Sunday, make sure you check yours with all this heat!
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I saw 4 tires blown out on the way home from Lake of the Ozarks this Sunday, make sure you check yours with all this heat!
Thanks for the reminder..... Grease too...
glad your postin duck thought you crashed the other day
It is just common sense to check the tires and the grease in the wheel bearings but the biggest thing is to SLOW DOWN when it is this hot!! Speed generates a buttload of heat within the tires and heat equals failure.
It amazes me to see these morons pulling a boat down the interstate at 70-75 mph especially when the temps are 90 or above! Slow the damn thing down and leave 5 minutes early! 60 to 65 is plenty when pulling a trailer!
Anyone that has had a tire failure on a trailer at high speed with tell you how important it is to slow down.
I can promise you that a trailer tire blowout at 70-75 mph is not fun! I have seen the results of some idiot pulling a boat at 70 mph and having a blowout on the trailer. The trailer went sideways and pulled him into oncoming traffic. He lived and the two people in the car he hit died.......
The tires rating for speed is determined by ST or TR. An ST rating is 65mph and TR is 60mph
X2 most folks don't know about speed rating on tires.Quote:
Originally Posted by crappiedoc
Good point Doc. I would wager that a large percentage of drivers pulling a trailer very rarely check the tire pressure on the trailer tires let alone actually read the sidewall. It amazes me to see the number of people pulling boats, campers, jet ski, etc. that will pass me on the interstate while I am running 75 mph. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by crappiedoc
Not only is it a safety issue but the amount of fuel a person uses when trying to pull something that fast is ridiculous. There is no reason anyone needs to be pulling a trailer over 65 mph and if it was up to me there would be a 55-60 mph speed limit on people pulling trailers. I prefer to leave a little earlier and take my time. I get there in one piece and not hurt or kill anyone else in the process. Thumbs Up
Ok, Ill kick this soapbox back under the bed for now. It is getting a lot of use here lately..... Devil Icon
Here is a question what is the advantage of trailer tires vs. regular car tires?
Zeepo
zeepo, trailer tires have a higher load range due to higher ply rating and higher pressure capability. Trailer tires normally start at 50psi or greater for max pressure. A trailer tire the same size as a passenger car tire often has 50% or more load capacity. I'm not an expert but that's at least some of the difference as I understand it and after researching online for trailer tires recently. There's likely other differences too that someone may point out for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by zeepo
There is all kinds of info on the net on "trailer tires vs car tires". Here is just three sites after a google search on "trailer tires vs car tires". I don't think you'll find one result suggesting it's OK to use car tires on a trailer even though I heard some folks say it is OK. :yikesQuote:
Originally Posted by zeepo
Trailer tires vs. Auto tires... -- Trailers and Towing
http://www.taskmasterproducts.com/ac...ailertires.pdf
Trailer Tires Vs. Car Tires | eHow.com
Another difference is the tread pattern is designed to be run on what is refered to as a free rolling axle ( never in a pulling situation as in drive axle of a car) thus better tread life if proper air pressure is maintained. Also sidewalls are a lot heaver for load carrying and most have a extra rib built in just above tread as a curb protector to keep from blowing out sidewall. Most trailer tires take a lot of abuse in everyday situations that car tires can't take.Quote:
Originally Posted by kopper36
Quote:
Originally Posted by cray
Good point Cray, that also protects against tread separation or flap. If you have fiberglass fenders or one with lightweight metal this flap will slap your fenders right off, or at least it has the potential to do some serious damages.
I think I met a couple guys from CDC Saturday at the sailboat ramp at Eldo. They had some bad luck with their trailer (luckily not on Turnpike). Wish I could have helped guys. You weren't there when I loaded at 10:00, so you must have gotten it take care of.
Hey, tdinges, that was me!, nice meeting you, still sick from it, but saw your picture from Saturday and looks like the fish were biting. Ragnar was there also.
