A trailer tire question

[502largemouth]

Ok, so yesterday, my buddy had a blowout that didnt result in an immediate flat, while hauling his boat.

The entire width of the tread literally peeled off his trailer tire.

It went flat while we were fishing and when I went to get the truck to get the boat out of the water, the tire WAS flat at that point.

We changed it out, put the spare on and went home.

It was after dark when we got home so this morning he calls me and tells me that the spare that we put on started doing the same thing.

I think his tires are dry rotted.

Can anybody tell me with certainty that I am right here and if so, whats an easy way to tell if your tires on your trailer are dry rotted?

Scares me, if it blew I dont know, could we have flipped his boat on the freeway?

Cyas,

D

[cart7t]

Simple question.

Does he have any idea when the last time the tires were replaced?  If the answer is over 5-6 years or he just doesn't know I would suggest replacing all of them.

[CGH]

Simple question, should get a simple answer. Yea they were either dry rotted or Retreads.

As for telling if the tires or dry rotted or not.  Not sure.  Best to change them out at the first sign of peeling or cracking on either the treads or the side walls.  Some simple change them all out ever 4 or 5 years.

A bot or your life is always worth more than the cost of a few tires

I would say dry rotted and he needs to replace all the tires on his trailer to include the spare

[Glenn]

Having just gone through the research, I can say with confidence to change your tires every 4-5 years, regardless of their physical appearance - earlier if they're underinflated or if you two at speeds faster than 65mph. The tire material degrades naturally over time, and faster when "abused".

It's been an exensive week for me - Tuned up the engine, replaced 4 deep-cycle batteries, and replaced 5 tires on the trailer.

More info:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoSeparationAnxiety.dos

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos

BTW - I'm in no way endorsing Discount Tire Co.   In fact, I would never do business with them, but that's my personal choice.  That said, the info in the links are valid.

[dman]

Having just gone through the research, I can say with confidence to change your tires every 4-5 years, regardless of their physical appearance - earlier if they're underinflated or if you two at speeds faster than 65mph. The tire material degrades naturally over time, and faster when "abused".

It's been an exensive week for me - Tuned up the engine, replaced 4 deep-cycle batteries, and replaced 5 tires on the trailer.

More info:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoSeparationAnxiety.dos

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos

BTW - I'm in no way endorsing Discount Tire Co. In fact, I would never do business with them, but that's my personal choice. That said, the info in the links are valid.

what about replacing the spare that hasnt been used?  I know this is older than 5 years....

[fishfordollars]

I just finished replacing the tires and put new wheels on my trailer two weeks ago. I tried to use several of the tires that I had, but the shop(Discount Tire) refused to mount them as one was 8 yrs. old and the other was 10 yrs old. Two tires were fine so I ended up with four new wheels, two new tires and two tires that were ok. I kept the best looking tire and wheel from the originals for a spare.

Personally I think it is a sales ploy they use to require you to buy additional tires when they tell you they cannot mount them as they are too old. Of course, the trailer was in the air w/o any mounted tires when they let me know so I was at their mercy.

They even refused to even air up the tire I am using for a spare(I had to go elsewhere) as they said it was a risk and they did not want to be responsible.

FYI, I only used Discount Tire because they were the only ones in my area that had the wheels in stock. I don't like doing business with them at all.