Trailer Tire Blowout This week

[Frank C]

Hmmm - me too! ... regarding both the loose hitch ball and the disaster after a long trip.

As I unhitched the trailer one time I found the hitch ball loose just as described above. I stopped by my favorite local mechanic shop and had them reattach it with the impact wrench used for mounting tires. The torque rating for that hitch ball thread is scary-high. You also must assure that the stud diameter matches the hole size in your receiver. Torque cannot substitute for proper fit.

And regarding the long trip, I managed an uneventful 1200 miles RT several seasons ago, only to suffer a dragging brake on the final 30 miles from home to the marina. The brake shoe dragged, heated the drum and wheel, boiled out all the grease, bubbled the paint and cooked the tire .. an original Titan. That all happened in just a half-hour on the freeway, leaving the tire smoking as I rolled into the marina storage lot.

[Frank C]

This topic began with a question about trailer blowouts. Thankfully, I've not had that happen (yet). But there have been numerous owner reports (maybe a dozen times?) that a trailer tire went flat or blew-out while towing the Mac. Whether single axle, or owner upgrades to tandem axle, owner stories have been universally alike in this regard ... that the trailer remained fully managable during a safe, gradual deceleration and stop. I don't know why ... just repeating what I've seen & read.

Regarding choice of tires, my factory 14" Titans always felt hot to the touch during periodic walk-arounds. I'm convinced they were simply too small for the 26X single axle trailer load, plus the fact that bias plies induce more friction and heat. I upsized to 15" Goodyear Marathon radials in load range "C" (@ 2,150#), and the tires are just barely warm during walk-arounds, even with the same single axle. The 15-inch tires addressed a major towing weakness of the 26X, and a major towing anxiety, for me. They are even available rated up to 2,500# in the "D" load range, but they should be mounted on six-lug wheels (... too many changes, IMO). I'm satisfied with upsizing to the 15" Goodyear Marathon radial STs, through which load-range "C" brings total tire capacity up to 4.300 pounds.
( It might be that 14" radial tires would run just as cool as my 15s, but I never went there! )

This thread reveals the first problems I've seen about 26M trailers, now delivered with 15" tires. Are the Carlisle and Titan tires just defect-prone? Deac's problem occurred with bias tires too ... I would insist on radial STs, as a minimum, along with appropriate wheels designed for trailer usage.
(See this earlier thread regarding trailer wheels.)

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

. . . the trailer remained fully managable during a safe, gradual deceleration and stop.

I've towed Mac's, on their single axle trailers for over 20,000 miles.
The only tire problem I've had was coming back from Key West, towing my 26C, after Hurricane Andrew.
It was either getting hit by an over-wide mobile home being towed towards me or go off the road.
The starboard tire hit some debris and blew.
Like Frank said, above . . .

[deacm]

Deac's problem occurred with bias tires too ... I would insist on radial STs, as a minimum, along with appropriate wheels designed for trailer usage

I'm not sure what you mean here frank. The problem I had was that the trailer had been delivered to me with ONE radial and THREE bias ply tires and it was the radial that blew out because the tires were not all of the same type. I'm not sure that means I had trouble with bias ply specifically, but rather that the tires were not of a uniform type. Are you saying that bias plies are a problem in themselves?

[KayakDan]

Brand new 26m(2006) and the third or fourth time out with the trailer,I had a belt slip in a trailer tire. It didn't blow out,but actualy made the tire go out of round,which set up one hull of a vibration. I still have bias ply tires,but I went to "D" rated tires. The math was just too close with "C" rated tires. They're probably fine with an empty boat,but who drags an empty boat around with them? No problems since I upgraded the tires,and they run warm,but not hot.

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

. . . the trailer remained fully managable during a safe, gradual deceleration and stop.

Like Frank said, above . . .

Yep, I can agree. I lost my starboard side alum. wheel when all the lugs sheared off at approx. 50 MPH. The trailer sit down with a loud Thud...as the wheel passed us up. We simply pulled into the middle median, and did the repairs. (real trouble finding the correct lug bolts though--and now I carry an extra set with me). We never lost control of the Mac-X in this trailer mishap. This event proves that those lug nuts require the correct torque--and rechecking periodically !!
Carrying a small hydrolic jack with a few wood support blocks is also a good idea to keep handy...

[Frank C]

Deac's problem occurred with bias tires too ... I would insist on radial STs, as a minimum, along with appropriate wheels designed for trailer usage

I'm not sure what you mean here frank. ...

