Trailer tire speed rating.....

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jimmbo

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When you're on a schedule you need to do what it takes to get to your detination.

Speeding with a trailer is not the most Intelligent thing to do, speeding above a tires' speed rating is even less so. If you want to maim/kill yourself, go ahead. I just don't want others to have to pay for your Arrogance
 

GA_Boater

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When you're on a schedule you need to do what it takes to get to your detination.

Say GA, how many times have you watched that vid???? :)

lebenty leben times so far. Better than counting sheep.
 

gm280

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I do remember driving out to California from Georgia a few times years ago, and there are places that the road is so straight and goes on forever that if, at that time, I had a brick for the gas pedal and a rope for the steering wheel, I could have taken a nap and never drove off the road. Boring is an excited word to describe those roads. :eek:
 

bruceb58

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I used to drive faster until saw a trailer tire blow out on a rig in front of me and the whole rig went into the median and flipped over.
 

WIMUSKY

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Speeding with a trailer is not the most Intelligent thing to do, speeding above a tires' speed rating is even less so. If you want to maim/kill yourself, go ahead. I just don't want others to have to pay for your Arrogance

Thanks for your wisdom.......... What about all the other drivers flying by me?

Need a bigger truck...

It is a big truck and setup for a 5th wheel from the factory. Just don't have a Cummin's. Do have a 6.4 Hemi....... Hills get pretty steep in S IL, W KY and W TN........
 
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R055

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Here in washington during the summer, perfectly normal to see pickup trucks flying by pulling big trailers(boats, 5th wheel trailers, 5th wheel rvs, normal rvs) going 80+ in the left lane on I-90 going camping. I usally go about 65-70 in the right lane when towing.
 

jimmbo

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Thanks for your wisdom.......... What about all the other drivers flying by me?

What about them? Let them have the tire failure and resulting mess. Is your manhood going to fall off if you are not in front of them?
 

bruceb58

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Yep....I see people fly by me all the time. Stupid is as stupid does.
 

89retta

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Thanks for your wisdom.......... What about all the other drivers flying by me?



Not to be a smarty pants but that's a stupid way of thinking. And if they all drove over a cliff would you ?
 

WIMUSKY

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Thanks for your wisdom.......... What about all the other drivers flying by me?



Not to be a smarty pants but that's a stupid way of thinking. And if they all drove over a cliff would you ?

Meant to grab jimmbo's comment too.....

C'mon people, let's use our heads. All I did was make an observation. I don't care if they pass me. I was getting my doors blown off for 6 days..... All I'm saying is, who's really the dangerous ones..... Geesh.........

BTW, I'm home. You're all safe...... :)

Today I also went slower, just because I knew I'd end up in my driveway at the end of the day........... And my gas mileage got worse down, go figure......

I'd be willing to bet 75%, at least, have no idea what their tires are rated for, I didn't. That number may be a tad low too. I knew high hp cars need a higher speed rating, Vettes etc.... Donuts are 50mph. Never have seen anyone go that slow however......

Saw a guy with 12" tires on a small 14' boat runnin' 70 + mph today..... Lot's of guys towing boats were doing the same thing...... Mainly bass boats.....
 
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H20Rat

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I'm a man of numbers... Catastrophic tire failure due to speed is rare. Yes, it happens, but there were most likely other contributing factors. On the other hand, the single largest contributor to interstate wrecks is large differences of speed. Someone driving 60 or 65 mph when the average cruising speed of everyone else is 80 is not playing it safe, it is endangering himself as well as everyone else. (been some recent studies on it because of the semi speed limit mandate that companies are doing. Saves diesel but causes wrecks)
 

WIMUSKY

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I'm a man of numbers... Catastrophic tire failure due to speed is rare. Yes, it happens, but there were most likely other contributing factors. On the other hand, the single largest contributor to interstate wrecks is large differences of speed. Someone driving 60 or 65 mph when the average cruising speed of everyone else is 80 is not playing it safe, it is endangering himself as well as everyone else. (been some recent studies on it because of the semi speed limit mandate that companies are doing. Saves diesel but causes wrecks)

That's exactly what I just told someone else...

Just south of Nashville we ran into a guy, almost literally, who was pulling a small travel trailer at 40mph! Everyone else was doing 70-80. People were swerving all over to miss the guy.

IL must have done away with their trucker speed limit. Now its 1 speed for everyone, 70. Used to see signs that said trucks had to go 60, I believe. Those signs are gone...
 

bruceb58

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I'm a man of numbers... Catastrophic tire failure due to speed is rare.
Tire failures happen...unfortunately when you are going too fast, you have a greater chance of going out of control like the exact accident that I witnessed first hand.
 

frantically relaxing

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I am of the biased opinion (pun to follow ;) ) that most trailer tires failures have nothing to do with speed. My evidence is right here:

badtire.jpg



This is the left-front tire on my tri-axle Party Cruiser trailer. Guess how fast I was going when it blew?