Month or so ago before a big trip I did checked things over and everything was good. Got to the boat ramp on Saturday morning and the tire was leaning badly. Lost the hub cap, bearings, and castle nut some where on the road. Jacked the trailer up and the tire practically fell off. Got lucky I didn't loose the tire on the turnpike doing 65, that would of been bad I don't push it faster than that. Truck is happy pulling my boat from 60-65mph, otherwise it sucks down the gas. Did some calling around and go a tow truck to take it back into Wichita, insurance covered that. Shane came out and hung out for a while and see if he could help also. Currently boat is getting a new spindle and hub, then i'll be back in business. Did have a hard encounter with a curb on the way out of town dodging another vehicle, don't know if that's what started things falling apart, or a bad bearing, or castle nut came loose or how long I drove with the tire barely hanging on. ...but thank God that the tire stayed on till i got to the lake.
Tim.
tdinges - Re-read my post, and to clarify, i'm sick from my trailer breaking down, not from meeting you. :biggrin
aLWAYS SAID SOMETIMES BETTER TO BE LUCKY THAN GOODQuote:
Originally Posted by fishingtim
Tim, nice meeting you as well. Maybe next time we'll be on the water in a better situation.
X2 on the 65 mph max. If I'm in that big of a hurry, I try to leave 5 minutes earlier. I learned my lesson on tires last summer. Blew 2 out on interstate on the way back from Wilson. Luckily my 2nd one I was just outside of McPherson and limped into the Wal-Mart. Had them throw a car tire on right before they closed and was able to limp back to Wichita with a spare and a car tire. Made for a nice 6 hour trip that usually takes 2. Not sure what would have happened if I would have been doing 80 when that 1st tire went. I saw chunks of rubber flying in my mirror and slowed down right away.
Got my boat back on Wednesday, but it was ready Tuesday afternoon. This was my fastest experience with getting my boat worked on and working with insurance. Ended up getting a whole new hub, bearings, and spindle. Insurance covered the tow and about half the shop bill. Didn't know how much they would cover but turned out being worth the claim. I forget exactly how it was worded but the bearings were not covered because they are considered wear and tear, but they covered what was damaged as a result of the bearings failing. Usually grease the hubs several times a year, early spring, summer, then again in the fall, guess it wasn't enough or just had a bad bearing. :dono The guy at the shop recommended at least once a year taking the bearings out and repacking them with grease. Anybody else do this?
Yes! :crazy: It's not very hard to do...plenty of instructional videos on YouTube for those that haven't taken bearings apart and re-packed before (etrailer is my favorite). You can also inspect the bearings for signs of wear or heat-scarring and usually prevent a bearing failure before it happens. Just adding grease to the hubs really only serves to increase pressure inside the hub to prevent water from rushing in when hub is submerged and cooled. This is important to do occasionally, but not nearly as important as a yearly re-pack and inspection.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishingtim
Absolutely! I pull the bearings out of mine every fall and inspect the bearings and put new seals in. Even if you replace the bearings each year it isnt terribly expensive. I think it was around $35 a wheel to put bearings and seals in mine. You can pick up bearings as a kit at Bass Pro but I dont use those. I normally go to an Auto parts store and get Timken bearings and a National seal for just a little more money.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishingtim
I do this in the fall as any water in the bearings will cause pitting over the winter while the trailer sits still.
Even if you replace them every year, $70 is pretty cheap insurance to keep me on the road. Having a bearing go out at highway speed is no fun at all! And even if it doesnt tear something up when it goes out it seems to happen at the worst times and the worst places. It seems to always be after hours on a weekend.
Pull and inspect in the fall before you put up boat unless you fish year round. Every time before you grease jack up each wheel, check for any excess play by grabbing wheel and to shake it back and forth and lift up and down also get under trailer, spin tire and put your fingers on axle as close as you can to back of hub assy. If there are any bad sits in bearings you will feel it through the axle. Any of this seems out of the ordinary pull and inspect.