Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'll try to be brief. So tooling down the highway I noticed extra tire noise, pulled over passenger side trailer tire lost all its tread just fell apart. still inflated so I nursed it off the highway. oh bye the way I ordered a spare yesterday so like an asshole no spare. so I call every place in NH and Mass that sells tires no one carries this size.call insurance tow is coming in 3 hrs, ok no biggy, mean wile i call marina were I bought it, talk to the owner he says I'll take 2 off my trailer here be on my way. wow 2 hour ride I love this guy! he gets there gives me 2 new tires on rim change it out of I go. 20 miles later other side tire peels off the rim and tears to shreds. thank god i have the other. Here's wear i need your brains. I looked at the unit that holds leaf springs in place looks like passenger side moved forward about an inch,when I got home both new tires were hotter than hell, would that slight shift destroy my tires or am I missing something else. Thanks all.

No you are not missing nuttin! That is a recipe for disaster!

That, tire pressure, or bad tires is the only thing I can think could be going on. The friction created by the offset is very likely your problem.

Measure from a center point on the coupler to the front of each side front tire it should be exactly the same distance, if its not then your out of alignment, tread peel is normally caused by dry rotted tires

Last year, my brand new trailer came with tires that suffered from dry rot. These trailers can sit for some time before they are paired with a boat and sold. That doesn't even take into account the time it took for the tire to be manufactured, shipped, and installed on the trailer.

Mine were replaced under warranty and I haven't had an issue since. Wouldn't be surprised if that was part of the problem.

Cant say what the problem with Ron's tires are without seeing them, but here's my advice for trailer tires. This is coming from somebody in the tire industry....please make sure that you check your air pressure before each trip. Inflate them to the max PSI listed on the sidewall.
When tires are under inflated, they roll with more resistance. More resistance equals more heat. Excessive heat causes blow outs. We all use our pontoons primarily in the summer when it's nice and hot. Under inflated tires are a recipe for disaster. Ron- by no means am I suggesting that's what happened here, just wanted to offer some advice to all.

A couple of pictures would help me out with the axle situation that you mentioned. Not really sure how the axle can slide forward or aft on the trailer.

C_M_25 wrote:A couple of pictures would help me out with the axle situation that you mentioned. Not really sure how the axle can slide forward or aft on the trailer.

Sorry not axel, the leaf spring seem to be a seperate unit, one of the u-joints seems to have moved forward. I will get a picture up as soon as I can. I'll have to get a closer look underneath. I checked the psi & grease yesterday after a long ride home from a salt water dip. The tires looked brand new but anythings possible. I think trailer is more likely problem. I also regularly check how hot the rims and tires get after driving, today was the 1st time they were real hot. only in 70's here today.

google "china bomb trailer tires". There are some real crap tires out there.

Tim

I don't think the axle out of alignment with the trailer would do it but if the tires are not aligned with each other that could. Look to see if the good tire tread is scuffed to one side. Check the weight rating on the tire. My new trailer came with a bent axle and I am waiting for the new one to come from the factory. Tires scuffed to one side and overheated. I used a long straight edge against the tire to illustrate to the dealer what was wrong.

Take your boat and trailer back to the selling dealer, and have them check your trailer's alignment. If it's heating up tires and shredding tires, you've got a problem.

Now getting around to Chinese Will Pop tires: I suspect every new pontoon trailer has crap Chinese tires on them when new. The really good LT (E rated) tires start at 15" tires, and are mostly available for 16" tires--commonly found on fifth wheel RV's. I've replaced my brand new RV tires with high quality LT (E) ribbed tires.

Unfortunately, 13" pontoon/tritoon tires are very hard to find in any quality tires. Remember that inflation pressures should be max'd out, and speeds are limited to 65 mph on any ST (special trailer) tires.

At 600 miles, all 4 original tires blew out within minutes of each other. The trailer mfg reimbursed all costs related to purchasing new tires. I had to work it through the dealer.

Sounds like a single axle trailer? Any single axle would very marginal under your pontoon unless it had a 5000# axle and 15"+ tires on it. There is a dealer around here that is notorious for putting single axle trailers under pontoons that should have dual axles, seen a luxury 24' toon at that dealer a few weeks ago sitting on a single axle trailer with 13" tires, the TIRES were only rated for 1330 each! I really doubt that toon with an empty gas tank was under 2660 let alone the weight of the trailer/batteries/coolers.

It sounds like you have something out of alignment. Measuring very carefully from the coupler to each tire is the best way to check alignment. Any difference in measurement from one side to the other is a big problem. It causes tire scrub which is friction which causes heat and tire failure.
Trailer tires are very different than car/ truck tires the sidewalls are constructed to be stiffer than car/ truck tires. This helps control trailer sway and tire bruising. You should look for the ST (Special Trailer) rating on any tire you buy. The next thing you should check is the Load Range which is a letter code ( B.C.D or E ) translating the codes carrying capacity from between 745lbs to 1650lbs per tire. For example my single axle trailer has 20.5 x 8.0 x 10" ST load range E tires which can support 3700 lbs (1650lbs x 2). Tire pressure is also critical always inflate your tires to the max capacity listed on the tire.
An excellent article about tires can be found on Eastern Marine Supply website. Hope this helps you with your problem

Yep, some how got knocked 1" forward on passenger side. It is a single axle trailer but thats all it needs. the boat with motor & fuel is around 2,300lbs.

Once you get that right , you will be ok!