trailer tire dry rot

[curtisv]

Since we are talking about trailers so much ...

[No pics of my trailer.  Salty puts us all to shame.]

One of my tires slowly leaks.  Every time I use the trailer (twice a season) I now have to inflate in-place, or if its low enough that the bead is unseated, remove the tire and inflate.

The tires are 12 years old.  Is this the expected lifetime?  Is there something simple I can do to extend the lifetime?

Over the winter I jack up the trailer and put it and the boat on cinder blocks.  That at least takes the pressure off the tires.  I don't cover them or coat them with anything.

The dry rot cracks are between treads.  Time for a new tire as this is about the third season of this and the leak is getting worse each year.

Curtis

[brackish]

While I'm not sure what is true, I think I've read that about 9-10 years is all you can expect regardless of the miles.  Have a friend who is a rubber chemist retired from the Cooper Tire factory in our town who confirms.  The culprit is UV exposure.  As for as extending the life the best thing is blocking the UV.  I coat mine with 303 protectant every year and park it empty in the shade.  If I was blocking up the trailer off season as you do I would probably buy some covers.  By the time I replace the tires next spring I'll have nine years.  If I was only using for off season storage and a short haul to launch I'd just keep going with them.  However, I usually take a 1000 mile round trip each summer, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. 

[CaptRon28]

I cover the tires on my trailers when they are not being used for more than a few weeks. UV will eventually do a job on them. It's also a good idea to not park the trailer in a place where the tires could be sitting in water or even wet grass. I park the trailer tires on 2x2 concrete pads sitting on top of the lawn or gravel bed. They'll get wet, but they won't sit in it for days at a time.

[Ted]

Where are folks finding new tires? I am having a hard time finding  replacements.

[skip1930]

Not the tread but the side walls I cover with Vaseline for outdoor storage during the season.
Prevents weather checking.
Full weight of boat is placed on the tires when in storage indoors. No flats.

The bilge pump on the CP-19? It never sees water unless I test it with a few buckets of water or it pumps out the melted ice that has finished cooled adult beverages.
In storage it stays dry.

skip.

[curtisv]

Thanks for the replies.  I'll look for one tire for now, maybe a pair.  I've been averaging 12-15 miles per year.  I'll also look for covers if UV is the culprit.

Another thing I do when blocking up the trailer is make sure the bow is higher.  Even covered, some water gets in.  Water in the cockpit drains back to the scuppers.  Water on the foredeck drains better.  Most of the condensation in the cabin ends up in the bilge sump.  I have to remember to take the electric pump out in case water in the bilge freezes and if so tends to break bilge pumps.

Curtis

[Bob23]

I always ran anti freeze through my bilge pump and left it on the boat. A few years ago, it refused to run...guess it didn't like anti freeze. Now it spends its winters inside. Cheaper than new pumps.
Bob23

[MacGyver]

Pumps dont mind the antifreeze, if you use BioSafe. Also, average life of a bilge pump is around 3 years at the marina if they are used a bit.
Otherwise they last forever if not used...........then again, so do most other items.

They work up until you wish to use them 

Mac

[brackish]

The only time my bilge pump has been used is when I tested it after installation.  I've never had a drop of water in my bilge.  I should probably test the pump at least annually.  CurtisV that is a lot of condensation if it can put enough water in the bilge to possibly freeze, I would be looking for a rain or snow melt leak.  I have a very slight leak at the starboard hull to deck seam at the rear shroud tang, but it drips down the inside of the hull and evaps before it ever gets close to the bilge.  Gonna fix that one day.  I do put a little heater in the boat set to come on at freezing.

[kahpho]

They work up until you wish to use them 

Mac

That...is fact! 

mel

[Bob23]

   I can't say...haven't needed to "use" mine yet. But it's like insurance...you only want it when you need it. And it better work when you need it. "There's no bilge pump like a sailor with a bucket in a leaking boat"!
    Ok...I'm guilty of thread drift. I saw cheap covers at Harbor Freight and procrastinated buying them. I guess I kinda neglect my trailer after the boat's in the water. I suppose if I towed more than 15 miles a year I might pay closer attention to it.
Bob23

[curtisv]

There are a few things that I only use once or twice a season.  The trailer is one.

