Low Profile Trailer tires - Paranoia!!
 

Just wondering if Im the only one who is obsessed with keeping an eye on my Low Profile tires when trailering. I travel with my side mirrors positioned so that I can see the trailer tires at all times - watching for any sign of failure at every pot hole, rail crossing or bump in the road. Watching the trailer bounce around and seeing how the tires take it makes me cringe.

Am I being too paranoid thinking the LP tires (Nexen) will blow any second? Or should I relax and chill...:cool:

I would chill.... I have run the Nexen's on an 18" wheel for years and never had a blow out. I even trailered all the way from Portland to Lake Havasu one year. I do have extreme paranoia about curbing them and take good care to not do that, but I have never had blow out issues or trailers bouncing around.

Hey, get a spare and quit worrying!

Hey Have any of you ever had a tire Failure at freeway speed's? If your lucky your tire go's flat. If your not your tire beats the hell out of your fender and boat.

Amazing how many low pro tire cars you see on the side of the road with tire failures. I would think that trailers are harder on tires than regular cars also...

That said, just chill. The trailer will tell you when there is a blowout.;)

I agree with the "get a spare" comment. You can almost guarantee if you have one you will never need it.
If you don't have one...:banghead:

I'm not convinced that at freeway speeds you will be able to notice anything and do something about it before it happens. However, I used to watch my tires like that (not because they were low profile, but just because I was new at the whole "towing a boat" thing) and the first (visual) sign that my hub had failed was that the tire was wobbly. I pulled over immediately. The damage was done, I needed a new hub, but I guess the up side is that the wheel and tire didn't go flying off and I never dragged the axle. If you're worried about a blowout though, I'd assume that you'd notice it just as fast without watching constantly. It's probably safer in the long run to have your mirrors aimed next to your trailer instead of down so you can see any traffic before you switch lanes! I've seen it so many times when people towing trailers switch lanes with a car right next to them... ugh.

Am i the only one that thinks the triple axle looks ridiculous? Sorry Chat, but I think the triple axle will hurt resale on this one. I hope am wrong for you, but it would deter me....

On that size of boat it does! Looks ok on the 24' MXZ though.

I have a spare. Would never drive without one.

Happned to me last year. 2012 X25, third weekend driving out to the lake (1 hour drive) while I was just leaving the city. I was doing the speed limit (110 kph) and noticed my coffee cup was rattleing, the truck had a slight vibration that I knew was not normal. So I decided to pull over onto the shoulder to walk around the truck and trailer. At first I was thinking my truck threw a wheel weight causing an inbalance of one of my wheels, everything looked ok. checked the trailer and saw that the leading trailer tire tread lost 1/3 of its tread. The tread was delaminating from the core. Luckily I stoped before the tire blew. Tire did not loose any air, but the tire guy said I was seconds from having the tire blow.

I coulnt imagine backing a triple axle trailer into tight areas, sidewalls must take quite a beeting with the amount of flex required for tight turns.

You'd be surprised. I've had no issues at all.

You have 15 hours and keep your boat in a slip, how many times have you towed it?

Here is a pic of my blowout last year. 70mph, I saw it immediately and got stopped as soon as I could. Beat the side of the boat too but I was able to buff it out. I check my tires and psi before every trip but stuff still happens.

I don't keep my boat in a slip, I keep it parked next to my house. I trailer it through a bunch of tight turns and back it up my crazy driveway every time I take it out.

Here is a picture of said crazy driveway.

My bad!:o

No worries! I wish I had a damn slip...

This. Is. Awesome.

Chat - Does your boat cover match the house paint?

Happened to me this weekend....fender=smoked

Chatt, your stuff sucks!!!!! I HATE YOUR STYLE!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH

;)

New malibu covers are grey. Supposedly stops mildew build up.

Has anyone actually had a blowout or delamination from an 18" tire on their trailer?

Happens all the time with the 14" tires (see above). I just had one of my 14" tires delaminate in the garage a week ago but it was still holding air. I've had one blow out and do some minor fender damage on my old boat.

I've never heard of anyone having problems with the low profile tires on trailers but hear about the regular trailer tires having issues all the time.

I've had 6 trailers from Boatmate with 18's on them and I've never had a tire failure. That being said, I don't keep boats for more than a season, so I don't know how these lower profile tires hold up over time.

I haven't heard of too many failures on 18's or 20's. The best part about the "car" tires is that they usually V rated so they can handle high speeds for long distances whereas trailer tires are usually rated for like 70/75 mph.

LOL this is awesome. Sorry timmy...that was just too funny

Yes... see my post (earlier in this thread). The delamination happened at 65mph on a brand new 18" low profile tire. The trailer was on its 3rd trip out.

For some reason I was thinking the low profile tires were more prone to failiure than ST (trailer) rated tires.

Just one more reason I upgraded to a galvanized trailer. Worth every penny. The three flats and broken spring have only added to the character.

Any trailer tire baking in the sun all summer will have issues - dry out way before wearing out....