Thread: Trailer tires

Eddie Mullins,
Check at championtrailers.com.
They have every thing for a trailer. They even invented a bearing greasing system for their axles
I bought my new wheels from them.
1perchjerker

Thanks! I'll check em out.

I agree with everyoen else. There is something wrong for you to be using tires up like that. I normally put 40,000 to 50,000 miles on my trailer tires before replacing them. Mostly I am replacing them due to age and dry rot and not tread wear. I trailer long distances a lot and only concern myself with tire pressure and grease in the bearings.

Bombfixer - I'm not even getting 1/10th that many miles.

I've got to find a place to get the trailer to to look at the alignment. Local boat place doesn't do it.

Sine I have good even tread wear, I still think I may just have small tires that weren't really intended for much on road use, or are just undersized.

How can I determine the tire size needed for my boat? I noticed the little tires I have are a max 900 lbs load capacity. I don't know the weight of my rig, its a 15.5 ft older fiberglass boat, its made kind of like a john boat, deep sides and open construction, it just under 48 inches wide on the bottom and has a 35 HP outboard with steering console. Of course I have 2 or 3 batteries in it, trolling motor, 10-12 gal fuel, etc to add to the weight.

I would drive to a decent set of scales. Ask at your local u-haul place for the location and get the boat, motor, and trailer weighed to determine total weight. But I think you may be right. 8 inch tires and rims seem a mite small for a rig with a 35hp motor. You might need to think about getting a better trailer or at least having a new axle and spring assembly with 14inch hubs weilded on in place of the 8inch hubs.

Have you checked around for a used trailer? Sometimes you can find a good one that just needs paint and tires for about what you would have in a new axle and tires.
Yes I think you have about maxed out the weight limits. For what you are pulling you need a minimum 14" wheels with a 3000# axle, for safety sake I wouldn't go with anything smaller

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually saw and older "project boat" that had a decent trailer on Craigslist for $400. If I had the spare cash I though about buying it and then trying to sell the boat/motor to recoop my money.

I have called tire places, and trailer places in the area and none of them do trailer alignments, but I found some info on another sight with a guy having similar problems when using 8 inch tires at interstate speeds 70 mph +. So it looks like a definite tire upsize is needed. I think 12 or 13's are all I can curently handle, I can get a set for about $100 - $130. I'm going to keep an eye for another trailer, but in the meantime I may upgrade to the 12 or 13's so I can keep using the boat.

Originally Posted by Eddie Mullins

Thanks for the replies guys. I actually saw and older "project boat" that had a decent trailer on Craigslist for $400. If I had the spare cash I though about buying it and then trying to sell the boat/motor to recoop my money.

I have called tire places, and trailer places in the area and none of them do trailer alignments, but I found some info on another sight with a guy having similar problems when using 8 inch tires at interstate speeds 70 mph +. So it looks like a definite tire upsize is needed. I think 12 or 13's are all I can curently handle, I can get a set for about $100 - $130. I'm going to keep an eye for another trailer, but in the meantime I may upgrade to the 12 or 13's so I can keep using the boat.

I up graded a boat trailer that had 8" on to 12" tires, helped alot. I was having trouble with tires wearing out but also felt like I needed the larger tires because of weight, the tailer carries a 14' duracraft and a twenty horse merc before I load it down with other gear like removeable deck, battery, troling motor ect.... I have been happy with the 12" tires. Bought mine at Wally World, rim and tire together.