Hot Tires?

If ST trailer tires, internal heat buildup will kill them - from being under-inflated, overloaded and/or towed over speed rating. Internal damage is cumulative too. If they've not been treated correctly for some time or history is unknown, I'd replace them pdq.

Tires do heat up though from travelling down the road and the pressure will go up which is perfectly normal. Without an IR gun, you're guessing as to them being too hot. Tires on one side of a trailer can get much hotter too if one side is out of direct sunlight. Have you set the pressure "cold" before heading out on the road? 30 psi is waay too low if LRC ST tires and asking for a tire failure.

You might take a read through the RVtiresafety.net blog and post on tire temp. here and his posts on ST tire pressure.

Like people have said.....
They were underinflated at 30 psi.
They should be at max which would be 50 psi for load range C.
Guy at discount tire said to always run max sidewall pressure on trailer tires, less heat generated that way.

mkirsch wrote:

SweetLou wrote:
not overloaded because it is designed for that boat.

Ok, then magic, I guess.

Seriously, you can't say that because we've already had one person in this thread prove that it is not necessarily the case. 2900+lb boat on a 2500lb axle. Overloaded.

Boats and trailers are matched by the boat dealer, not the factory. They are just like RV dealers, not knowing a %$#@ thing about trailer ratings, weights, or towing. They just put the boat on whatever trailer is cheapest, and fits the boat. If everyone is lucky the boat isn't heavier than the trailer is rated to carry.

Then you throw in the owner. Owners tend to know even less about weights and towing, and if they buy the boat out of the water, they have to find a trailer to haul it and they'll just buy the first boat trailer they come across.

I never bought that boat at a dealer. It was thrown in on a house deal, so why would I think that a boat the previous owner purchased from a dealer wouldn't be matched for weight. You assume that all dealers are idiots and mismatch what they sell you. Not really so and you know it so don't mislead here. I will do the prudent thing here and get it weighed only so I can make sure the new tires are matched correctly. Also good to point out that if the trailer set up was not correct for the boat, then the bearings would be hot as well by carrying to heavy of a load and they run cool.

Particularly if a guy walks into the boat dealer on Wednesday evening, agrees on a price on a boat, and wants it for this comming weekend.. the salesman knows better than to say “we don’t have an appropriate trailer in stock, but I can get it here in a few days.”

SweetLou wrote:
not overloaded because it is designed for that boat.

Ok, then magic, I guess.

Seriously, you can't say that because we've already had one person in this thread prove that it is not necessarily the case. 2900+lb boat on a 2500lb axle. Overloaded.

Boats and trailers are matched by the boat dealer, not the factory. They are just like RV dealers, not knowing a %$#@ thing about trailer ratings, weights, or towing. They just put the boat on whatever trailer is cheapest, and fits the boat. If everyone is lucky the boat isn't heavier than the trailer is rated to carry.

Then you throw in the owner. Owners tend to know even less about weights and towing, and if they buy the boat out of the water, they have to find a trailer to haul it and they'll just buy the first boat trailer they come across.

Ron3rd wrote:
Fwiw, trailer axles are supposed to be "bowed"

Not that way. Axles are supposed to "frown" at you, not "smile."

All good info. Everything points to tires being old and check the weight. Aged out and time to get new shoes.

eHoefler wrote:

SweetLou wrote:
Tire set up is how this has been rolling down the road since 2006. Single axle, not overloaded because it is designed for that boat. Nothing else was in the boat. [COLOR=]I inflated the tires to 30 lbs and they have always been jacked up off the ground for winter storage. I agree that I was close to tire failure but I just couldn't understand why they got so hot when the conditions were ideal and the load was normal.

Under inflated, If correct pressure, wrong tire, not a trailer tire.
If trailer tire, needs to 50 psi

From experience, I never fully inflate a very old tire. I stay 5 psi short because they do blow. I assume that these tires are from 2006 as the boat was when it came in a house deal. They will be changed but I just didn't know what could cause this to happen.

You said both tires felt the same. That is a very good sign. Make sure they’re fully inflated. You might want to check the DOT #. The first two numbers are the week they were manufactured and the last two are the year. Even with the care you’ve taken of them they time out at about 5 years. At that point they’re getting risky, time for baby’s new shoes.

routeforty wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Yeah, probably overloaded. Often times you'll roll up on someone towing a boat on those spindly little 12" tires, and you can see they're clearly overtaxing the tires and axle, as the wheels are splayed out at a 15 degree angle to vertical.

What size tires? What is the weight rating? What boat?

Amen to that. I noticed our pontoon trailer tires wearing on the inside, then looked at the axle, which was bowed so badly it looked like it was smiling at me. Took it to a scale and the gross weight was 2950lbs on a 2500lb axle. Had it changed to a 3500lb axle and end of problem. This was a brand new boat & trailer with only 2 trips from Oh to Fl, and about 10 trips to the lake. Maybe 4000 miles(but probably less).Gary

Fwiw, trailer axles are supposed to be "bowed"

It produces camber