A cautionary tale

[lproulx]

Hello All,

My wife and I decided to trailer our newly purchased 2014 21ec from near Boston out to Erie PA for a family reunion. We had purchased the boat from a Florida owner and had it towed up to us on its own trailer last spring. Before the trip I looked at the trailer tires and they seemed fine. I set the inflation at the recommended 80 psi. Lots of tread, no obvious problems. (This is an EZ Loader single axle trailer.) We got about 90 miles out I 90 and BOOM! Like a canon shot. Blowout on right trailer tire. Steel belt sticking out everywhere, tire destroyed. Fortunately wheel OK. I called 911 and after about ten minutes, a MAPFRE insurance truck showed up. They apparently provide courtesy road service on the Mass Turnpike. They put on the spare and we were on our way, no charge.

We spent the night in Herkimer NY, and set out the next morning. 100 miles or so down the NY Thruway, BOOM again, this time from the road side. No spare. 911 again. Regular road service guy eventually came. Had him take wheel back to shop and mount new tire. In meantime thinking - I've got one more of these time bombs still on the trailer. Drove to his shop and purchased a second new tire.

Lesson learned - Apparently age alone will kill a tire. My seller in Florida had provided photos of the boat, some showing it on the trailer with tire covers. They worked fine for 1300 miles last spring. No good this year. I don't know if there is any kind of inspection that could have predicted what happened. I somehow suspect that some trailer tires are of really crappy quality. It seems that none of the main line tire companies sell them.

Anyway - if your trailer tires are older than about three or four years, be careful!

Larry

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

I trailered my MacGregor 26M sailboat (single axle trailer)from SC to FL and Lake Erie and plenty of places in between. lots of road miles. You are correct about trailer tires, they typically dry rot long before the tread wears out. Most trailering is done locally and at slower speeds. Also you might have been using bias ply tires? I switched to radial trailer tires. Much better performance. Regardless of the kind of tires you have, always inflate to the max pressure on the tire, unlike car tires. I always carried a spare and jacks in case I needed to change on the road. I also operated the lug nuts on a regular basis so they would not be frozen if I had a blow out. And as a final precaution, on long trips, i stoped mid-day and greased the bearings (with bearing buddies) and did the same first thing in the morning. Nothing ruins a trip like a broken down tailer. Glad you were able to recover.

 

[JamesTXSD]

After a blow out on the 5th wheel trailer we had at the time, the road service guy (who didn't sell tires) told me that 3 to 4 years is about the life on a trailer tire, regardless of the miles. And, without looking at the date code on the tire, it may not have been newly made when you bought it. Plenty of tread left on that set of tires, but the road service guy showed me how it came apart from the inside out... he said he sees a lot of that, and more frequent than it used to be in the past. That set of tires were Goodyear Marathons, used to be made in the US, but now made in China.

Heat and improper inflation are tire killers. Most trailer tires are speed rated for 65mph maxium - if towing faster than that, it will greatly decrease the life of the tire and increase the possibility of a tire failure.

I recently put a set of Goodyear Endurance trailer tires on our cargo trailer - they are made in the USA. We'll see how they hold up.

 

[Brian B]

Yes 3-4 years seems to be the life of trailer tires. Two years ago I switched to the GoodYear Endurance tires. I have two round trips from RI to FL on them. It is not unusual to see a few broken down trailers on that long trip with tire issues. I carry two spares, a tire changing ramp and a battery operated impact gun for the lug nuts. From start to finish I can change a tire in less than 15 minutes. I also carry spare parts for the trailer from lug nuts to a wheel hub and axle spindle.

 

[knotflying]

Ditto Brian from Gansett Ranger. I bought Maxxis tires before Goodyear Endurance came out. I just finished my 3rd year with them and will push it to four and then replace. I have about 13,000 miles on the Maxiss. They were rated rather highly by the RV folks that have them on their rigs.

 

[drykard]

I'll add my confirmation to all the good advice posted here. I have had similar issues with a smaller boat trailer, and concluded that 3 to 4 years is about all the life you can expect from a run-of-the-mill trailer tire. I am also committed to buying the best quality trailer tires I can find. I lubricate the studs on my hubs with a product called Never-Seez. It's graphite in a light grease base. It really helps ensure the nuts are removable when they need to be.

 

[ALICE J]

I just took my trailer in for a rebuild, Float-On tandem axle for an R27. It started with a broken bunk board. When Float-On looked over the trailer, the wiring was a corroded mess, battery terminals were rusted (beats me how lead turns red), then we found three cracked bunk supports, fatigued, and the buddy bearings rubber were cracked ready to let water into the bearings. I grease the wheels once a year but was told to change the seals each time I regrease. We found two leaking seals on the wheels. Some of the LED bulbs were not lighting because of Home Depot tail lights while labeled submersible had leaked, replaced! The bunk supports were all replaced because if one is fatigued then most likely the others will follow. I also had to take my GMC 2015 truck in to have the trailer brake module replaced. On electric over hydraulic have someone stand next to the brake actuator and you apply the foot brake. There should be a distinctive motor sound. It does no good just to pull the breakaway switch to see if the motor is working. They are on different circuits.