Tire Time

[EclipseGuy]

I have seen a lot of conversation about the 10 inch tires used on the Eclipse trailer. I initially had some concerns about the small diameter tires, but I thought I would stick with them for a while I see how it goes.

I typically tow at 60MPH. I have checked my wheel bearings at rest areas and stops along the way to my destination and have not had any issues with heat. I do, however, dislike the vibration noise that these little tires make. They groan while going down the road.

I like how low they get the boat when I have to launch, but I have actually ran into an occasional issue with some ramps because the frame of the trailer is now too low (it curves down in the center) to the point where it can drag on the ramp. One of the ramps at Wixom Lake causes my trailer frame to drag in the center. Changing out my hitch for a higher rise one just before launching would help with this issue I suppose.

Last week while I was towing the Eclipse up north I stopped at a rest area for a trailer inspection. When I checked the tires I noticed that the tread on one of the tires was separating. There were large cracks, probably 6-8 inches long, between the treads, so I installed my spare. Thankfully I noticed this before the tire blew.

Then when I got up north I checked my tires again and saw that the other tire was starting to experience tread separation. I am out of spares so I called around and could not find anyone that could get these tires. Apparently the only place I can find them is an online source and I would have to order them pre-mounted on rims. I ended up towing home and crossing my fingers that the tire wouldn't get worse on the way and blow.

This was all very frustrating because the tires are only 3 years old and now I have to replace them all and cannot easily do so.

When I got home I started considering my options about new tires. When I took a look at the 10 inch ones on my trailer, and the fact that I could have very easily blown a tire on this trip, I started to get concerned about what a tire blow-out would mean on a drop-axle trailer with 10 inch rims. I would be afraid that the axle or frame would actually hit the ground or drag if a tire blew. That would not be good!

In addition, finding a source for these 10 inch tires while on vacation is impossible!

I have now decided, that since I have to buy 3 new tires, I might as well do the conversion to 14 inch rims now. It only means going through the additional expense of two fenders, and $80 in labor. I take the trailer in next week to have the work done.

I would feel much better towing with standard trailer tires. I don't expect launching to be much more difficult considering I was used to launching a Seaward 25 before, and it sat much higher. We will see how things go though.

- John

[Salty19]

Sounds like a good idea.

Curious if you store your trailer outside, if the tires have been exposed to UV? Might explain the short tire life.

I swapped from 10" bias ply to 12" radials last year and happy I did (On a CP19).  It rides smoother, is quiter, tires run cooler and not too much different at the ramp.
Didn't want to go too big so 12" is a good compromise.

[MacGyver]

Dont know if you guys saw me moaning about my tires, but quick of the long story is, when I went to get her, she had 2 of these 10 inch tires on her, both were purchased new, and you could even still see the red and green lines on the tread from new! the little tits still on em!

So off I went, 3 miles down the road, 30 mph.... blow out...... no spare...... closest place open, walmart, big tires, 13 inch? got em, only had 2 so put ewm on with fenders off and down the road I went.

I am still trying to sell these to get back to the original size.... going to buy kenda loadstars..... 4 year warranty, (I think I read that right.....)  and 93 a piece on galv rim. want to sell my new ones on here so i can afford the smaller.

Why the smaller? well, I buried the truck launching. as in my front tires got wet, and I have a super cab 4wd ranger.
maybe my hitch was too low....... not sure, but it was a real bit@#. and I am not happy to submerge the axel like that..... too much work.

Anyway, Salty, what is the exact size on your trailer and brand? and Eclipse guy, same question....
Also Salty, how did you launch at Dam West Carlyle? your trailer in pictures looks shorter than mine, maybe I am doing something wrong?

I have launched so many boats over all my years working for the marina, I would figure I would be the first guy to be questioning.... but then I run into these issues, LOL

Mac

[Salty19]

Damn, that is one short tire life!!! Maybe the gods will be kind next time.

Well, this is a guess for tire size-the trailer is an hour away, but I think they are size 4.80 x 12.  Load rating E for maximum capacity.  Come to think of it I had to look around on the internet quite a bit to find them in Load rating E with new galvanized rims.I think they are Load King brand.

