26X trailer tires?

[dlandersson]

I'm looking at recommendations for 26X 2 wheel trailer tires.

Max load
Size (14" or 15"?)
Load range (C or D?)

[svscott]

I recently put 15's on my X trailer and the tire sidewalls have been rubbing the hull while going around turns. I'm not sure if it's from the wheel offset, the tire width, or sagging springs. Or a combo of all of it - whatever it is, I need to do some gelcoat repair in both sides before my next bottom job. I considered 1/4" wheel spacers as a quick fix but decided I'm going to add a carpeted 1x4 to the bunks before my next trip to gain the clearance I need. I feel like the 14's are woefully undersized (and the single axle too for that matter) for the load they're carrying so I personally think 15" is the way to go.

[K9Kampers]

Back when I bought a 2001X in 2006, I noticed the same pontetial effect with the tires. I forget what the tire size was. I observed the issue to be from the boat not being truly centered on the trailer after hauling out. Numerous redips to adjust centering was not efficient, so I did a fender mod.

I bolted a 24" or so piece of 5/4 PT deck lumber with carpeted edge horizontally on top of each of the steel fenders. I positioned them so that the tires would never contact the hull and allowed for a margin of spacing between the guides and the hull when the boat was centered on the trailer. I fabbed some steel brackets to help support the outer ends of the guide boards on the fenders. This also made for a nice step to climb onboard the boat.

When I upgraded to a new dual axle trailer, I repeated the same mod for all the same benefits as well as to help stiffen the the dual fenders. This time, I used a piece of composite decking instead of PT.

IIRC, my original Mac steel trailer had adequate clearance between the top of the tires and the fenders to allow the thru bolt to be nutted in the fender, whereas the new trailer did not and had the thru bolts nutted on top of the guide boards.

[svscott]

Back when I bought a 2001X in 2006, I noticed the same pontetial effect with the tires. I forget what the tire size was. I observed the issue to be from the boat not being truly centered on the trailer after hauling out. Numerous redips to adjust centering was not efficient, so I did a fender mod.

I bolted a 24" or so piece of 5/4 PT deck lumber with carpeted edge horizontally on top of each of the steel fenders. I positioned them so that the tires would never contact the hull and allowed for a margin of spacing between the guides and the hull when the boat was centered on the trailer. I fabbed some steel brackets to help support the outer ends of the guide boards on the fenders. This also made for a nice step to climb onboard the boat.

When I upgraded to a new dual axle trailer, I repeated the same mod for all the same benefits as well as to help stiffen the the dual fenders. This time, I used a piece of composite decking instead of PT.

IIRC, my original Mac steel trailer had adequate clearance between the top of the tires and the fenders to allow the thru bolt to be nutted in the fender, whereas the new trailer did not and had the thru bolts nutted on top of the guide boards.

Before swapping to 15's, there seemed to be adequate clearance between fenders and tire but after the swap from 14" tires, I found the fender was cutting a groove into the inboard tread lug after a recent trip. I promptly bought a cordless angle grinder and removed the rusty fenders for the trip home.
As for the boat being centered, I modified the diagonal bunk supports at the far back end of the trailer and ensured the boat cannot bounce/ move sideways on the trailer, plus I use a trucker strap over the cockpit to attach boat to trailer. The hull/tire rubbing is happening when the suspension is working hard, like hitting bumps while going around a turn.

I'll hopefully be adding the 2nd axle and will add fenders back on before next season.