Trailer wheels & tires

I'll be purchasing some new 4.80x12 wheels and tires for my trailer; most likely galvanized.

The height of the trailer is great, so that's why I'm sticking with the same size. Any certain ply you would recommend? I want to go on a few road trips this year, so durability and reliability are important.

Note - Trailer has bearing buddies, so I just need some recommendations for the wheels and tires.

Check out Harbor Freight

Just did, but no galvanized trailer wheels. Will most likely order from an online marine supplier. Thanks anyways.

Not sure what kind of boat you have, but I just recently bought passenger tires for my trailer and put a fresh coat of rustoleum on the wheels. I had no reservations doing it because my rig is light, and I don't drive more than an hour to any lake around here.

Check out Northern Tool. Not sure if they are local to you or not.

E-trailer has them from 54.95 each. Comes with rims and tires already mounted. Don't know about shipping but I've always had good luck with e-trailer.

SixRobblees has them at 87.17
they are at:
N. 909 Fancher 99212
(509) 535-8862
https://www.sixrobbless.com

Thanks for your input gentlemen, appreciate it.

I got galv 4 lug wheels and tire for $30.00 plus tax at WM. Same price for painted....no brainer as I fish the salt water coast about 90% of the time.



Frank

Opps..I did get them as a clearance 2 months ago...they may be higher now. WM has had some killer sales over the last 3 months. I bought Gulp shrimp for 3.49 a pack reg price was 5.99.


Frank

Uugghh. Looks like I'm in the market too. I'm seeing bad things about these Carlilse tires all over the place. I dunno how much life these have left. They're not even two years on the road--bought new in 2008. Any thoughts?

never use passenger tires on a trailer. the suspension and weight loads are structurally different. Trailer tires have stiff sidewalls for a reason, passenger tires dont have stiff sidewalls and are not meant to carry weight. Truck tires are designed to carry weight, however not as much as trailer tires, nor are truck tires designed to handle the rigors of a trailer suspension. Always use trailer tires on a trailer. Its for your safety and everyone else on teh roads safety.

As for 12" tires, check Menards, $40 in my area.

I ended up buying new Carlisle tires, from a tire dealer I trust after years of excellent customer service and treatment. I spent $40 a piece. Turned out that my prblem tire was underinflated by 50%, which is absolutely my fault. I don't know for how long it was this way.

Tire guy stressed making sure I paid attention to the air pressure and explained why. They have 45 stores and have had no issues with these tires. He said they are small enough to address it if they did have issues, yet big enough to know if it was a problem. Based on years of trust and service, I took the chance and bought new Carlisle tires, figuring my local dealer will stand by them and make it right should I have a problem.

For what it's worth, several other tire shops said 2-3 years is what I could expect from a trailer tire, especially since I'm putting on 4500-5000 miles a year on them.

Also, found this link and thought it worth posting. Some good info about what makes trailer tires different from a regular tire.

Carlisle trailer tire guide click here.

If you bump into your tire guy again, ask him what would cause a set of Carslisles like yours to dish the leading edges of the treads on either side of the tire.

My tires don't have 1500 miles on them yet and the tread looks like mud tires, inside and out on both tires.

I did figure out over the weekend that what I have thought was a bent rim, hub or loose spindle nut is actually my tires flat spotting and bulging every time that the boat (or even the trailer by itself) is parked. I've been watching what looked like a wobble in the side mirrors for over a year now and tightened the spindle nuts a bit last year with no change. I jacked the trailer up on Saturday and spun the wheel while looking at the rim and it wasn't wobbling. That's when I went to the front side and spun it as the brick that I chock my tire with was behind it for reference. You could definitley see what looked like a tire wobble. While spinning it slowly and watching a reference point on the brick, there was an 8" or so area that was obviously 1/4" out from the rest of the tire. Upon closer inspection, that 8" area was where the tire was contacting the ground while it was parked, causing a bulge.

That would make my tires extremely out of balance every time I hook to it until they spin and heat up enough to get back into round. I have a suspicion that it is also what is causing my tread wear issue.

There's no way to balance that out of the tires. Every time the boat or trailer is parked, it will change the point where the tire is out of balance.

I'm really not liking these Carlisle tires. I have run them for years and never had an issue but this set is really leaving a lot to be desired.

Quackrstackr said:

If you bump into your tire guy again, ask him what would cause a set of Carslisles like yours to dish the leading edges of the treads on either side of the tire.

Click to expand...

Sure. If you can, post up a pic or shoot me a PM and I'll take it to him when I'm able.

Here is a picture where you can hopefully see what I am talking about. Both tires look the same.



If you look down toward the bottom where that you can get a sense of depth, you can really see the dishing. The tread blocks to the right of center do the same thing but you really can't see it in the pic.

I used harborfrieght tires n rims on my Alumacraft. On my Smokercraft ( no longer own) I used GoodYear trailmasters. On the Ranger, I have not put tires on it, its a 2004 and still has the blue junk on the white lettering.

cyberflexx said:

...still has the blue junk on the white lettering.

Click to expand...

Some soapy water and a scrub brush will take care of that problem :wink: . Sorry, couldn't resist :lol: