WHat the %^$^&$ ?

[stevetedder]

An almost unbelievable trip 120 miles to the TN river a couple of weeks ago. Left home on what should have been a 2 1/2 hr trip towing my pontoon boat on a tandem trailer. I stopped for on-board fuel around mile 25 and upon checking the tires seen one of my trailer tires was starting to throw a little rubber, being from this area I took it over to a local tire shop and had them replace it at $106. Back on the road. Another 25-30 miles I have a blow out. Well Crud. Im driving a loaner vehicle and realize no useable jack. Luckily someone stopped quick with a scissor jack as it was approaching 100 degrees that day. Hmm must be time for new tires the rest of the way around. Put on the spare and continued on to the next town. 2 new tires please. $189 and almost 5 pm. Started to pull out of the parking lot no more than 10ft and BANG! one of the brand new tires they just put on popped! Tire guys scratched their heads and replaced it. about 5:45 now, and back on the road. 20-25 miles later, wanna take a guess what happened? Yep you got it the other brand new tire Blows out. Still no jack. Limped on down to a fire station and borrowed a bottle jack to change yet another tire. By this time Im checking the trailer looking for something rubbing or some logical reason this keeps happening but never could find anything. Finally made it to our cabin at around 7:30PM.
A 2 1/2 hr trip had taken closer to 5 1/2. Had a friend who was coming the next day pick up 2 more new tires and bring them along. Another $200. This is getting expensive but I did get a refund on the second new one when I passed back through on my fortunately uneventful trip back home.

 

[Bondo]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

An almost unbelievable trip 120 miles to the TN river a couple of weeks ago. Left home on what should have been a 2 1/2 hr trip towing my pontoon boat on a tandem trailer. I stopped for on-board fuel around mile 25 and upon checking the tires seen one of my trailer tires was starting to throw a little rubber, being from this area I took it over to a local tire shop and had them replace it at $106. Back on the road. Another 25-30 miles I have a blow out. Well Crud. Im driving a loaner vehicle and realize no useable jack. Luckily someone stopped quick with a scissor jack as it was approaching 100 degrees that day. Hmm must be time for new tires the rest of the way around. Put on the spare and continued on to the next town. 2 new tires please. $189 and almost 5 pm. Started to pull out of the parking lot no more than 10ft and BANG! one of the brand new tires they just put on popped! Tire guys scratched their heads and replaced it. about 5:45 now, and back on the road. 20-25 miles later, wanna take a guess what happened? Yep you got it the other brand new tire Blows out. Still no jack. Limped on down to a fire station and borrowed a bottle jack to change yet another tire. By this time Im checking the trailer looking for something rubbing or some logical reason this keeps happening but never could find anything. Finally made it to our cabin at around 7:30PM.
A 2 1/2 hr trip had taken closer to 5 1/2. Had a friend who was coming the next day pick up 2 more new tires and bring them along. Another $200. This is getting expensive but I did get a refund on the second new one when I passed back through on my fortunately uneventful trip back home.

Ayuh,... So did ya find a Problem,..??

 

[Piece715]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Ohh that would have hacked me off! Glad u and the boat are safe... wonder what was causing all the blow outs... U check the fenders?

 

[stevetedder]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

I was kind of aggravated the second and third time, but by th fourth it was getting comical, all you can do is try and laugh it off. It was always different tires on different locations of the trailer, and I did make it the 120 miles back home with no issues. I did check the fenders for rubbing and the location of the torn tires for possible cutting but found nothing like that. Only thing Ive noticed was that looking in the mirror one of the tires seems to tilt inward at the top. That meant only a portion of the tire is carrying the weight instead of the weight being evenly distributed on the whole tread of the tire.That made me think bent axle. Laid a piece of angle iron across it and it did bow down a little in the middle but when I take the load off the trailer the axle bows up a little in the middle.So now Im wondering if I need another axle, another leaf spring or what?

 

[Piece715]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Is it the original trailer for the boat? Sounds like you need to beef the axle up or like you said purchase a new one which would be the direction i would lean... Hopefully one of the trailer gurus will speak up and give ya some advice... Hope u figure it out before the next 4 tires :facepalm:

 

[stevetedder]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

oops hope I didnt double post that.....

 

[stevetedder]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

This was a new to me rig 3-4 yrs ago, it's a Bear brand trailer with independent leaf springs for each wheel. Seems to fit the trailer well. My guess is the boat and equipment weigh around 3500-4000 as it is kind of over weighted with furniture that I built mostly from 2 x 4 pressure treated.Furn. looks and fits great but kind of heavy. Not sure what the rated weight capacity of the trailer is though.The tires are 10 ply

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

I think the heat is just to much for tires steve, I blew 3 tires on last years trip to Powell, since then we no longer make that run during the 105 degree day, haven't had a problem since, a nice plus to this is that the women sleep most of the way so me and the step son get a reprieve on the constant yakking between the wife and three daughters......

