Check those Trailer tires!

When I got back from Berryessa this last weekend I always go around and feel the hubs to see if they are hot and in sync more or less. Since I go through a major cool down in temperatures...100 to 60 after getting in Castro Valley and Hayward by the time I get home they should barely be warm as it is usually blowing cold 20 MPH here on the Peninsula in the afternoon / evening.

On this trip my drivers side hub felt a bit warmer but not hot which had me puzzled. After thinking about it and unloading the boat I checked the tires more carefully and discovered a severe balding spot and the signs that the tire had broken a belt internally and so it was wearing extremely hard on just 25% of the tire and on the inside track. Good thing I saw it now as it had to have happened this trip or maybe started the last as I am anal about tire pressure and checks prior to every trip. Good thing I caught it now.

These were Goodyear Marathons that were D rated to 65MPH, Made in Canada and were exactly 3 years and 2 months old and had enough tread to last the rest of the season and were wearing perfectly up to this point. I did my usual research online and nobody has a great good track record that I could find whether it was Carlisle, Towmaster or Goodyear. It seems the complaints were usually in the 2002-2005 era but I could not find as many recent reports on most of them and no reviews.

With all that said I decided to buy the Goodyear Marathons again for now since they were easy to get locally and when I think about the highway abuse mine have gone through I am surprised they have lasted this long. This new set was made in the U.S.A. according to the codes / stamp so if they fail we have ourselves to blame. I am going to get a set of tire covers to keep the sun off of them in the driveway as most reports and trailer tire talk say that if you go beyond 3-4 years on a tire the rubber is likely going to be degraded to U.V. deterioration.

One thing I have is an infrared temperature gun that I will use at gas stops and after getting to the lake to check the hub temps too. It really helps you know how your hubs and tires run in the heat etc. Running through Fresno in 105 degrees my hubs were 130 degrees for example which is the extreme. Here's a link for one of those devices.. they are pretty cheap too..

http://www.amazon.com/Raytek-MT6-Mi..._6?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1250215780&sr=8-6

I thought I'd share this so you all will go out and carefully look at your tires for strange wear patterns, bulges or just anomalies that are not symmetrical and it may help you prevent a failure on the road.

As for California Highways I used to rank 80, 880, 580 as the worst in the state but the repaving of 80 (pave80.com) has changed that from here to Berryessa and it is almost a very smooth ride all the way as they are finishing it up. 580 got resurfaced as well over a year ago from Dublin into Castro Valley and it turned into a decent road in that right lane. 880 seems to have no hope around Oakland and I refuse to take it any more if I need an alternate.

So check out the first two photos..... tire looks fine right? Rotate it 180 degrees and this is what broken belt(s) internally caused. Check out the last photo and the top of the tire and the way it curves, explaining the extreme wear pattern in that section.

Reply to this post after you have gone out and given your ties a good inspection so you don't end up like this icon... crymeariver

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
You are smart to be paranoid about tires and wheel bearings. I've had a few experiences myself that make this warranted. One think I don't understand is why your tire was wearing on one side without wearing 180 degrees from the wear spot. Was it so out-of-balance that it was hopping down the road? That's pretty strange. The belt separation is more typical of overheating combined with a heavy load. How many pounds is each tire carrying? I don't remember the rating of D range tires.

Hey Monte - What I should have done is have the tire shop guys save the tire for me to look at it internally.. It was clear to me in looking at the tread bulges in that section of the tire as it was up and down (see the very top of the tire in the last photo) - so that section failed where as the structure in the rest of the tire remained stable. Since that failed section bulged on the outside portion it had more contact and was probably hopping being out of round but I did not notice anything while pulling it.

The tires are rated at 2540 lbs which should be plenty for my application. If I had room for a bigger tire I would get it but the fender and width are limiting factors. These 225 75 R15 are bigger than most other rigs with a single axle that I have observed. Here's a link that has all the specs for the Marathons...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=Goodyear&model=Marathon+Radial

Kevin

I'm a stickler when it comes to tires pressures and checking wheel bearing for any heat distortions. Last year, I replaced one of my tires on my boat trailer, bias ply, because tread was worn on the inside and outside and down to the belt. The other tire was wearing the same way but not as bad. Since replacing the tire, I had made 2 trips(400mi) to the gorge and about 6 trips(100-125mi) more locally. The new tire I replaced was so badly worn on inside & outside of tread that it had to be replaced again. Thats with proper inflation press. So after looking at the way both tires were worn, it told me something was going on with axle. I was at the point where I was going to replace the axle for alignment issues. I went shopping for trailer tires, this time for radials and found a local TDS business that aligns axles on trailers. For $80 that fixed that problem. Now my tires are wearing evenly. This pic shows the way the tire wore down with the alignment issue. Its used as a spare only tire now. Make sure when you check your tires that you don't have an alignment issue.