I'm not sure that means I had trouble with bias ply specifically, but rather that the tires were not of a uniform type. Are you saying that bias plies are a problem in themselves?

Deac,
I missed that part of your story - that it was the radial tire that blew. But yes, I'm "predjudiced" against "bias" plied tires. My 14" bias Titans always ran very hot, can't say whether that was due to carcass style or inadequate capacity. The Goodyear radials are barely warm after a half-hour on the freeway. Just as a SWAG, I probably have a 4,000# load on the radials' 4,300# of tire capacity.

And yes, I've always heard that mixing radial and bias-ply tires is a no-no! I'm not sure why. The Goodyear ST Marathons also had detractors during their first few years on the market, but that problem seems to have cleared up. Anyhow - since I have only two on the ground ... I much prefer radials with my single axle.

[Catigale]

YOu shouldnt mix them on across an axle since they handle differently wrt to sway - you dont want your car to have an asymmetric response in handling wrt left and right

I doubt the radial in Frank's case blew because there were bias ply tires on the other wheels.

[Hamin' X]

The main reason that radials were looked down upon for trailer tires, was the weak sidewalls. This used to be the main difference between trailer tires and passenger car tires. Trailer tires were made with much stronger sidewalls, due to the proclivity for drivers running trailer wheels over curbs, or off the edge of highways. Radials only have two ply sidewalls and the cords are aligned with each other, making them more susceptible to side impact damage. They also bulge out more under load, making them easy to damage on road edges. It is the greater sidewall strength and lower speed rating that gives them the ST designation and due to the lower speed rating, they are not legal for use on passenger cars. Also, due to the heaver sidewalls, they run hotter.

The weak sidewalls on radials, also made them slow to be adopted by the trucking industry and resulted in many failures on light trucks. Newer materials used in the construction of modern radial tires, have eliminated this vulnerability and lead to the adoption of ply rating instead of the older number of plies listed. You may recall that when fiberglass belted tires first came out, the were rated as 2+2 ply. Two ply bias sidewalls, plus two fiberglass belts. These ratings were cumbersome and lead to the ply rating system. You might have had a two ply tire with a four ply rating. This has since been supplanted by the load range system, using letters.

However, the bias against radial trailer tires still persists. Pun intended.

[Moe]

The two tires that came apart on me were Titan radials. I replaced them with Goodyear Marathon radials... same thing Airstream uses, and they ran cool on the Mac trailer, even at the same 14" size. The 8 year-old Carlisle tires on the Capri trailer will be replaced with Marathons next year.

--
Moe

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

i too, had a Titan blow-out. put my spare on, traveled another 70 miles (hey! it was a Sunday evening), and when i reached my destination the "other" Titan was beginning to separate.

two new Goodyear Marathon's, galvanized wheels, and i'm "good-2-go!"

but...i still want to do the "add an axle" package this winter. you know, when it cools to 55 at night. I love L.A.

Bob T.
"DaBob"
'02X w/ '04 90-TLDI & '06 2.5-Suzuki

[deacm]

You know, I don't know what our 'sample size' is here on this site, but it seems to me that we are having wayyyyyyy too many blowouts compared to what I think should be 'normal'. I mean, EVERYONE is chipping in with a blow out story it seems. Ya wanna run your poll again Frank now that we seem to have everyone's attention?

[kmclemore]

Heck, I feel left out... I've never had one!

[KayakDan]

Heck, I feel left out... I've never had one!

Well,just keep trying,and maybe you will be lucky enough to have the thrilling experience!

It's a little like the saying about sailing in Maine-"If you haven't run aground-you haven't been around!"

[Frank C]

You know, I don't know what our 'sample size' is here on this site, but it seems to me that we are having wayyyyyyy too many blowouts compared to what I think should be 'normal'. I mean, EVERYONE is chipping in with a blow out story it seems. Ya wanna run your poll again Frank now that we seem to have everyone's attention?

Yeah Deac, it seems that polls frequently don't capture the total cross-section. Maybe it's because some folks stay in the Powersailors forum and never go into a sub-forum.

Regarding feedback in this thread, I just realized one important factor for your case. I want radial tires because I have a single axle and heat, due to friction and load, is the enemy. But whenever owners have added another axle ... radial tires have less urgent since their four tires are each carrying much lower weight. Since you have two axles I think any tire choice, tias or radial, should be fine as long as you get ST (special trailer) tires.