Trailer tires/jack

[Sotally Tober]

http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/3284Tire_001.jpg
The other night heading home from the lake this happens. 11pm. The tires are Nankang made in Tawain. Trailer is 1 year old. I have had 3 others that the steel belts have broken and caused a raised spot in the tread area. The tires are 8 ply 2540lbs D rated. Worst tire I have ever seen. I had Marathons on the old trailer which were really bad also. What tires are you guys having luck with? I ordered 10 ply E rated Carlisles from discount and are going to replace all six. Hopefully they are better tires.
Also what jack are you carrying for trailer flats. I thought my truck one would work. No luck. Could not get under the axle. I had to call my brother at midnight to bring me a floor jack. I went and bought a small 2 ton one for the tool box. Just hate carrying around a floor jack.

[Outnumbered]

Get Greenball Towmaster 5's at Discount Tire. Special order. Price range from $50 to $75 per tire depending on the size.

[Outnumbered]

I use a 4x6 Doug Fir beam/block and drive up the good tire. Not sure if this works with tripples.

[spectras only]

ST , go to your local wreck yard and grab a jack from under the rear seat of a 1996+ Grand Cherokee . It's a light screw type and small . I have Nankangs on my trailer and keeping 60* cold pressure in them , no prob. Had Marathons for my Spectra trailer , no problems . I've heard Carlisles aren't the best either :argue: ;) , and they have a class action suit against them :idea:

[Sotally Tober]

I have 8 Nankangs and 3-4 have been bad. 2 are spares. They have been pretty shitty for me. Won't use them again. I run 65#s. Why doesn't Michelin make a trailer tire? I would pay for a quality tire!

[bohica]

Don't do the Carlisle's, way to many failures.

[spectras only]

ST , I would use bias tires if I had triples on my trailer. There's way too much stress on the sidewalls while turning a triple , and that could be your problem. The bias tires lasted for ever on my 1976 Fotografix trailer . I only had to change them because they were drying out . The threads were still good after 15yrs .
These tires lasted pretty long on my rig , cause they could all turn :rollside:
http://www3.telus.net/spectrasonly/BTR-60-1n.jpg

[Boozer]

Don't do the Carlisle's, way to many failures.
Seriously? The Discount in Havasu told me that Carlisles are the only way to go so that's what I went with.

[bohica]

Here's a link to one of the Carlisle tire failure threads on GD.COM
This is just one of many threads on Carlisle.
These are all related to toyhauler/trailer tires not boat trailers. Almost everyone I know with the Carlisle's has had numerous failures.
Carlisle thread (http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=17311&hl=)

[Rod-64]

I had TWO NEW Carlisles go in a month.........they suck!!!!! :mad: :mad: Especially changing them on the side of the road at 121 degress. :mad:
65# on the Nankangs???? I have those and it says 50#............unless we're talking different size but 65 seems high.

[Rod-64]

Seriously? The Discount in Havasu told me that Carlisles are the only way to go so that's what I went with.
They must get a case of beer and the Costco size Grey Goose from the sales rep for every order. :crossx:

[Sotally Tober]

65# on the Nankangs???? I have those and it says 50#............unless we're talking different size but 65 seems high.
225-75-15
It does say 65lbs. max at 2540 lbs max load. D rated. I am not overloading them as my trailer is 12k with 1200+ being tongue weight. They do look like I'm going to blow them off the bead as I go around corners.

[Familycat]

Check out Denman. We use them for our equipment at work and has worked well on our quad trailer.
Rick

[spectras only]

65# on the Nankangs???? I have those and it says 50#............unless we're talking different size but 65 seems high.
Rod , I have the same 65* cold rating on mine too . I just keep mine at 60 pounds and not exceeding 60 mph .

[MBlaster]

I use maxis trailer tires. I run my RV and boat trailer tires 5lbs less than max cold temp. I really don't think that tire manufacturers realize that most of us run on hot desert highways where tire temps and heat pressure increases go off the chart. Plus I prefer to travel really early in the mornings when the road isn't as hot.

[4day!!]

I have had 4 goodyear marathons go out on me in the last three trips . The tires were only 2 years old and only go from needles to havasu. I got them all replaced w/Greenballs towmaster in Havasu. Discount Tire did also recommend the Carlisle, but i have heard too many bad things about them and have heard nothing bad about the Greenball. It seems most people recommend changing your trailer tires every 2-3 years regardless of miles on them or visual wear. Pretty cheap piece of mind if you think about it, $300 every couple of years, sounds good to me.