Zero. That tire blew while it was PARKED at the harbor. Hadn't moved in weeks. And you'll notice it's not even a Carlisle, it's a Goodyear.

The problem: The sidewalls and tread cords were compromised.
The bigger problem? Nearly every multi-axle trailer on the planet with radial tires has at least ONE tire ready to do the same thing.

The cause: hard turn scrubbing. If you haven't watched what your trailer tires do when you do a hard U-turn on the launch ramp, or while making that tight turn to line up to the ramp, you should--- If you have, then you know what I'm talking about-- on the inside of a tight turn the trailer pivots on one tire, while the whole weight of the trailer literally folds over the sidewalls of the other tire(s) as it's being pushed or pulled sideways. . Doing this a few times tears up the tire's cords. The flex of just rolling straight does more damage slowly over time. Tire rubber gets brittle with age too... Then one day while driving 80 when it's 90? out---POW! -But you don't need to be driving 80. I'm proof you don't need to be driving at all. Driving fast WILL dramatically raise the odds of a blowout, I'm sure. But a compromised tire is a ticking time bomb. And if you make tight turns with your trailer, chances are you have one. In addition to this Goodyear, I've had similar failures 2 other times. Both on 2-axle boat trailers, both on the left side, and both boats made hard left turns almost exclusively, few if any hard rights...

Me, I can't recall seeing, or knowing anyone with a single axle trailer having a similar blowout. I'm sure they happen, and I don't know if there's any compiled stats about single v. multi-axle tire failure stats anywhere, but I'd bet a buck that mulit-axle tire failures outnumber single-axle failures by at LEAST 8 to 1.

My 26' Chaparral was sitting on a Trail-Rite tandem axle trailer. Whoever set up that trailer did it right-- Instead of radials, it came shod with Goodyear Workhorse bias tires. Controversial subject, but, do you know what happens to a bias tire when the trailer shoves it sideways during a hard turn? Instead of the sidewalls folding over, the asphalt just peels the tread off. This is much different than tearing apart the tire's internal construction...Sometimes the rubber comes off rather badly (this was courtesy of the previous owner, during a few trips down the Bullfrog Ramp in 105? heat)

goodtire.jpg



Yeah, this tire is 'compromised', but, you can SEE it's compromised. You can't see busted up cords and sidewalls on radials. As bad as the tread looks on this tire, the rubber was still thick enough that the tire was essentially safe to drive on. Obviously my Party Cruiser tire wasn't! I'm just glad as hell I WASN'T driving the thing!
 
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bruceb58

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Even more reason not to drive fast. You don't want that happening driving 75-80 mph
 

jimmbo

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Goodyear moved their manufacturing to China. Expect Marathons to be flying apart regularly. As for bias ply safer than radials, I doubt it. Most failures occur from overloading, under inflation, Asian manufacturing, or a combination of those. Using passenger or light truck tires instead of trailer tires is probably not a good idea either.

I am aware of the argument of keeping up with the traffic even if the traffic is speeding is a well used rationalization. But really? I guess an extra excessive speeding lane will need to be built since not every one exceeds the limit the same amount. Oh the slower speeder can just pull over into the slower lane... yeah right. Where I live, the Mental Midgets seem to all be driving Dodge Ram trucks, Chargers or Chrysler 300's. Blowing past other vehicles which are at the speed limit, jumping from lane to lane, I guess they are trying for Pole Position. Too often they are in the Ditch, or worse, and unlike the video game they used to learn how to drive, there is no button to press which puts them back on the road and repairs the car/truck. I really don't care if they kill themselves, but it does **** me off when they take another vehicles occupants with them
 

89retta

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I think what it comes down to is the companies. They need to make trailer tires that are capable of todays speeds. Gone are the days when you were towing that you were struggling to get and keep up to speed. Todays tow vehicles are more than capable of towing. And trailer tire manufacturers have to step up . With that being said it comes down to common sense. Last year saw a guy blow a tire on his travel trailer. Not only did he lose his tire but most of his trailer near the blow out. Big hole in his siding and not to mention all the shrapnel people had to dodge. Lets face it if your doing 60-65 in the slow lane. Your not a danger to others or yourself and you will still get to your destination a lot quicker then if you drove fast and had a blow out.
 

frantically relaxing

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Goodyear moved their manufacturing to China. Expect Marathons to be flying apart regularly.
The Goodyears on my PC trailer are not Chinese.. But, they are OLD, which is another problem with tires in general.

I wonder how many people this year bought a 2007 or older boat? How many of them do you suppose changed out the tires on the trailer?
:)
 
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