Restoration Tips
Checked Your Tires?
WORDS DOUG DWYER FROM MOTORSPOT INC.
Fads and trends come and go in
the automotive enthusiast arena.
In the over sixty years we have
been involved, we’ve seen a plethora
of wheel and tire combinations. Until
recently, we’ve had few people request
special applications for trailers, and then
only the custom boat trailers, but that has
all changed recently. Glamping vintage
trailers with white wall tires and special
wheels have become the latest rage.
This trend comes with some challenges
as there are correct ways and there are
wrong ways to do things when it comes to
trailers. Part of the “sticker shock” to a tire
and wheel upgrade is the cost of doing it
correctly, compared to doing it cheaply.
You could throw some passenger car
white wall tires on your old wheels and
get by fairly inexpensively, but if you do
that be prepared to spend a few hours
stuck on the side of a highway in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
People often ask me if they need special
tires for trailers. The answer is that you do
need tires that have load rating capable
of handling the speed and weight of your
trailer. Often that is an extra load rating
than your typical car tire offers. We offer
a variety of white wall tires in sizes and
load ranges for most vintage style trailers.
These days people are towing trailers at
speeds never imagined when many of the
vintage trailers were first manufactured.
Not only are the speeds and distance
more than originally contemplated, the
weights of many of many have increased
from the original design as people tend to
carry a lot more stuff in them these days!
You could throw some
passenger car white wall tires
on your old wheels and get by
fairly inexpensively, but if you
do that be prepared to spend
a few hours stuck on the side
of a highway in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
Choosing the correct tire is essential for
dependable towing. It is important to
remember that the weight of the trailer is
not static. The tire is also absorbing all of
the bumps in the road, and the constant
side to side sway that even the best
hitches cannot prevent. And all of that
energy is passed through the tires to the
wheels, bearings, and axles. Ignoring the
condition and maintenance of just one
these components will put you on the
shoulder of a highway.
In addition to tire size, tires are designed
for specific service. One of the key
designators of what the tire is designed
to do is the load rating. This is especially
important for trailers. Somewhere on the
tire, cast into the side wall of the tire
will be the words: “Max Load” and some
numbers, followed by: “Max Pressure”
and more numbers. The “Max Load” is
the amount of weight, in pounds that
each tire can safely carry if the maximum
(cold) pressure is achieved. Trailer
owners should know what their trailers
weigh, and if possible, how that weight
is distributed (to each wheel and to the
tongue). I would want the load capacity
of the tires to have a capacity equal to at
least 120% of the trailer’s weight.
By far the most asked question is; “Can
I run passenger tires on my trailer?” My
answer would be a qualified “Probably
not”.
There are tires built specifically for trailer
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