As for launching, first off yea I agree my trailer seems shorter than it could be. I was using an '05 4runner AWD so between the ground clearance and great traction I'm not shy about getting the truck wet. Lord knows it's seen harder duty than a boat ramp.  Last year at Carlyle as you know was very high water so there wasn't much of a dip in the ramp.  When I launch I release all straps just before backing into the water then backdown and sharply hit the brakes when the boat is about 1/2 way in the water. Then I pray the first mate can keep hold of the lines so we don't have to go swimming after it.  She slides right off and with some soap on the bunks (if I remember to bring a spray bottle) a bit easier.  When retrieving I borrowed Steve's (you'll meet him at CLR)  cool 2ft (apps) drawbar with ball to extend your hitch. It worked well, so well that I need to get off my butt and find a guy to make one!   It would have got the boat out without it, but now that we have a Mazda CX-9, the launch went OK but needs a little deeper water and isn't nearly as good AWD system or tires so that drawbar will come in handy

[MacGyver]

I plan to watch em launch, hell, took the day off before I think to I can try to be around to catch em!

Someone, (have to look back at the post) is going to let me borrow a tire to see what it does to my trailer, but I think possibly just some measuring and watching might net me the knowledge I need figure my issues out.

I will look for that size tire now, was searching and only found load range C!

Mac

[Eagleye]

Salty,
That is the first time someone mentioned load rating as I was wondering about EclipseGuy's situation.  I would really be interested to know what the load rating was on the tires that failed on his Eclipse trailer and likewise what the rating is on the tires that Jason was looking at for $93.
   The 10" Kenda tire for instance comes in 4 different load ratings, B, C, D and E.  Only the E would be sufficient to support the weight of the Eclipse, trailer, gear, fuel, beer.... ect. 

http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Tires_and_Wheels-sf-Tire_with_Wheel-sz-5_on_4~1%7C2_Inch-pc-10_Inch.aspx

I researched this when bought my Eclipse and decided to replace the 6 year old tires just for peace of mind.  I'm sure that the larger diameter tire would ride better but there is the trade off at the launch ramp. With the 10" tires I am just short of getting the front wheels wet on my Toyota Highlander at the ramps that I have launched at so far and I let her just float off the trailer leisurely.  But the other side of the coin is.... If the tire won't get you to the launch ramp...what is the point?

EclipseGuy, if you did have the E rated tire do you know what pressure you were running it at?  Kenda recommends 90 PSI, which seems absurdly high but again everything that I could find told me that they are designed run at that pressure.  At this point I have about 600 miles on mine and when I run them at 90 PSI on the highway at 65 MPH they are only slightly warm to the touch when I stop for a check in 80 degree temps.  I have noticed no vibration or noises coming from the tires.

Hey, I really don't know what the best choice is here but this is a great discussion.  Thanks for helping out the newbie here.

Allen

[MacGyver]

Allen,


The tires I found was a trailer company like Etrailer (I use etrailer almost exclusively, they are awesome, and where I live, next day with regular shipping since I am so close.)
And from Kapp Trailer Sales and Service in Beckemeyer IL. His price was 97. same tire from what he told me.

Here is the link to the other place
http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=2056510E5LG&eq=&Tp=

The price went down   

Mac

[Glenn Basore]

John,

Some time ago I posted here about changing from the 10 inch tire to 14 inch, I have been happy with that decision ever since.

Some one on this site gave me a link to buy replacement fenders which I did.

The tires I have on my trailer now are rated at 1400 # loads each , the ten inch were only 900 # each.

