| Author | Message | ||
     Xodot |
What is the maximum prudent, sustained speed for an 8", load range B, 4 ply sidewall trailer tire? What about an 12" tire? Can't find anything on line about this. Thanks! | ||
| Pwnzor |
How much weight do they have on them? Are they new? If not, how old are they? Tube or tubeless? | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Personally, I wouldn't bother with 8" wheelbarrow tyres, the number of them you see at the side of the road at vacation time is horrendous. The bigger you can go the better, try to go for standard car size, 13"-14". The problem is generally due to heat, the little ones go round so fast that they generate too much heat & can't dissipate it fast enough. | ||
| Ratbuell |
these days, go 14" or 15". They're a "standard" automotive size and dirt cheap just about anywhere. They also have a larger diameter, meaning more total tread material and as noted above, better heat dissipation. As long as you're not hauling a backhoe or a tracked 'dozer...you'll be fine on automotive tires. | ||
| Luftkoph |
Load range B high speed trailer tire is rated at 590 lbs. max. | ||
| Xodot |
Pwnzor - they are new, tubeless. Total weight of trailer and two bikes = 1200 lbs I have seen the breakdowns of small trailers too. That is why I went with new axle, bearings hubs and tires on my rebuild. I agree the larger size are more reliable, but I am only hauling with a Buick which does not have the towing capacity of an SUV or truck so I want to keep the total towed weight down. With the larger wheel size come more weight for axle, hub and suspension. The smaller wheels size = lower bed height and easier bike on/bike off transitions which was my first consideration since I am a wimp! I would love to have a larger trailer eventually but for now I need to know the limits of what I have. Thanks | ||
| Luftkoph |
xodot I don't know if this would work but around here snowmobile trailers have wide little tires that must handle more weight and speed esp.if you see the way the trolls come flying up I75  ,something to look into I would tell you more if I knew anything about them. The tires that is. | ||
| Xodot |
Luftkoph - Yes I am at the maximum for load. I want to travel at the maximum safe sustained speed. I just came back from The Dragon last week @ 75mph with my trailer and two bikes without incident. When safely home I realized I might have been maxing out my trailer tires cruising all day at that speed. I am going to Homecoming  with the same arrangement. Hoping for some definitive limits on speed capacity. | ||
| Iamike |
It will be hotter in June so make sure your pressure is good. Like The Grumpy one said, I agree that most of the trailers on the side of the road have been small wheeled ones. Losing a tire or a bearing can kind of ruin your trip. I got tired 'pun intended' of welding my trailer back together so I finally bought a heavy duty one.  | ||
| Sifo |
http://rvtipoftheday.com/rv-trailers/travel-traile r-tire-speed-ratings
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| Xodot |
Iammike : What kind of suspension have you got on your trailer to keep the bed so low? Here is my current set up:  You can see I was having some challenges with the suspension.This was a "salvage the junk trailer from the unknown source" project. I did not notice that someone prior to me getting it had changed the original springs to a slightly longer causing the rear coupler to collapse against the frame and snap the weld at the front pivot point. Lesson learned. My Buick's manual says do not tow over 1,000lbs so I am at that limit now and need a light trailer to tow 2 bikes. Sifo - that is the best info I've seen. Thanks for that. | ||
| Iamike |
It has leaf springs. The original was a 3,000# axel and was stiff as snot. I bought a pair of springs from Northern Tool that should have dropped the load to 2,200#. When I went to put them on I found that they had torqued the shackle bolts so tight that it wouldn't move. Since I wasn't planning on carrying a car I went ahead and put the lighter springs on it. I once in awhile carry dirt, rock etc. and want the heavier load capacity. I would block my springs on my old trailer whenever I overloaded it as to not bend them. Now I don't have to worry about it. Looking at yours, I would raise the springs on both ends. That should give you more clearance to the fender. If you are overloading the springs they will bend near the ends. | ||
| Buellboiler |
For the same given size I have always found that Carlisle brand tires run much cooler and longer than any other brand. This is what I use on my snowmobile trailer. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I once built an enclosed trailer and used 8" tires...the owner of the tire shop I use told me to set the pressure at max and don't worry about it...he did say to keep below 65mph.. Most of the boat trailers you see on the side of the road with exploded tires is the result of dry rot and/or running low on air pressure...with a mix of mechanical issues like broken springs or simple overload...if the fender rubs the tire, it will kill the tire... You can get away with the small tires just fine if you take care of them...don't run a dryrotted tire or one low on air...they are cheap...get a spare... | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Looking at your photo I see you have a spare wheel already, you'll need it. The trailer is well overloaded, you have virtually no suspension travel left, witness the mudguard/fender. You need to reduce the load or improve the suspension/tyre setup. Cheap & lightweight solution for the suspension would be rubber "helper" springs between axle & chassis. A pair of wider rims & tyres with a greater load capacity. If your towing vehicle is rated at 1100lbs, you're definitely overweight. must be pushing 800lb just the bikes. My advice, go buy a proper 2 bike trailer if you're going to be hauling bikes regularly. Something like this . http://www.bccargotrailers.com/workandplay/motorcy cle-trailer-index.html If you blow a tyre you may lose the trailer, bikes, & car. Not to mention law suits from all & sundry following, & if the insurance company can show you were overloaded & therefore operating illegally, they'll hang you out to dry. I'm not trying to be down on you, I'm a truck driver & see this stuff every day virtually. I wouldn't dream of pulling a semi with the wrong tyres, overloaded for the trailer & the towing vehicle. If I was check weighed & ministry inspected I'd be in serious trouble with a four or five figure fine. Just to put things in perspective here, how much do you pay for tyres for your bikes? And you're willing to put both bikes & a trailer on a pair of skinny 8" wheelbarrow tyres? I'd much rather have something decent that I can have confidence in, rather than be constantly worrying. | ||
| Etennuly |
The other problem with the little tire set up, aside from trailer tires being generally junk for highway speeds, is the small diameter tire makes for very high rotational speeds for the bearings. They will fail, I would guess, at a 60% greater rate than if you had some 14" car tires that have more than double the outside circumference. I had a light duty trailer with 12" wheels that smoked the bearings on a 600 mile run at about 70 mph, this was shortly after being repacked with grease. For your light duty needs see if you can find a rear axle out of an older front wheel drive car, they can be really cheap complete with wheels and tires. They are usually dropped in the center also, that will help keep it low. I built a 6' x 12' enclosed trailer with one. It can handle up to what-ever the tire weight rating is(including the weight of the trailer), and parts are easy to get cheap. I just cut the front trailing arm bracket from the car, welded it to the trailer frame, cut some coils out of the springs and welded a bolt to the frame for the shocks. Made a very dependable unit, that towed really well loaded or not. As a matter of fact, well enough that it got stolen from my shop where it was double chained to a building when I lived in Florida. The load rating for your car is based on it's weight, braking strength, engine capacity, tire loads, resistance of it's crumple zones, and mounting point strength. It is good to see that you don't want to exceed that. | ||
| Pso |
All I can say is do not go chineese. Had three blowouts out of four tires within 40 miles of each other. Proper inflation proper load etc. Threads seperated. 3 years old, could not get satisfaction from dealer etc. | ||
| No_rice |
my trailer... loaded up for my winter stay in florida. 80mph+ for about 1300 miles each way   normaally doesnt have that chunk of plywood on the front, but the roads were really crappy and it was going to be a loooong trip, lol. pretty redneck but it worked. those are 12" wheels still original 1997 i believe |