 

[a1nowell]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

You never mentioned the tire size. I you have the little 10.5x8x20, I'll bet your boat is over weight for the trailer. I had the 10.5x8x20 tires and tandem 2000 lbs axles but my boat is over 4400 lbs. I kept throwing rubber had having flats. I finally put two new 3500 lbs axles and 175x80x13 tires. Problem solved.

 

[JB]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

I also wonder about the true weight and the true capacity of the tires, as well as the pressure the tires are carrying.

Had a similar experience on a 1500 mile trip to Canada and discovered that my local dealer had put passenger car tires on my trailer and inflated them to 35psi.:facepalm:

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

It may be a good idea for you to take your rig to a truck stop that has a scale...for like 10 bucks you can weigh your tow rig boat and trailer together. Then go out in the parking lot, unhook the boat/trailer and go back and weigh your tow rig alone. Subtract to get the diff. Now you can figure out what tire you need to have...

 

[daveydoodle]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Just a thought on my experience couple years back, Had a new pontoon tlr. , made a 225 mi. trip , saw one bald tire that was new about 3 hrs. earlier. Looked at it after launch pontoon and found the axle 3 inches diff. side to side. Fixed it and the place I got it from blamed it on supplier for axle. Not even close to your problem, interested to hear what caused yours.

 

[Jetwash]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

If it has brakes that are dragging, that would create enough heat. I know a guy whose trailer axle slid on the leaf spring and it rubbed on the fender and blew the tire and five lug nuts off the trailer.

The bow in the axle should be facing up and its built into the axle to allow the weight of the freight to flatten out the axle. I would have someone follow you for a couple miles and check out the trailer.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Blowing a new tire in 10 feet is neither heat, brakes, alignment or puncture. It is WEIGHT. If those were indeed 10-inch, 10 ply tires AND were indeed inflated to 90 PSI as they should have been, and this is a tandem trailer, the GVWR for the rig is at 6000#. If they were 8-inch tires, then there is a good chance overloading is the issue. GVWR means the weight of the boat, trailer, engine, gas, gear, beverages, jackets, fishing tackle, and the host of other stuff. A bent axle or alignment does not pop a tire in 10 feet or 10 miles.

 

[stevetedder]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

@ Silvertip WOW you think it could really weigh that much?
I also think it is possible I bought some old or defective tires as both of them blew so quick and the ones I bought elsewhere have held up much longer. The tires are 10.5x8x20. There are no brakes on the trailer. I did find a plate on the tongue that said 3000 lb and I think that is supposed to include the trailer. I guess the first step is to actually determine the actual weight with gear and all. I do believe I will have to get some beefier axles and bigger tires as I suspect the extra heat generated from a smaller diameter tire on such a hot day might have contributed to the situation.It looks like for every single time the tires on my truck go around the trailer tires go around 2-3 times.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

intersting, i also have a bear trailer , but for a 20 foot toon, single axle 3000 lb rating, and i would ask what ply and load rating on the tires i just replaced my tires with 10 ply E rated at 1650 for a total of 3300, trailer is 800 lbs and boat around 1500 and so far not a seconds trouble

 

[Thalasso]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Just drop the trailer on the truck scales, pull off pick up the phone and talk to whom ever answers the phone.she will weigh the trailer. go in and pay her.

 

[Guest]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

I think Silvertip has your number stevetedder, right on with the weight problem and I would almost bet you that's it. I am talking from what I have seen being a truck/heavey equipment mechanic for over 35 years watching cars pull into the truck shop with the same complaint, have seen a lot of the same thing in my time. I would get it weighed and go by that weight and buy heavier axles and maybe even put some trailler brakes on to boot. You might just be amased at the difference it makes for towing as well as stoping.

 

[starcraftkid]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Also check the pontoons for water.
I had a buddy haul one from PA last summer and loose 5 10" tires over about 150 miles. I pulled the pontoon drains and flooded his driveway. All the furniture padding and wood was wet too, adding even more weight. The trailer was only good for 3,000lbs, I'd bet he had over 7K on it in boat, misc. junk, and water weight.

 

[lncoop]

Re: WHat the %^$^&$ ?

Also check the pontoons for water.
I had a buddy haul one from PA last summer and loose 5 10" tires over about 150 miles. I pulled the pontoon drains and flooded his driveway. All the furniture padding and wood was wet too, adding even more weight. The trailer was only good for 3,000lbs, I'd bet he had over 7K on it in boat, misc. junk, and water weight.

Hey steve, didn't we have a conversation some time back about your toons possibly having leaked at some point? Seems like there was some concern that they might be filled with waterlogged foam. Starcraftkid made me think of it and wonder whether that might be the source of some extra weight. Also, it's likely brakes are required on that rig. Might want to look into it.