Another is the bilge pump.  The bilge is usually filled with yucky water in the spring so I fill it with the garden hose and pump it out a few times until it is fairly clean.  Cleans the bilge and tests the bilge pump.  I test both the manual and the electric.  The manual takes some priming but moves a lot of water fast once its going.

Another thing I try in the beginning of the season is the air horn.  I had a Ecohorn and it lasted over 10 years.  This year I did the annual horn blast test and for the first time it didn't work - had a leak.  Cheaply constructed but if you don't use it, it lasts quite a long time so I bought another.  Sometimes good enough is fine.  More thread drift.

Curtis

[Citroen/Dave]

Car tires are now manufacture to last about 6 years before dry rotting.  There is no sense in buying high mileage car tires unless you drive high miles. Otherwise, they will rot out before you wear them out.  I don't know when the "economics" of this decision of the tire industry will filter down to trailer tires . . . 

For example, my 2006 Rav 4 Toyota with 1800 miles, purchased about 2011, had tires with uniform circular dry rot cracks between the treads but not the along the sidewalls. The tires on my 2006, original equipment, 1800 mile tires had to be replaced.  Tires were safe enough to drive on for a while but they caused the Rav to wonder all over the road.

I used to drive bald and re-grooved Michelins that were as much as 20 + years old. But of course with a Citroen, a flat tire did not affect handling.  See "Day of the Jackal" for an example. (In the movie the tires were not burst.) The President of France was ambushed as his chauffer drove his favorite DS Citroen. Both tires where blown out on one side of the car from the bullets.  The driver speed up over 60 mph for the five mile drive to the airport and safety.  Sitting on your hands at 100MPH and having a blown tire does not affect the directional stability of a DS Citroen.  To stop, just hit the brake valve. (Citroens did not have a brake pedal. The first one through state inspection in Virginia, failed, for not having one.  It belonged to the French Ambassador. Virginia had to rewrite the inspection rules for the DS Citroen.   2400 lbs. brake pressure is under that brake valve [with a hydraulic anti-lock computer] even if the engine has not been run for months.  Not that Mickey mouse vacuum stuff that other manufactures used to copy Citroen's powered inboard disk brakes.)  A friend lost both left tires on the New Jersey Turnpike from a box of nails spilled on the road.  He had to drive about three mile in rush hour traffic to get out of the passing lanes to the right shoulder. Two dead tires in the trunk and the spare placed on the front left; he safely drove to a dealer on three tires.  Detroit and the industry still maintain they build safe cars . .   They are getting a little better but they still have a lot more copying of the 1955-75 DS Citroen to comply.

For boat trailers it is best to UV protect, a shade will do, and unload the wheels for storage (jack up the trailer a bit).

Inspect before each use.

My 2 cents worth.

[skip1930]

Do the French still use three nuts to secure a road wheel in place? Why waste two nuts?
I like how the big Citroen's air suspension would fizzle down to the curb when parked, and how they pop up when started. Oh is that a leak?
A single spoke steering wheel? Really? Why waste plastic? A rain drop hits the windscreen and the wipers turn on. [That was 'way out' at one time.]

Oh oui, oui ... I say Old Chap! Our British Motor Car Fourintune Garages Incorporated had a 2cv Citroen to rebuild. "Don't miss it if you can.' The 2cv needed a good polyester blended fade resistant paint because it's destined to spend a great deal of time sunning itself in the back lot waiting for the French to come off holiday and send some parts. Why waste two more air cooled cylinders?

I had a Hotchkiss 686. For a summer. It was a cool car with a bolt together cast aluminum frame, front drive and suicide doors. British six cylinder tractor engine. Trans? Don't ask. Since Hotchkiss was a English engineer and his Paris, France made cars was fitted with British binders ... definitely suspect. I suspect that's why it ran into a Buick Duce and a quarter on a parts run.

Like what you drive~drive what you like. skip.

[curtisv]

Serious thread drift  ...  Citroens, wheel nuts?

On the dry rot issue in Dave's mail.  My Tacoma was about 10 years old when the original tires had sidewall dry rot and I chose to replace them.  Tire guy said they could go a few more years if I wanted to keep them.  That must have predated the 6 year planned obsolescence, if that is going on.

Curtis