Better Now than on the Road

[crazycarl]

I just got a fire going in the backyard pit and went to the garage to retrieve a cold Guinness when I noticed a flat on the boat trailer. I had just filled the tires to the recommended 80psi on Wednesday. They're only 5 years old, but Monday I'm buying new tires. A couple hundred bucks is worth not sitting along a highway.

[Ken J]

Generally we can only rely on trailer tires for about 3 years - I think 5 is stretching it - good idea to get new ones

[crazycarl]

I have heard trailer tires should be replaced every 3 to 5 years. Are they not made from the same type of materials as automobile tires?

[passagesfromtheheart]

Glad you got the new set, Carl — I got new tires for both my 23 and Legacy trailers within the past year. Was not aware of a 3 yr (or 5 yr) rule re: tires aging out in that time frame (unless lots o' miles on them, poor tread, etc), but I recently heard about a 3 yr lifespan re: AGM batteries. Safe travels on your upcoming Keys journey with your 19 — really looking forward to reading about your adventure here on the forum!

Speaking of adventure:

Yesterday morning, I interviewed Mini Globe Racer Josh Kali for the second time along his MGR circumnavigation. We catch up from our last interview in Panama to his current location in Cape Town, South Africa after recently rounding Cape Agulhas and the Cape of Good Hope. The MGR fleet is getting ready to depart this Sunday for the final two legs of the journey, ultimately ending in Antigua. I should be releasing the podcast interview later today. I'll text you the link.

[Ken J]

I have heard trailer tires should be replaced every 3 to 5 years. Are they not made from the same type of materials as automobile tires?

Trailer tires tend to sit more and degrade from the inside so even new looking trailer tires may look good but be weakening on the inside due to sitting - heat - etc

[brackish]

A lot of factors regarding trailer tire life.  Does the trailer stay loaded or not?  Is it stored inside or outside? Do you do long or short trips with it?  Modern radial ST tires are recommended to be changed every five to six years by the manufacturer.  I pushed my last set to nine.  But, trailer not loaded because boat stays in the water, short trips only (35 miles), and most importantly I bought covers to limit exposure to UV, which is a rubber killer.  You can usually tell if failure is impending by sidewall cracking which is the result of UV exposure.

Covers are a whole lot less than a set of four every three years or so.

A lot of my wisdom on the matter comes from a best friend who is a retired rubber chemist for Cooper (now Goodyear) tire at the plant in Tupelo, ms.  He is worse than me at pushing the limits on tire replacement on his boat trailer.

Never had a tire failure.  Now bearing failure, that's another story.......had one fortunately on the way to pick up the boat rather than with the boat loaded.

[kickingbug1]

off season my boat sits in the garage jacked up with no weight on the tires

[crazycarl]

off season my boat sits in the garage jacked up with no weight on the tires

Mine sits in the backyard all year unless I use it or move it to mow. Perhaps tire covers would extend tire life.

[passagesfromtheheart]

Mine sits in the backyard all year unless I use it or move it to mow. Perhaps tire covers would extend tire life.

I second you, Carl; I think I'll look into a set of covers as well.