what kind of trailer tires???

[mnvikingsfreak]

I would like to get bigger tires for my boat trailer I have a 16 ft fiberglass boat I had 2 tires blow out last year I would like bigger tires would regular car or truck tires work on the trailer? or would that be too much weight on them?

thanks

[Valv]

Nope, don't get car tires, get trailer radial tires, GoodYear Marathons are excellent

You don't need larger diameter tires but a wider tire, also always check your pressure, thats' 90% of tire failure, the other 10% includes sustained high speed.

Always keep the max pressure listed on side of tire, if you keep it lower it will overheat the carcass and blowup/separate, and if you keep it too high it will break/deform the plys when tire gets warmer and air pressure increase inside.

[fishin58]

So I Guess a fluxcapacitor will have to become standard on all boat trailers too. Dang it!

[Whoaru99]

I agree with Valv on NOT using car tires. However, depending on the size you have now, going to a larger diameter might be very beneficial - especially if you have some of those really small ones. Larger tires turn less times per mile and lower RPM has to be a good thing in my book.

A larger diameter "should" also have higher load carrying capacity (as probably would a wider tire too).

I have some "house brand" radials that a local tire shop put on and they seem to be doing fine although they've only been on for two years. I bought another new tire for a spare shortly thereafter - a Titan tire, I believe. It was noticeably heavier and stiffer in the sidewalls than what I recall from the others I have. Never have had to use the spare, but I always keep a good one at the ready.

[Northlander]

So I check my tires on my tailer last year coming home from Rainy Lake. Only the insides are wearing down. Whats the usual cause for this? Do I have to worry about my axle being bent or is it just a tire pressure deal?

Thanks for the tire info Val I will look them up.

[Wade Joseph]

I'd say its very possible your axle is slightly bent Steve. I had same problem with only 1 tire on my last boat trailer. It was a bent spindle on that side.

DO NOT USE car tires. If your running 12" tires, going to 13 will help them run cooler. Also bigger tires means less rpms on the bearings therefor extending bearing life. (provided you take care of them the same way ALL the time).

[Valv]

Steve, you might have to get somebody to look at it, it's definitely a bent axle issue. It could be it's too loaded, axle squats and bow to a point your tires top will tip inward and bottom outward (if looking from behind, like this /----\ ) and wear incorrectly.

Or it could be a bent hub where front of tire is bent outward and rear inward and drives down the road like this

\----/ if looked from top.

Definitely have it checked

[Northlander]

Ya I had my axle slide back at a landing last year. I think someone backed into my passenger side tire and pushed it back but cant prove it of course.

I told the dealership to check the axle at the time but I think they just did what would look good and didnt do it. Ill bring it back to them and have them check it out asap. Not long before opener.

[picksbigwagon]

So my boat trailer has car tires on it, how do I know what size tires to replace them with? Also, is it possible to "Blow out" a bearing buddy by over greasing it? I have on bearing buddy that just doesn't seem to hold the grease in....(yep, I posted about this last fall and didn't address it before storage)

[cold one sd]

I would take the trailer to a good local tire dealer and see what he recommends. My son blew one of my bearing buddies one time and they will leak at times.

[Whoaru99]

Yes, it is possible to overgrease the bearing buddy.

Leakage can come either around the axle seal, or around the o-ring inside the bearing buddy.

From what I recall seeing, after you repack the wheel bearings and put back the bearing buddy, you add grease to the zerk until the center of the bearing buddy moves out about 1/8".