EZ Loader Trailer and the R-29

[LADYBUG TOO]

Since we had a named storm (Karen) headed our way our insurance required that we get Ladybug, Too out of harm's way. We normally haul out once a year so it isn't a frequent experience for us. This time it was downright rough. A friend with a Ram Diesel agreed to help with the tow so we motored to the ramp and had one heck of a time getting her on the trailer even through we had pretty good water depth. With more power than I wanted to use and the help of the winch we finally got her on. The friend headed north to the storage site while we motored the skiff back to our dock. We couldn't hear the cell call over the noise of the outboard so shortly after we got to our dock we got a frantic call from our friend. The left front tire on the EZ Loader had blown out and he was stuck in a dark parking lot needing our help. We got there to find the tire had blown out the sidewall. All tires and the spare had been aired up and looked great. Looking at the tire it is a ST225/75R15, load range "D" with only 2 ply sidewalls. We have seen some posts on tire blow outs and heard about one guy losing 4 tires between Pensacola and St. Pete. He swears he wasn't running over curbs. Ours blew on a straight section of very good roadway and our friend has a heavy boat that he pulls all over. He believes that we should be using load range "E" tires. We would appreciate any opinions out there about the tires. We are not moving the boat until we get some weight off and fell better about having the proper tires.

Appreciate any ideas.

Pat & Carolyn, Ladybug, Too

 

[kskogerson]

You should definitely have range E tires, no compromises here.

 

[Crewdog]

What's the specific model of EZ Loader trailer and what does the manufacturer recommend for tire sizes?

The Goodyear Tire Guide for RV tires, http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/tire-care-guide.pdf, on page 15 says an equivalent size higher load range tire can always be substituted.

If y'all don't use trailer very much, is there any sidewall cracking showing from sitting out?

Good luck,
Bill

 

[knotflying]

My trailer is load range E

 

[Favunclerich]

A 225/75 R15 Load Range D tire is rated to carry 2540 lbs at 65 psi.

A 225/75 R15 Load Range E tire is rated to carry 2830 lbs at 80 psi.

The "E" tire is stiffer and will flex less. Flexing may or may not be the reason that your tire failed. Flexing increases when a tire is under inflated. It's possible that your tire was not properly inflated before your friend headed off to the storage yard. It's also possible that he picked up a nail along the way, and that reduced the pressure, resulting in a blowout. Perhaps the tire has a manufacturing defect. Maybe the tire took a set while it was in storage and that caused the blowout. A contributing factor could be that the warm Florida sun degraded the tire's strength over time. Make sure that your inspect the wheel for cracks. It's possible that the wheel was defective, and that caused the leak or excess flexing. In any case, it's difficult to know for sure after a tire has "grenaded."

Before changing to Load Range E tires, I suggest the following;

Get a good digital tire gauge and check your pressures before every trip. I would not run on Load Range D tires inflated to 60 psi if the tire calls for 65. Get a small air compressor to top up the tires before you load the boat. Pressure will drop several 1-2 psi during a month's storage. It will also drop 1-2 psi for each 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) drop in ambient temperature.

Take your trailer with the boat loaded to a normal level (including fuel, water and gear) to a scale and have it weighed. Compare the weight to the trailer's rating that is stamped on the manufacturer's placard. The trailer manufacturer's rating incorporates the individual tire load ratings (and brakes, springs, etc.)

Get a torque wrench and assure that your lug nuts are torqued to specification.

Cover your tires to protect them from the sun while the trailer is stored for extended periods.

Jack the trailer and place it on blocks for extended storage periods to prevent the tires from taking a set.

And finally, carry a good spare (or two) along with the equipment to jack up the trailer and change the tire. Along with wrenches and gloves, I carry two bottle jacks, several blocks of wood, wheel chocks and two emergency triangles. I've heard good things about a device for dual axle trailers where you drive the good tire onto a little ramp, lifting the bad tire off the ground. I don't know if it would work on a triple axle trailer.

I've trailered my R-25 about 20,000 miles and had four flats with my dual axle trailer and Load Range D tires. One was due to a roofing nail. I caught it with my pressure gauge before the tire blew out dramatically. Two flats were attributed to defective welds on the wheels that cracked and allowed air to leak. Again, in both cases, I found the problem with my pressure gauge before the tires were destroyed. I'm not sure why the fourth tire failed, but it was loud. Fortunately, we were in an area with light traffic and a wide shoulder. I did find a small crack on the wheel, but don't know for sure if that was the root cause of the problem. The trailer manufacturer did replace all of my wheels with aluminum wheels rated for 2830 pounds at no cost.

I've considered replacing these tires with Load Range E tires when they wear out, but have no reason to believe that would have prevented any of these issues.