I'm thinking I have an axle alignment issue as well. I pulled up to an inspection to have my boat safety inspected for the year and get my sticker. The guy noticed a small chunk taken out of the right front on the tandem trailer so I ran it over to Les Schwab. They replaced that tire but the right rear was showing some wear the rest of the tires didn't have. I threw that on the tongue as a spare and threw the new spare on the trailer. Now I'll be watching that one wear until I can get my axles aligned.

If you can weigh your trailer at a scale, you can match the tire pressure to the load using a chart like this:

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf

and for RV's

http://www.michelinrvtires.com/michelinrv/tires-retreads/load-inflation-tables.jsp

This thread is a good one, too:

http://boards.trailerboats.com/cgi-bin/trailerboats/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=001336

I had to change out a tire before a trip last year that developed a large bulge on the outside wall... like the wall de-laminated. What would cause this to happen? The tires are 6 ply radials, load range C, inflation says 90psi at maximum weight of 990 lbs. We normally run around 60 psi. Boat is a 15' Smoker Craft with 25 & 4 hp Yamaha's...and alot of gear (not sure of the exact weight).

Start by weighing the trailer at a truck scale. Then look up the tire inflation charts for that tire. It's the only sure way to know. Another alternative is to make a chalk line completely across the tread. Drive it down the street and look at the chalk line. If it's rubbed off in the middle and not on the sides, the tires are over-inflated. Let some air out of the tires and do it again until the chalk mark wears evenly across the tread. Note that you have to do this from high pressure going to lower pressure...not the other way.

Note that this is a balancing act...you want the load distributed evenly across the tire and you want minimal tire flex to keep down the heating.

one of the major causes of trailer tire failure after underinflation is road bruising.

trailer suspensions are unforgiving to trailer tires. little suspension movement to take the impact off the tires with stiff springs and no shocks to take up the impact energy.
the tire ends up with impact damage to the belts/and or underlying cross ply carcass.
ST tires are rated to a max of 65 mph. i've seen lots of yahoos towing at 75 plus especially east of the mountains, real trailer tire killer.

also, most boat trailers are run at 80% plus of rated max. capacity when loaded with all the goodies, puts the tire load up near max. most car tires run at less than 50% of max load weight.

i've went to oversize tire/rims on my trailers. rides and tows so much better, improved the truck/trailer tracking on the single axle boat trailer. went from max. size 15" D range to ST245R16 E load range

can't beat the Denman line of ST trailer tires. US tire manuf. of hvy duty construction tires.
no cost cutting or rounding the corners off on safety here. they have a rep. page with rep.s in most areas and warehousing wholesalers that deal with local tire shops.
http://www.denmantire.com/catalog/page19.pdf

i refuse to drive the west end of Ore. Hwy 30 into Astoria or I84 thru the gorge towing anything because of the poor condition of the road surface, pavement is falling apart.

Update

Since this posting, I have worn out a set of tires and replaced the axel this year. The axel was replaced do to each side has thrown bearings and it got to the point when launching, the inner seal would not keep out the water. No matter how I took care of it, resealing, new grease, grease would sling all over the tire, fender well, and eventually the boat. I had no sense of feeling safe when I would tow especially at long distances. Having to do axel maintenance before towing on a trip was becoming to routine. I replaced the axel which eliminated the use of bearing buddies but has a zirk fitting at the end of spindle allowing grease to be injected thru the spindle to the inner most bearing. I now have a piece of mind knowing this will safely tow. I can in the future upgrade this to a oil bath system at approx. $50 per wheel. A single axel trailer is very hard on tires. I have not found any particular tire brand that can hold up to the punishment I put mine thru. Most tires I'm running across are made in China. There was a time that a radial auto tire would work good before the actual ST=trailer service came out. The radial is still the same but the side wall construction is designed for less give which helps in the prevention of trailer swaying. Good Year has tires made here in the US that I'm going to check out. With the summer heat and heat generating within the tire becomes its own worse enemy causing belt seperation. If there is a weak point in a tire heat will bring it out. Maintaining tire pressure is very important as well. I find running max press 50psi recommended on tire gives better wear than at 45psi. As posted before these tires are rated at 65mph while towing. I'm always seeing trailers passing me at a very high rate of speed. An accident thats going to happen.

