Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Soooo....had grandkids visiting us in Kentucky from Cincy and wanted to take them out on the river for awhile. I'm tooling along with my grandson in the truck, listening to his music on the stereo when I start to hear a scraping, grinding noise coming from somewhere...yeah its coming from my rig somewhere....pull over in downtown Owensboro main street, and someone on the street is hollering that I've lost a tire on the trailer. I don't know the details, but I must have run over something and cut the tire down. Then a guy on a bicycle rides up and says he saw it fly off the trailer several blocks back, and it was nearly on fire it was so hot. A quick call to AAA and they got me going in about thirty minutes. I've been meaning to put a jack in my truck,but didn't and now it bites me in the ass. Ruined the wheel too.

Ouch, that sucks. All the years towing; those type tires are only ones I have ever had problems with, I have those once again on pontoon trailer. I think since they are so small they just spin everything faster and make more heat....
Did you guys have fun on the water tho

Wow. I carry spare but also a little go bag with foot pump, gauge, breaker bar, and plug kit....you didn't leave a whole lot of that one to plug though! Main thing is everyone is safe. Imagine running 70 down a 6% grade and seeing that tire in your review say "Adios, bitches!"

We made it to the mighty Ohio river and enjoyed several hours of boating, but the storms arrived right on time, (after missing the rain forecast all day long) so we made a dash for the dock. I agree that these smaller wheels probably build up heat quicker due to more revolutions to cover the same distance at a given speed, compared to larger tires and rims. With the trailer being a tandem, I never see the rear tires and axle unless going around a corner.

I added a tool box to my truck and now I carry a collapsible 4 way lug wrench, bottle jack and some wood blocks for cribbing to jack the trailer up. Thinking about adding a tire pressure monitoring system as well. Then I would know when a tire is losing pressure in real time.

fiddlebick wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 08, 2020 10:12 am

I added a tool box to my truck and now I carry a collapsible 4 way lug wrench, bottle jack and some wood blocks for cribbing to jack the trailer up. Thinking about adding a tire pressure monitoring system as well. Then I would know when a tire is losing pressure in real time.

That's not a bad idea if you tow a lot or a good distance.

Marc

I have the same tires on mine - they are about 7 years old with about 1/4 of a mile on them. No way that I would trust them on the road now.

The Loadstar donuts are actually pretty good tires. What I have noticed is many dealers love to put the cheapest/smallest trailer they can under a pontoon to keep the package price down. I see a lot of Tritoons being pulled on a pair of 2000# axles with 10” donuts and no brakes.

I have thought about TPMS also. I have them on our travel trailer and last year they saved a lot of damage from flat tire.

If you get them make sure they are submersible. Also have your valve stems replaced with steel ones. My TT problem was caused by the monitors putting stress on rubber valve stems and that is what failed.

I carry a battery impact wrench. plugs, and this jack https://www.amazon.com/Trailer-Aid-lbs- ... 223&sr=8-4

I hope I am not hijacking this thread but this question is related to the topic.

One of the TPMS sensors on my 2005 Tahoe quit working and I have a constant message about it in the DIC. I imagine the others are not far behind. The tire dealers all quote about $400 to replace them. How would one of the travel trailer systems work on that vehicle? It might be a lot cheaper.

Yeah TDJ, I have that issue on my 06 Tacoma. After about 4 years the TPMS dash light came on. Tires have been good and properly replaced all these years, but I am not going to pay $500 to replace the monitors every couple years (per service guy that is their lifespan). I have learned to live with the TPMS dash light.

Join the club. All 4 or my tires blew at 600 miles. Tire defect and the the trailer manufacturer made good on them. I was in the south Georgia boonies and it added 8 hours to getting home, including two trips to Tractor Supply for replacements. Only place open in 30 miles. Don't throw blown tires in your boat without something down on the floor to protect it. Terrible mess to clean.

My TPMS can handle 8 trailer and 6 truck tires.

Well, here's mine.

Rainier ST145R12 LRE. 1520lb and 81mph rated, tandem axle so should be 6000lb capacity, total load including trailer is around 4600lb so plenty of headroom.
Tires made November 2018, came on new trailer purchased July 2019, less than 3000 miles total all two lane 55mph roads.
Pressure verified at 80psi cold every trip (tire and trailer manufacturer spec), bearing play and lug torque checked a few times a year.
Trailer was even on jack stands over the winter to keep the tires off the ground, and the trailer is garaged.

The right rear one on the braking axle unloaded at 55mph on a good road. The other three measured 82psi after I pulled over and were cool as were all the bearings....luckily happened a half mile from a volunteer fire station with a nice sized parking lot as it was on the Cherokee Foothills Parkway that has some desolate areas. Complete tread came off and wrapped around the back of the hub/axle, bent a 3/16" steel fender bracket welded to the frame, and tore the fender off. Put the spare on and made it to the lake, and bought another spare (although only 1000lb rated which is all I could find) to have just in case. Almost needed it......

The second pic is the front left tire, complete opposite side and axle as the one that blew, compared to the other two. It's ballooned to about an inch larger so was lucky to get home. Tredit carries the tire/wheel warranty and service so I started a warranty claim and asked for reimbursement of all four tires. Already bought four Carlisle HD's....nobody makes an ST tire in this size in the US anymore but Carlisle has at least been around a while and maybe has better QC. Can't fit a bigger tire due to axle layout and fenders so I'll be carrying TWO spares from now on.

When making a long trip...
Carry two spares
Keep tools accessible so you do not have to unload anything to get to them..
Carry a breaker bar....and...the right socket.
I carry a small, cheap floor jack.....Way easier.
A piece of thick plywood to put under jack if the ground is soft
Flashlight!!!!!!
A small tarp so you dont have to lay in the dirt or mud.
Flares almost always make the jackasses that speed by way too close slow down.