Rich

 

[knotflying]

Hey Rich,
You brought up a point in your reply that you should inflate the tires to the specified inflation before loading the trailer. Wouldn't you want to have the appropriate weight on the tires before checking and topping off the inflation pressure?

 

[LADYBUG TOO]

Thanks all for the tips. The suggestion that the tires took a "set" from sitting too long is likely right on. We inspected the sidewalls carefully and inflated the tires to 65 psi before going to get the boat. We had a 23 ft. camper trailer that we used while we were building our house. It was jacked up, leveled and the wheels sat for almost 8 years. We sold it and the guy drove it across the Pensacola Bay Bridge (3 miles). We did not see him on the evening news so maybe getting the load off the tires is a good suggestion too. The R-29 with goodies, fuel, water and wastewater weighs in at about 10,500 lbs. with the EZ loader being rated at 14,400 lbs G.V.W.R with ST225/75R15D tires. The model is TIEZ102B 28-30 11500 based on the Certificate of Origin provided by EZ Loader. The trailer alone is 2,900 lbs.
Next, we are heading to the scales.

We appreciate the info.

Pat & Carolyn, Ladybug, Too

 

[wefings]

Pat, I have an E Z loader Galvanized alot like yours . It was actually the first one ever built .Its a strong trailer .The weak link is tires. I am on my 3rd set of tires on that one .It's our delivery and general use trailer . Modern tires last from 3 to 5 years and then you can expect problems . Radials either disintegrate or lose the entire tread pretty much within seconds. One advantage to going to load range E is you have a better chance to make it to a safe place to change a tire on 5 Es as opposed to 5 Ds . Another tip is to carry a series of blocks [ 2x4-8x8 ] to pull the boat up on or back onto to get the offending tire high enough off the ground to change it without a jack. At about 15 k Lbs. you need a big jack and its way easier to back or pull onto a graduated set of blocks , than to jack the boat up. I have done this more times than I want to recall . A cordless 18V Impact wrench is invaluable as well .
Glad Karen was a non event .
Marc

 

[wefings]

Oops ,double post .

 

[LADYBUG TOO]

We learned another lesson on the trailer yesterday. When we jacked it up to remove another front tire we lifted the whole set of wheels off the ground. Oops! Forgot to get the trailer hitch up high enough so we had most of the boat weight on the front tire. I like the blocking idea. I am going to get busy with my band saw and make some good tapers to make it easier to pull the trailer up. We are using E range 10 ply tires for the front on each side until we can get the boat back in the water. We will do scales testing before we unload her so we know what loading we are working with.

Thanks again for the advice. It sure helps.

Pat & Carolyn, Ladybug, Too

 

[daviduphoff]

For over 50 years my family and our business we used a small family owned tire shop. They were the most honest people in the world. Unfortunately the chains made it harder and harder for them to remain profitable. A developer made them an offer they could not refuse on their property and they were out of the tire business. This was the kind of place that would store your winter tires in their building when spring arrived at no charge till winter came back to haunt us. They were all about service and safety.

They always sold load range E tires for trailers.

They said to replace trailer tires that "leave town" every 5 years.

I'll live by what they said as the only blow out I have ever had on a trailer was on range D tires that were about 7 years old.

 

[CORPSVET]

good luck

 

[CORPSVET]

You should get your trailer and boat weighed. I just stopped at a closed DOT scale (a lot of them leave their equipement on so truckers can weigh their loads) our C-28 and EZ loader trailer weighed 12,320 lbs! I disconnected the truck from the trailer before weighing. The trlr is gvwr at 11,000 lbs! Our load range E tires are rated @ 2830 lbs X 4 = 11,320 lbs! C-28's are SUPPOSED to weigh @ 6,800 dry! I had taken ALL gear and dingy/motor off the boat, it had @ 75 gals fuel and @ 10 gals water plus standard equipment that came on boat! This is a simple check as scales (DOT and public - lumber yards, gravel pits, moving companies, truck stops, etc) are plentiful. Besides, it is a good thing to know the weight of your loads + tow vehicle to ensure you have not exceeded the rateings of trlr or tow vehicle..my 2002 F-350 4x4 is rated to haul a max of 12,500 lbs!

 

[jroyle]

Wow..I've been researching for a trailer for the R29..a boat as heavy as the R29 and C28 I would think a 3 axle trailer is a must?

 

[LADYBUG TOO]

We have the triple axle EZ Loader for Ladybug, Too and are going to the ten ply E range tires as soon as we can get her back in the water. We are installing ten ply's on the front axle before we move it again. The tip from an earlier post suggested a roll on blocking system to make the change easy. It is a great idea and it works! Thanks again for that one.

Pat & Carolyn, Ladybug, Too