Trailer wheels

[Charles]

Hi all.

Steve T & I are trying to get new tyres for our trailers as mine have scrubbed off the inside of both tyres in about 3 yrs & Steve's tyres got his new (to him) trailer back from CSC, but we don't think they'll safely get him much further!

We're looking at about £40 fitted, seems a bit expensive or does it?

Firstly my Chandler tells me I might have hit some pot holes (or driven down the track to our club!) which can shift the whole suspension until slightly & result in uneven wear. Apparently easing the bolts holding the suspension until on to the frame, pushing the wheel forward & tightening up the bolts should do the trick.

Has anyone come across this problem & is it as easy to fix as that?

Second, what are the best tyres to go for? Having spoken to a few retailers I understand that car tyres are 2 ply & trailer tyres are 4, 6 or 8 ply. Should we go for 8-ply? Why?

The tyres I've currently got on are 5.00-10's, Imperial I think & apparently increasingly hard to source. Steve's are 145R10's. Am I correct in thinking all 10" tyres will fit the 10" rims we both have? Therefore can I fit the metric tyres? If so I've got an unused 5.00-10 on my spare, can I use that with a 145R10 on the other side or should I replace the spare too (or can I get away with only using it as a spare & drive slowly - like using a space-saver trye on a car)?

Third, Steve hasn't got a spare, he can get a wheel & 145/80R13 from our Chandler for £36 (less than replacing a tyre), but this doesn't carry as much weight as his existing tryes. Again can/should he buy this wheel & then upgrade the tyre at a later date?

Also I found a posting from years ago saying Bob runs his tyres at 50-55 PSI, being used to car tyre pressures I've never gone that high, but know the max is about 65. Do others use this sort of pressure, I haven't been able to find anything on the web which will suggest a pressure for towing anything?

Do people do anything with their tryes when not towing for an extended perion, like letting off the pressure or taking the wheels off & storing away from UV?

If anyone can be bothered to read all the way through this posting I might get some good answers!!

Thanks

[Steve Willis]

Charles,

Have a look at the www.autow.co.uk web shop and look under trailer parts and spares.

They do a whole range of wheels and tyres including 5.00 . Their complete wheel/tyre prices are near the same as just tyres.

Check to see if your hubs have a grease nipple that requires a cut out in the wheel.

Tyre maximum pressures are normally found written in the rubber of the tyre somwhere around the tyre wall.

You can ring them and talk it through.

If your suspension units and hubs are ageing you can get all the necessary parts from them.

Their web shop and delivery is excellent (I have used them about 6-7 times for both my own trailers and for rebuilding our club patrol boat trailers).

Best wishes

Steve Willis

[Steve Willis]

Sorry forgot to mention one thing.

Check how many studs your hubs have and what the spacing is between the studs. This is the distance across the centre i.e. for a four stud hub it is from one stud to the next but one not the adjacent (normally this is 4" or 100mm or 115mm) the difference between 4" and 100mm is about 1.6mm but enough to put stress on the studs if you manage to get the wrong wheel on and then do up the nuts.

Steve

[Bob Carter]

Hi Charles & Steve,
It is true that I use 50-55psi in my trailer tyres but then I have only got small wheels (8 inch) and often carry 2 boats - if you don't do this they run very hot. They are rated to 60psi. I would have upgraded to 10" or mini wheeels years ago but I would have to do some engineering on the mud guards.

Like Steve suggests I buy my tyres on wheels and throw the old wheels in the metal skip at the dump for recycling. I buy them from Towsure which is up by you at Sheffield who I think are the price leader. 145x10 are £29.95 mounted on a wheel or £22.95 just the tyre and then you have to do the tyre lever bit. Often you will need a tube as well which negates the price advantage. Have a look at www.towsure.com.

I've never found my suspension units move - they are very tight on the bolts. I suggest that you jack your trailer up and feel for slack in the wheel bearings or in the rubber of the suspension units. If you need top replace either, Towsure stock the lot.
Regards
Bob

[Steve Willis]

Agreed.

I used to use Towsure as well long before they started the web shop (regular catalogues in the good ole days of tree felling).

The prices of different bits come out better on one or the other in my recent purchases Autow has been better.

Good luck to all this weekend for the big event. We saw the Dutch / Searle boats off on Sunday.

Nearly beat Kevin in one race this last weekend having been within chatting distance the whole race he took his eye of me and let me get past to windward on a reach to the last turning mark but I blew it on the beat to the line by tacking when I should have pinched and he got past - 10 seconds, damn! Neither of us could catch John Dutch though, he sailed off from the start and held us a couple of hundred metres off all the way (F2 bearly 3).

Steve

[Kevin Parvin]

I've got 145R10's on my trailer. Last year I got a bit worried about the state of the wheels, rusty round the edges etc, so replaced with new. However looking round the trailers at the Nationals wheels come in various sizes (and condition) .

I have to keep my trailer outdoors, in a sheltered corner of the garden but put the old wheels back on and store the new in the garage.

I've got one new 5.00-10 wheel but was advised not to mix or use as a spare

Kevin 1615

[Charles]

Is aprox 1mm movement of the tyre acceptable play when jacked up, or are my bearings shot ?

[Steve Willis]

If you have not had the hubs off and regreased them for a few years now maybe the time to take them off and have a look at the condition of the rollers and cages.

If they look OK -all rollers turning and cleaned out, no uneven or stiff roller, then clean them up and refit with new grease.

When you put them back together then you can tweak the castle nuts so the wheels run smoothly but not loose, before you put the split pin back in and then check the play. While you have the bearings out make a note of the bearing part number - it will be around one face of the bearing something and is probably like 62050. Then if you find you need to replace any you know what to get.

Best to do this now before ordering any bits.

[Charles]

Just to open the tyre pressure debate again...

I recently read an article in PBO about trailer sailing & it referenced the website http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/

Under Tyre Safety Information & Caravan Tyres there is what appears to be a useful tyre type/pressure/axle load table to check that you are not overloading your tyres & are using the correct pressure.

For those of us who do a bit of travelling & load up our trailer box with plenty of gear this might be of interest.

[Robert]

Hi all

I put off my decision about new tyres because I have cross ply type. Now I have replaced wheels and tyres (x2). My local trailer place chap said he has supplied me with "Cross Radials" which are stiffer than ordinary radials in order to stop the trailer wobbling. He said they can be mixed on the same axle with a cross ply tyre, so I have kept my best "old" wheel as a spare to carry in case of a puncture.

I also got him to take the old tyres off the rims to use as skeg cushions. He kept the rims and I didn't have to pay a surcharge to dispose of the old tyres.

[Charles]

I've had a look & found the 7% noseweight recomendation interesting. So As my trailer is 75kg & boat trailing weight quoted at 175kg plus my 50kg box = 300kg, not leaving me much leeway as the trailers max gross weight is 365kg, based on the suspension. So I should normally expect noseweight to be around 25kg.

It's definitely worth getting your ladened trailer weighed to check this out. My local council have a list of weight bridges, which cost about £5 a go, so well worth the cost & effort.