Franklinton resident Trey Riley fits into his surroundings even better than the game that frequently finds itself in his sights.
When is the last time you took a close look at your trailer tires? Trailer tires wear with age, but when they begin to wear unevenly, they are telling you that there is a problem that needs your attention.
Recently I had a conversation with a customer who noticed his right-side trailer tire was wearing on the inside surface and the left side tire was wearing on the outside surface. He wasn’t sure what was causing this problem, and needed help diagnosing the cause.
The answer was simple: His undercarriage was out of square. In other words, the tires were out of alignment.
Way back in ancient history, trailer frames had holes drilled in the side every few inches. The undercarriage, which consisted of the axle, springs and tires, was mounted to the trailer frame using these holes to bolt them solidly together. These holes were drilled by machine, and once the undercarriage was mounted, it was almost impossible to become misaligned.
Present-day trailer manufacturers are constantly looking for more time- and cost-efficient methods of building their trailers. One change that was made several years ago was to eliminate the predrilled frames and instead use U-bolts to hold the undercarriage to the frame of the trailer. The labor and materials cost savings have been substantial.
Unfortunately, this new system does allow for an increased chance of human error. The undercarriage has to be measured and adjusted so that it is perfectly square to the frame. If the builder is just a slight bit off with his measurements, the undercarriage will be out of alignment and the tires will wear.
The other drawback to this new system is that the undercarriage can shift position if the U-bolts are not properly tightened. If you hit a pothole or maybe some debris on the roadway, that impact may be enough to cause the axle to shift out of alignment.
If you have any doubts about your undercarriage, you can measure the distance from the center of the spring bolt to the back of the frame on each side. If it is not the same, you will need to readjust your undercarriage location.
There are other uneven wear patterns that you should be aware of. The most common wear pattern we see is one in which both sides of the tire show wear and the center looks like new. This is caused by under-inflation of air pressure.
All trailer tires have a pressure rating. You should find out what that rating is, and be sure to keep your tires filled to that maximum inflation. When trailer tires are properly inflated, they run on the center tread, but when they become under-inflated, the center tread collapses in and the tire rides on the outer edges of the tread. Under-inflation also causes the tire to become hotter on long road trips. This can sometimes lead to a blow out.
Another uneven tire wear pattern to watch for is a tire that is worn on the inside treads only. This is usually a sign of a bent axle. About the only way to bend an axle is to hit a curb or pothole. The weight of the boat pushing down on the trailer will cause the axle to be bent upward. You may be able to see the tire is actually tilted, and the wear pattern will be on the inside. Unfortunately when this happens, the only correction is to have the axle replaced.
While you are checking for uneven wear on your tires, you might also want to check for signs of dry rot. Inspect the side walls of the tires for any signs of cracking in the rubber. If you see this, you should immediately replace those tires.
We were sitting in the office having a lunch break one day when we heard a loud explosion in the yard outside the office. We jumped up and ran outside where we discovered that one of the boat trailers had a tire just simply explode while parked in the yard. When we inspected the other tires on the trailer, we found that they were all badly dry rotted. Once tires begin to dry rot, they become very weak and can have a blow out at anytime. Luckily for this customer, it happened in the yard and not on the open road.
Take good care of those trailer tires. Nothing can ruin a great day faster than finding yourself stranded on the side of the road with a blown trailer tire.
If you have any questions about your boat, motor or trailer, you can e-mail me at hanktheboatdr@yahoo.com. Have a safe and fun boating summer.