[Sotally Tober]

What are the greenballers rated at? How much weight do they carry? Psi?

[Trailer Park Casanova]

Proper tire pressure is everything.
I use GreenBall Towmasters,, and keep the inflation at the correct psi.

[Riverkid]

I'm embarassed to admit I have 10 y/o BFG's on my Ellis with never a prob. Guess I better get some new skins... :)

[2Driver]

Just went through this whole thing. Bottom line is run at max air pressure per sidewall PSI on trailer tires ALWAYS! Everyone has a bad story to tell about every Manufacture ( Gooodyear. Carlise, Greenball). I just got the Greenball V towmaster - will see.
Never run over 65 MPH. If it's real hot back off to 60. Per manufacture the extra heat over 65 will begin the seperation of the tread to carcus. Bottom line move to bias (non radial) if all else fails. You will get some hunting and less mileage but so what.

[soupersonic]

I run firestone steeltex on mine , i have had then for 4 years and i have no idea how long they were on there before that,they are E rated tho. Also i carry a 4x4 and a 2x4 plus a 12,000# bottle jack.It all fits in a milk crate in the back of the truck.

[BadKachina]

I don't have good luck with any tires, I think the next set I get will be bias ply. Maybe the turning on a triple does damage the tires. Seems like I'm always loosing my rear tires, Goodyears, Towmasters, what ever.
As for jack, I have a bottle jack in the Excusion for the truck and the trailer. They don't take up much room, I carry a couple of 1/2 drive ratchets, sockets for the truck and trailer, gloves, a couple of straps so I can strap an axle up if I loose a hub and some hefty bags to put my blown tires in (so they don't f up my interior). Like Sonic said, a milkcrate will fit most everything you need. The jack is a 12 ton air jack that you can use manually too. Most jacks aren't really heavy duty enough for the Excusion with a Powerstroke, expecially with a 10" lift. It's a little overkill but it'll lift the whole truck and trailer if it has too.....

[life's a river]

ST, I had my Nankang's for 4 years and no trouble until my last trip back from Laughlin. I had one bubble on me. It was 123 deg. that weekend. I should have run with about 55 psi and not 60psi. Heavy boat's punish tires!
The tire's for smaller boats will last a lot longer. I had the same tires on the trailer for my 20' Advantage for over 8 years. I replaced them because I didn't like the way they looked.
I hate Carlisles. Never again.
I purchased a floor jack from Sears and keep it in the truck at all times. Worth every penny.
LAR

[Sotally Tober]

I DO keep proper air pressure. I check every other week.
Kachina, how do you get a bottle jack to work on a trailer? With drop axles I had about 3-4" clearence to get the jack under the flat axle. If I went on the frame I would need 18"+ of lift.
This gets me thinking. Are the tires Ok quality, but a trailer just seems to kill any brand tire?

[BadKachina]

That jack will work fine on the spring hangers. You have two in between the tires that are easy to get to.

[FREIND OF AA AND TA]

Don't do the Carlisle's, way to many failures.
Ditto! I had three in one trip!!! THEY FUKING SUCK!!!!

[hurleyr]

Ditto, Ditto I lost two Carlisles in one trip to Shasta. 2 yrs old. Don't buy em.

[Brian Ray]

Years ago my cousin lost all 4 Carlisles on his trailer...lucky there was a tire shop just around the corner.
I run Greenball tires and rims on my trailer no problems...unless I count the time I got a screw in one of the tires crusing through a shopping center in Fresno. Lucky I had my spare. :)
Here's the site for more info....America's tire can order them as they do not carry them in stock. Well, at least the one in Bakersfield doesn't carry them.
http://www.greenball.com/home.html

[Biglue]

I'm running Tow Masters. 02 trailer and only had 1 problem (knock on wood). I walked out to my truck and trailer and there was a flat on the boat trailer. There was still some air in the tire so I thought I could limp it to America/discount tire in Havasu. It wound up failing and I damaged the side wall. I had to buy a carlisle off their shelf. That carlisle is the spare right now. BTW, I have to buy new tires on my trailer and I think I'll buy Tow masters again.

[AirtimeLavey]

Don't like Carlisle or Nanking (junk). Go w/Maxxis. I don't drive over 70 when towing anymore, because of the tire heating issues as someone mentioned above (and other obvious safety and legal issues). I was told the same thing, by a tire mfr. rep. I tow everywhere, because we like to go so many different places. Second year on these Maxxis, and I will probably change them out after next summer.
As for a jack, there is a really slick ramp out on the market that beats the heck out of a jack. Don't know who makes it, or what it's max capacity is. I'm sure someone on here knows what I'm talking about.