I went to take the boat out this weekend and one of the tires had become separated. The tread actually looked pretty good but there was a large section that had bubbled. $120 to replace that tire but ultimately cost me $240 because I can't stand to have tires with uneven wear. Kind of like matching motor colors. LOL!

Rog, i dont recommend the oil bath, one you get alittle water in them your screwed, grease is more forgiving of a little water. trust me 20 yrs in the industry dealing with oil filled hub. oil filled hubs are great to on road all the time not for dipping in the water.

When water gets in a greased bearing, you never know it. If even a drop of water gets in an oil bath hub it becomes milky and you know immediately. Jason, they are only bad if you never pay attention. ;-)

Roger,
I'm seeing the same simularities in my tread wear which leads me to believe I could have an axle allignment issue, something I might look into more. Did you go to the place at 17th and Wall Ave.

SuperD said:

When water gets in a greased bearing, you never know it. If even a drop of water gets in an oil bath hub it becomes milky and you know immediately. Jason, they are only bad if you never pay attention. ;-)

Click to expand...

I work in a fleet of over 500 pieces of equipment that runs oil bath. not a whole lot i havent seen, i would run oil bath in a regular trailer but not on a boat trailer is that hub is warm-hot it will suck water in like a vacume

I agree with petty, wouldn't run oil bath on a boat trailer. Asking for problems there.

Because of those reasons is why I stayed with grease. If I launched at the Gorge, I'm a long distance away from getting parts for repair, been there done that. I like the idea of oil bath but have to agree that if its out on the open road, that's where they are more beneficial. Another report that happens with oil bath is a trailer that hits the curb by simply not turning wide enough gets damaged at the hub and all of the oil drains. 101thumbsdown101 Trailers take a lot of abuse. Maintaining that set of eyes in the back of your head is a full time job while towing when it comes down to safety.

Mark, TDS on 17th & Wall did my alignment. But I found out recently the guys that did it before have moved on. I wanted to get my new axel aligned with the trailer but haven't found anyone yet. Maintaining 50psi and having a balance done may be the only options at this point. Axels are pre-aligned before installed on trailers. They are only close alignments and not dedicated to any trailer at that point.

I was lucky when i had to replace my axle RDRRM8E and NoFish where waiting in my drive way when i brought it home and they did all the measuring and welding of spring brackets and made sure everything was perfect. good to have friends like that.

Bduck said:

Since this posting, I have worn out a set of tires and replaced the axel this year. The axel was replaced do to each side has thrown bearings and it got to the point when launching, the inner seal would not keep out the water. No matter how I took care of it, resealing, new grease, grease would sling all over the tire, fender well, and eventually the boat. I had no sense of feeling safe when I would tow especially at long distances. Having to do axel maintenance before towing on a trip was becoming to routine. I replaced the axel which eliminated the use of bearing buddies but has a zirk fitting at the end of spindle allowing grease to be injected thru the spindle to the inner most bearing. I now have a piece of mind knowing this will safely tow. I can in the future upgrade this to a oil bath system at approx. $50 per wheel. A single axel trailer is very hard on tires. I have not found any particular tire brand that can hold up to the punishment I put mine thru. Most tires I'm running across are made in China. There was a time that a radial auto tire would work good before the actual ST=trailer service came out. The radial is still the same but the side wall construction is designed for less give which helps in the prevention of trailer swaying. Good Year has tires made here in the US that I'm going to check out. With the summer heat and heat generating within the tire becomes its own worse enemy causing belt seperation. If there is a weak point in a tire heat will bring it out. Maintaining tire pressure is very important as well. I find running max press 50psi recommended on tire gives better wear than at 45psi. As posted before these tires are rated at 65mph while towing. I'm always seeing trailers passing me at a very high rate of speed. An accident thats going to happen.

Click to expand...

Have you done a chalk test? http://www.nitrogentiremachine.com/proper_tire_inflation.htm