New Tires

[Salty19]

Hmm...you are very close to the ratings, if not exceeding it slightly.  If they are still new, personally I would take them back and get the load rating "C" designation.  These trailers have to weigh more than 300 lbs...steel is heavy! 

And as skip mentioned all the other things add up too.  If you are balanced correctly, 10-15% of the total boat/trailer/accessories weight should be on the hitch, not the tires.  So you can subtract 10% of the weight of the rig for calculations.

My Carlisle Tires are designated:   Sport Trail  4L03 DOT 4LAA  Load Range: C  2 Ply Nylon Cord   Max Load 910lbs @ 75psi. 

So 1820 lb total "Rig" weight max.  Minus 10% of your total rig weight (unknown) to find the safelty cushion.

While I agree that lawyers and Naders are doing their work here to designate the ratings, I am also of the school that sometimes overkill is the way to go, as appropriate.  Tires, rope, winch, bulb brightness, bearing loading, and things that affect safe operation should not be pushed to the limit, in my opinion. Especially if you are considering heavy duty use, such as towing across several states, presumably at speeds greater than 60mph.

Also don't forget the spare tire!

Enjoy the trip to FL

[Paul]

Load range "C" as Salty stated.  Mine are the same.  No troubles so far.

[Deb]

I will take them back.....
They are closing "my" lake for 6 months to work on a lower TVA dam.
Thus I'll be doing lots more traveling...want to check out Lake Wautauga,TN.  Who is it sails there?
Deb

[dduelin]

My 1984 trailer came with 13 inch tires which I think are a great upgrade from 8 inchers. I have owned trailers in the past with 8 inch tires and they are running about 100 mph relative to a 12 or 13 inch tire at a real road speed of 55 or 60. Due the higher rotational speed they get hotter and wear faster so it is very important to get the proper load rating and inflate to the proper psi. I started a trip to the Florida Keys with old 8" tires and threw the tread off both tires on that trip.

On this trailer I replaced the old 13" tires with inexpensive P155/80R13 passenger car radials ($35 each a Pep Boys) with a 950 pound load rating at only 35 psi. I have plenty of reserve weight rating and the bigger wheels ride smoother over bumps and give the boat and trailer a break from rock hard 60 or 75 psi pressures. This isn't the first trailer I ran car tires on and have logged thosands of road miles since 1986. True ST trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls but I don't miss them as the base load rating are so high compared to what is needed for a CP16. The boat sits a few inches higher when launching which may be a disadvantage at shallow ramps but man does it tow like a champ.

[Craig Weis]

The spindles on a Performance Trailer used for C-P 19 boats...are these able to mate up with 13 inch wheels and tires? Talking about bolt pattern. Or do the spindles need to be changed? How cool is that? Since the trailer fenders unbolt 13 inch sounds like a good swap.

The trailers are basically welded up from standard 'C' Channel. Mine is 3 inch channel formed, welded, hot dipped galvanized. 1-1/2 " square axle at 4 lb per foot. A 2 inch ball hitch.

My Ryerson steel book indicates the following pounds and inches.

weight per foot per lb.    Web thickness     Flange width
C3"  x 4.1                            0.170                  1.410
       x 5.0                            0.258                  1.498
       x 6.0                            0.356                  1.596

So pick a channel size, measure one side length x 2 x weight per foot + measure one cross bar length x qt'y. of cross bars x weight per foot + axle, wheels, hitch, chain +add a 10% more for fenders.

See what you come up with...I did not do this. It's dark out now...skip. I did wash my deck today, how 'bout that?

[Potcake boy]

Deb,
Was working on the boat and checked the trailer tires. Mine is a CP19 on a performance trailer. The tires are Carlisle brand and are 20.5 X 8. They are load range E rated at 1535 lbs. So I would imagine that you should be able to find load range E in your size.

Fair winds for a fair maiden,

Ron