Glenn

[CaptRon28]

Wheel and tire size is a compromise. The small 10 inch wheels will get the boat closer to the water when launching, but they spin a lot faster while towing the boat. That guarentees more tire wear, heat buildup and bearing wear. But my main problem with these tiny wheels is that you can't get disc brakes to mount behind them. Drum brakes and salt water do not work well together. Fresh water is somewhat better, but ?? The water tends to sit in the drums and corrodes everything, even when you can flush them out with fresh water.  The open disc rotors and calipers are a lot better. Every drum brake boat trailer that I've ever owned suffered in salt water, requiring extensive brake work at least once or twice a year. The cool down time on discs is also a lot faster, and that can really matter when towing at higher speeds. I've had tandem drums up to nearly 400 degrees towing a boat between FL and NJ, measured about 3 or 4 minutes after a pit stop. This is where tires start blowing out. I've never gotten discs over about 180 degrees sustained.

For this reason I recently swapped out the five E-rated 10 inch wheels and tires on my Horizon trailer for a D-rated 13 inch setup, and mounted two 9.6 inch TieDown Engineering ventilated disc brake kits on the forward axle and disabled the rear drums.  The 2 larger disc brakes have just about the same stopping power as the 4 tiny drums, but I will convert the back axle when these brakes go on sale. This was my 3rd conversion of a boat trailer to discs in the last 4 years - the first two turned absolute nightmares into something very easy to live with. The 13 inch size wheels were my compromise, and are the smallest wheels that one can get real brakes behind. I got lucky too - I was able to drill 4 holes holes and bend the fenders a drop to mount them about 2 inches higher on the trailer frame.

[EclipseGuy]

My 10 inch tires are the "E" rated Loadstar 205/65-10. They were only 3 years old. I am very picky about tire pressure and monitor it with every trip. At the time I noticed the tread separation I was curious if the pressure went way above the rating (since it was somewhat hot out) so I checked it and there was 88 pounds of pressure in the tire.

For the first two years of its life the boat and trailer were stored indoors. Last year I stored it outdoors.

The thing that really pushed me into converting to 14 inch tires is the fact that I cannot easily get these 10 inch tires when I need them. When I was at the trailer shop they suggested I go with 13 inch tires, which would have been fine, but the problem we ran into was finding 13 inch tires that were rated to handle the load of a single axle trailer with my boat on it. Once again these tires were not readily available. So I went with the easy-to-find 14s.

I do have concerns about the fenders, only because I let the trailer shop decide on their own which fenders to use and how to attach them. Hopefully they can make it work without me having to pick out all the parts and provide them with drawings. It is what they do for a living I guess, but we will see what happens next week...

I do plan to buy some tire covers to help extend the life of my tires when the trailer is sitting outdoors.

I am also planning to buy (or have made) a short tongue extension. My Seaward 25 had a really long extendable tongue built into the trailer but I never once used it. I don't believe I will need one with the Eclipse, even with 14 inch tires, but it is nice to know that I can extend the tongue if I run into problems launching someday.

[Glenn Basore]

for some time now I have been wanting to make an extendable tongue, may be 6 foot max.

All I really need is a square insert to slide into the  square tongue area . it shouldn't be hard to do, just haven't got around to doing it!

Glenn

[Eagleye]

Thanks EG,

I suspected you had the best but this lets me know that I should really keep a good eye on my new 10" tires.  Down the road I will have to make a decision though.  As for now I have 2 spares, one mounted and one not mounted.

Fair Winds,
Allen

[CaptRon28]

I just put my 5 galvanized 10 inch wheels and E-rated 205-65x10 Loadstar tires on sale in the classified section. Take a look if you want to stick with these tiny wheels.

[Billy]

for some time now I have been wanting to make an extendable tongue, may be 6 foot max.

All I really need is a square insert to slide into the  square tongue area . it shouldn't be hard to do, just haven't got around to doing it!

Glenn

Glen, I just did that last month. check out my thread, "What to do, what to do?" and It will explain. Here are some pics.

[Glenn Basore]

Billy,

Nice pictures and yes, this is exactly what I want to do.

I do have one problem, I have surge brakes and the brake line runs through the tongue to the brake actuator on the end of the tongue.

I guess I could run the line on the outside but wanted to keep it inside to protect it.

I might be able to run the line through the telescoping extention but need to remount the actuator too so it would travel as needed. the brake line (flexible) would have to be extend so I would have enough length to extend the tongue.

Where to I find your thread?

Glenn