Reply With Quotedankirk it depend on how much the boat and trailer way.
Andy
I know this is off topic, but I couldn't find the trailer forum... I need to replace the tires on my tandem axle trailer. Some people say that I should use tires specifically made for trailers, while some say that car tires will work fine. I like the way car tires look. What's the real deal, will car tires be ok?
dankirk it depend on how much the boat and trailer way.
Andy
dankirk I have car tires on my tandem trailer, I've had the boat for 5 years and the tires were on the trailer when I got it.
Make sure you get tires rated to carry the weight you have (most will be fine) and I'd get tires with a good temperature rating, "A" being the best .. you can find that on the sidewall of the tire
Get car tires, and carry a spare. I use car tires on my tandem, no prob. And it's better on the wallet. Oh, they look better too.
DAn,
I use car tires on my trailer with no problem. I replace them about every 2 years car tires are cheap. Be sure to carry a spare tire.
Brent
dankirk, You might have a problem with a tire shop installing car tire on a boat trailer, their reasoning is the car tire aren't stout enough to carry the load. A well known tire chain tried to sell me truck tires with at least a 6 ply rating for my 18' Hondo flatbottom. Not only they look funky they ride like sh*t. They would not sell me car tires, they didn't want the liability. If you run into this prob. pull the wheels and carry them in and don't tell them what its going on, if they ask just tell them "a car". One last thing, go for the biggest tire you can fit under the fenders without rubbing. The bigger the tire the greater the load capacity. The tires have a maximun load rating on the side wall.
I just checked my trailer tires ..
they are 175 R 14 which are kinda little weenie tires. They have a max load rating of 1310 lbs each which gives a total capacity for 4 of 5240 lbs. My boat & trailer only weight about 3,000 lbs.
so 058 I think the tire shop was blowing smoke up you bASSetts ;-)
Bubbledeck2, No doubt they were blowing smoke up my bASSets but I still went away empty handed, all this after the 2 days they had my wheels...A major inconvenence to say the least. Just thought I'd throw it out there so that it might not happen to someone else.
good advice though 058
When the time for tires comes I will take them off my trailer and carry them down to the tire shop mainly so I don't have to worry about bad things happening to my boat while it's there :-)
We had a discussion about trailer tires before,and everybody had a different opinion as usual http://free.***boat.net/ubb/biggrin.gif. The only reason you should have a specific trailer tire is liability, in case of tirefailure.If you had an agreed value ins on your boat,and it got damaged due to inproper tires,your insurance agent may argue about your settlements.My 1976 boat came with the typical skinny bias tires with the proper sideloading specs,now I have a 6 ply radial car tire [ looks better].However this is for a 21 footer with a total boat/trailer weight 4035 pounds.My 24.6 boat weighs over 6000 pounds with trailer,and I use the Marathon trailer tire for the safety reason.Maybe in California it isn't an issue yet,but here in B.C the highway safety concerns about inproper loadings by trailers,campers and boats put the hwy police into a frenzy of checkings,and started pulling rec veh off the road.You wouldn't be a happy camper parking your trailer/boat at a weight station till you get it roadworthy by the ministry of transport's standards.I know all this government intervention about individuality sucks,but by 2009 everybody has to have an operating certificate to operate a vessel as well, regardless of experience.Brakes were also became mandatory a few years ago over 2000 pounds,yet thousands of boats never had their trailers equipped with brakes.Case in point,my 1978 19 foot spectra,1950pounds+ tandem trailer,1000 pounds. I've been following a Lincoln Navigator smoking it's brakes going downhill pulling a tournament skiboat without trailer brakes[Supra]and it eventually had to pull out at a runaway lane to avert disaster.If you tow on flatland you can get away with almost anything ,but mountain towing is another story.Trailer boat magazin is the only publication that does frequent tests on tow vehicle ratings and tires.
[This message has been edited by spectras only (edited August 20, 2001).]
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