Magic tilt trailer bearings

[rbh1515]

So, my boat is on the road up north for delivery.




The transport guy texts me asking if I plan on trailering much...he is concerned about the small wheels and said the hub bearings are a little warm.   I have seen some posts here about the small wheels, and they don't seem to be a problem.  I asked him if the wheels have bearing buddies and he says they don't.  Maybe I used the wrong term, but the trailers I have seen have the grease nipples, and I'm pretty sure from the pictures I have seen, that my trailer wheels have the bearing buddies on them.  I'm sure that before I ordered the boat they said the wheels have the bearing buddies.  Do your trailer wheels have them?

Rob

[rbh1515]

Got the answer from Gerry...there are bearing buddies, and the bearing would normally be a little warm.  Boat should be arriving at 8pm!!
Rob

[rbh1515]

Damn...had tread separation on one of the tires.  How often does that happen on a new tire??  Luckily it did not blow out.
Had one spare...hope the others hold out.

Rob

[CaptRon28]

I replaced the 10 inch wheels on my Magic Tilt (Horizon on it) with 13's about 3 or 4 years ago. Made one long trip with the 10's (FL to NJ) and didn't care for the heat buildup in the wheels and brakes. Temperatures were averaging about 50 degrees higher than I'm used to. That's due to both the extra rotations of the tires at speed and the inefficient drum brakes (which don't cool off quickly). The main reason for the switch was the brakes. Drums don't like salt water and you can't get discs behind anything smaller than 13. Converting to 13 and 4 wheel discs made a substantial difference.

Your tire should not have separated that soon. Make sure you're running the correct pressure. As I recall, it's pretty high - something like 80 psi. Anything lower will get the tire to flex more, heat up, and blow out or separate.

[Jim23]

Obviously by the tread separation picture your trailer has bearing buddies. I'm surprised the transporter didn't understand what you were asking...pretty common term. May be a sign of his experience. Hopefully he's not flying down the highway at 80 MPH causing the tires to get hot.

I understand your delivery stress. I had my boat transported 1000 miles in a multi-state blizzard. Huge relief to see it pull up in the driveway.

Congrats on the purchase and I look forward to hearing about the maiden voyage.

[rbh1515]

Fortunately I won't be trailering much since the boat will go into the water in the spring and come out in the fall.  I just hope the 4 tires hold out for another 300 miles...no more spares left!
Rob

[hoddinr]

From the tread separation on new tires I would say that the delivery driver was driving too fast.  ST tires (Special Trailer) are only rated at 65MPH, and that's when conditions are optimum.  Bet he didn't care if your tread flew off at 75 mph as long as he had a spare.

Traveled from Largo (near Tampa) to Pensacola this past weekend for the FL 120 rally and never had a problem with a tire or wheel bearing.  Of course I keep the speed right under 60mph and stay in the right lane.

Ron

[Tom L.]

Rob, congrats on your new boat and you are one lucky dude. Separation like that is deadly. One of the problems with tandem trailers is the driver sometimes can't feel a tire that is failing or has blown. I constantly look in my mirrors looking for potential problems with the tires/wheels. As others have said it was probably a case of high speed and underinflation. I hope you aren't driving three hundred miles on that tire. It won't make it. I think you said you were going to install the spare, good idea. With experience towing you would have felt that tire due to vibration and recognized a problem. Like you said the delivery driver probably didn't care all that much. Just wanted to get there.
Tom L.

[rbh1515]

I think the delivery guy was being cautious.  He texted me a couple of hours after picking up the boat at the factory in Clearwater, and was concerned that the small wheels could be a problem, and said he was going to drive slower.  The separation happened about 800 miles into the trip, and he said he felt a vibration and pulled over.  Luckily I had bought a spare that was mounted on the trailer, and everything held up for the rest of the trip.  Boat was delivery safely last night.  Its beautiful!!  Goes into the water this afternoon.
Rob

[hoddinr]

Good for him.  Did he specify what "Slower" meant?  As I said.  The tires are only rated at 65mph.  In fact ALL ST tires are rated at 65MPH regardless of load range.

Ron

[rogerschwake]

  I do a fair amount of trailering with the same size tires on my trailer for my SunCat. Have had two flats but no tread separation like you showed in your pictures. On the interstates I travel between 70 and 75 with no problems. I was leery about the small diameter of the trailer tires at first, but now trust them. Could you just got  a bad tire, if so the maker should replace it. If they won't I'd don't think I'd buy any more of that brand of tires. You have a beautiful boat, have a great summer on the water.

ROGER

[hoddinr]

Roger,

Were your tires fixable after the flats, or were they destroyed on the highway?  If they were destroyed and not repairable, I'd suggest that you had blowouts caused by driving beyond their capabilities.

[rogerschwake]

  The first flat was because of a nail in the tire. The second was a little bit of a mystery. I had trailered 80 miles to a lake then helped a friend set up and get in the water, taking about 30 minutes. Next after taking 20 minutes to get ready to launch I backed into the water and when the trailer came out of the water the left tire was flat. After changing the tire I found the inside side wall had a large slit in it and completely flat. The tire was up when I went in the water, there must have been something under water on the launch ramp that damaged that tire. Maybe you have another ideas on what happened to this tire?

ROGER

[hoddinr]

Nope.  Must have been some sharp object underwater that sliced it open.  Weird.

Ron

[skip1930]

Under inflated tires and became hot tossing the tread? Or tires made in India?
It's not the diameter but rather the 'load weight'.  

Don't buy re-treads unless your running a semi and put 'em only on the trailer.


Read the side wall for Tread ware-Traction-temperature

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