[Sotally Tober]

Well a week ago I bought 8 Greenball Towmaster II's Load Range E 80 psi. for my trailer. Replaced the spares as well because the Nankings are SHIT!!!! Lost 4 out of the 8 in 1 year. Out the door was $660 including Discount liftime replacement certificate. Hopefully I have better luck.

[craiginlaverne]

from what i can tell, your trailer has torsion axles, right? If your trailer is not sitting level, your axles will not equilize the weight of the trailer(like regular leaf spring axles with equilizers) on all 6 tires, therefore, you are putting too much weight on one axle, especially when turning in tight areas. That also happens just going down the road in a straight line. We are now installing torsion axles on all of our painted tube trailers and alum. trailers and that's what we have to tell our customers. It seems elementry, but making sure the trailer sits level while mounted to your vehical is very important. :220v:

[99 232 baja]

unfortunately I have Carlisles on my trailer ,I have had 2 tires blow apart in 3yrs. I will get new ones next spring. As for a jack I went to Sears and bought a small floor jack that fits in to a tool box that I always grab when pulling the boat.

[ratso]

from what i can tell, your trailer has torsion axles, right? If your trailer is not sitting level, your axles will not equilize the weight of the trailer(like regular leaf spring axles with equilizers) on all 6 tires, therefore, you are putting too much weight on one axle, especially when turning in tight areas. That also happens just going down the road in a straight line. We are now installing torsion axles on all of our painted tube trailers and alum. trailers and that's what we have to tell our customers. It seems elementry, but making sure the trailer sits level while mounted to your vehical is very important. :220v:
excellent point...

[CJ Skier]

I think that CRAIGINLAVERENE might have come up with your answer.
My friend that works for a trailer mfg says that they strongly recomend that if you have a triple axle trailer that you go with a leaf spring suspension as a torsion system does not center/level itself and will put a tremendous stress on one or two of the tires.

[Sotally Tober]

from what i can tell, your trailer has torsion axles, right? If your trailer is not sitting level, your axles will not equilize the weight of the trailer(like regular leaf spring axles with equilizers) on all 6 tires, therefore, you are putting too much weight on one axle, especially when turning in tight areas. That also happens just going down the road in a straight line. We are now installing torsion axles on all of our painted tube trailers and alum. trailers and that's what we have to tell our customers. It seems elementry, but making sure the trailer sits level while mounted to your vehical is very important. :220v:
My trailer does have leaf springs. When I had it built I wanted torsion as I liked them a lot on my previous tandem. But my builder highly advised me not to put torsions on a triple. For reasons as you stated as well as the very little amount of suspension travel. When you go in or out of an approach, All the weight would be placed on 1 axle. With the leaf springs it keeps equal weight distribution within reason. I also went with the heavy duty shackle kit which replaces the neoprene with brass bushings. It also gives me a zirc on every moving part. So they do not make any noise going down the road.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/3284Suspension.jpg

[RitcheyRch]

Nice and interesting to see brakes on all 3 axles.
My trailer does have leaf springs. When I had it built I wanted torsion as I liked them a lot on my previous tandem. But my builder highly advised me not to put torsions on a triple. For reasons as you stated as well as the very little amount of suspension travel. When you go in or out of an approach, All the weight would be placed on 1 axle. With the leaf springs it keeps equal weight distribution within reason. I also went with the heavy duty shackle kit which replaces the neoprene with brass bushings. It also gives me a zirc on every moving part. So they do not make any noise going down the road.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/3284Suspension.jpg

[CJ Skier]

REALLY nice trailer!

[Holland]

I know the problem... You need LED lights on your trailer, that will stop the flats... hahahah
I have Goodyear marathons, Whenever I make tight turns, I cringe watching the tires change shape...
Let me know how the new ones do... I am due for a change this winter.

[coolchange]

Ya triples are hard on tires, A buddy with triples under a 21 snapped a leaf on the ramp makin the turn!

[Sotally Tober]

I know the problem... You need LED lights on your trailer, that will stop the flats... hahahah
I have Goodyear marathons, Whenever I make tight turns, I cringe watching the tires change shape...
Let me know how the new ones do... I am due for a change this winter.
Already have 20+ LED's on the trailer. Still got flats. Maybe they are the wrong type.
The new ones look better in the tight turns as they are 80 psi and not 65. The tires seem to be firmer with the higher pressures. Discount stated that only Carlisle and Greenball made 10 ply in a 15". Have not heard anything bad about the GB's. Good Luck.