Back to the boat trailer tires again.

[big walleye]

Ok I am still confused on why I am wearing out my tires down the middle. I checked the pressure of my tires yesterday and they are 40lbs per tire. The manufacture calls for 60 lbs. Should I bring it down to 25 lbs. I have a light 14 ft lund with a 25 hp evinrude. Any suggestions would be great as this is driving me up the wall.

[Coldfeet]

Big Walleye
 If you are reading 40 psi I wouldnt change it going down to 25 will only ruin the tireor worse you will have a blowout on the road.  Next time you haul the boat and get to you destination take a tire pressure reading. Under inflated tires will get hot adding pressure and when they cool the pressue will go back down. The manufacturer recomends 60psi to the load rateing so if the tire is load rated for 850lbs at 60psi and the trailer load is 1,700 lbs you are good Why is this, because you have 2 tires. If you put a scale under each wheel you will see how this is possible. Now Take your boat and motor set up you have a 14ftr with a 25 on back loaded it would weigh about lets say 600 lbs. divided by 2 tires you are looking at 300 lbs per tire less tongue weight. it gets sort of confuseing huh. So in other words you are running light on the tires an changeing presures to save the tires will only make it more dangerous hauling the boat. Well getting back to the tires I would keep the tires around 45 to 50 psi. and no lower. I have 12" tires on my trailer and if you think about it they are turning about 3 times the rotation of the truck tire because of diameter. Another thing to think about is tire compound. a cheap trailer tire say from Walley mart is just that a cheap tire. Carlisle makes trailer tires and they do not last long although they are good the life of them is short. Soft rubber is the main cause. Getting a few years out of trailer tires is good and for the most they dry rot faster than wear out. Looking at your tire from the last post I would say its a 4.80 width Those little narrow tires wear out fast anyways. Kind of like the nature of the beast. Hope this helps somewhat.
Cold Feet

[LoneStar]

Big Walleye

Something comes to mind here that you might want to check, is your trailer pulling straight behind your vehicle??? 

if your axle is not square yoiur tires may be sliding instead of rolling, \    \
                                                                                                         |
seems that it would need to be off a bit to be wearing tires out quickly but someone riding directly behind you may be able to see it easier than you driving, it would appear that the trailer is pulling to one side or the other!

John

[Coldfeet]

Lone Star
To get a better reading of a bent or shifted axle, jack the trailer, put 2 jackstands under the axle 1 each side remove the 2 tires and lower the trailer to the jackstands. Now go to the tongue and put a mark on the top in the center of the tongue. Take a ruler and measure from the spindle to the mark on the tongue write down the measurement then check the other side. Compare both and if you have to, make another mark in the back of the trailer to see if it compares to the front in difference. If the axle is out of alignment you might be able to loosen the spring bolts and shift the axle to fix the problem. Just make sure you measure from the same exact spot on both sides for if you don't you might be making a adjustment that is not needed. So before the adjustment is made double check your figures going both ways on the trailer. Front then back the difference should be the same doing it this way. Do not just measure off the tires for a bent rim or uneven wear would change the measurements go from the spindle itself.
Cold Feet

[LoneStar]

Yep Cold Feet, You explained it nicely, now hopefully Big Walleye will read and check his trailer out!

[big walleye]

Thanks again guy's. I am a little late in replying. heck I have not even put thunit in water yet. I shall go measure it.