Why I like tandem trailers and BoatUS Trailer Towing

[South lake]

So, a couple of weeks ago I hauled the Get~Aweigh (2010 R25 Classic) and took her north for storage in Port Clinton. It's about 150 miles from our home in Celina, a good bit of the way is driving north on I-75. Now the tires on the trailer are 4 years old so I planned on having them replaced over the winter. I replaced the spare last year because it developed a blister.

I was driving along in my Silverado 2500HD, cruise control at 70, tow mode and exhaust brake engaged. Trailer has electric over hydraulic brakes, and everything connected and working well. Sipping a cup of coffee and listening to XM. Life was good except the boating season would be over for 5 months.

It was 6:30am and very dark. I occasionally checked the trailer tires in the side mirrors. Things seemed fine. But then a car came up along side me in the left lane, would speed up and slow down, flashed his lights, obviously trying to get my attention. I looked over, he had his passenger window down and was motioning for me to roll my window down. When I did, he yelled you don't have a tire back there as he pointed toward my trailer. I said Oh $***! I thanked him and since I was coming up on an exit, I got off and went into a large gas station/truck stop at the end of the exit ramp.

Here's what I found (Click the photo for a larger image).



Pretty amazing. In the dark I couldn't see damage in the mirror and the trailer tracked true with no apparent issues. I did recall what I thought was a rough spot in the road and that was probably when some of the tread separated and hit the trailer fender.

The good news. I called BoatUS, gave them my member number and in about 45 minutes a truck from RRR Tire in Wapakoneta, OH arrived. In a few minutes my spare was on and the old tire and rim installed where I carry the spare. I asked the technician if they had trailer tires for my trailer in stock at their store. He called and they did. So I made a quick backtrack to Wapakoneta (about 10 miles). They were busy but because they knew I was traveling a distance, mounted 4 new tires, put my spare back on it's stand and I was back on the road in about 30 minutes.



Great service by BoatUS and if you ever need tires near Wapakoneta, Ohio, see the guys at RRR Tire. Very customer focused.

Oh, and don't be like me and wait too long to replace those trailer tires.

 

[JamesTXSD]

You might check your tires, but most trailer tires are speed rated at 65 mph max.

 

[Brian B]

With the tools I now carry I can change out a tire before the truck leaves the garage. I also have the BoatUS trailer coverage but have not used it.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9909

I just replaced my trailer tires with Goodyear Endurance trailer tires, rated for 87 MPH and Made in the U.S.A. They just came out this year. I would certainly never tow that fast, they are designed to run cooler.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9181

 

[BB marine]

I had a similar incident with my 26 SeaRay 3 yr old trailer less then 1000 mile on the tires. Carlisle tires, they come stock on EZ-load trailers. We were on our way back from Lake of the Ozarks. Two tires came apart on that trip. I had one spare changed it and made it about 100 miles further and the other came apart. I had to strap the Axel up to get off the road and then bought a tire from a small tire store. When I got home from the trip I called Carisle and told them of my experience. They told me that their tires are only good for three years and they were not surprised about the failure. I replaced all the tires with Good year and have never run anything else since on any of my trailers. Your testimony about Boat US is good and backs up a good reason to have the membership and policy.
Brian Brown
Cutwater 26
PORT-A-GEE

 

[RobMcClain]

I had a somewhat similar tire experience in the middle of nowhere on Highway 40 east of Albuquerque. One of the tires exploded but fortunately we have a dual axle trailer and the 2nd tire on that same side held nicely. I quickly pulled off the freeway and wondered if we would even have cell service since there was absolutely nothing around and there had been nothing around for quite some time, but we did. I then called Boat US thinking they would say sorry no local contracted repair shop, but I got just the opposite. Within ~45 minutes a service technician drove up and we were soon on our way. The service of both Boat US and their locally contracted technician was wonderful. The Boat US towing club is well worth the very minimal expense!!

Rob