Are those doughnut tires the best?

[Lakeshore2016]

I have a 1991 heavy heavy duty trailer made by JC... that has a 1994 JC 266 tritoon with a 4.3 mercruiser sitting on it. I want to use the trailer to go pickup a 2003 playcraft powertoon extreme 2700 with a 496 mercruiser. Both boat brands seem to have almost the same toon layout. Playcraft toons seem more narrow, which will be ok. The measurements I took off the playcraft from each center of toon seem dead on to fitting on trailer. Playcraft is 4,000 dry.

Trailer has GVWR of 4,000
GAWR of 2,000 on front and rear.

Tire situation:
3 rubbermasters
Load range E
6 ply tread
4 ply sidewall
1535 each tires max load
90 psi max
10 ply

But on rear axle, I have a mismatch 8 ply Carlisle.
Load range D
4 ply tread
2 ply sidewall
1320 lbs max
70 psi

700 mile round trip.
350 loaded on way back

All tread and sidewalls are in great shape

Is the Carlisle at risk?
Should I run max psi all tires?
Any way to know what each axle is rated at?

 

[ahicks]

I like the low profile tires as it keeps the trailer as low to the ground as possible - especially important when it comes to 'toon trailers. Conventional tires would require a much deeper boat landing. 'Toons already pull like a parachute, raising them up even higher wouldn't help a thing!

You already know you're pushing the trailer's limits, so I'll just warn that if the tires are over 8 years old or so, the older they are the more likely they are to let go on you.

RE: this odd ball tire, are you planning on replacing all the tires soon? If so, now may be a good time. If not, maybe keep the odd ball for a spare and install one to match the capacity of the others?

When was the last time the bearings were inspected and packed? Not just grease the buddy bearings, but actually removed and inspected? If not recently, that would be on my "to do" list prior to leaving.

I've done a LOT of trailering, including pontoon boats, over the last 40 years or so, and have yet to have a tire or bearing failure. I attribute that "luck" on the fact that when I'm on the road, I'm there with the full knowledge my rig has been carefully maintained. In addition, whenever I stop, I check the tires and bearing hubs, with my hand, looking for temps out of line with the others. There's nearly ALWAYS a warning when something's not right.....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Load range E tires support more than load range D

 

[fhhuber]

Overloaded tires get hot. Hot tires fail. Older tires can survive less heat.

Old, highly loaded tires on a hot day leave pieces of tire all over the roads around here every summer.

Note: 8 years is a REALLY old tire. Around here tires can start showing symptoms of failure due to age in 4 years even with the better brand tires.
I almost always replace my car and truck tires due to showing the "weather checking" (cracks) long before the tread is down to the wear bar.
Sometimes the trailer tires still have some of the molding nubs left when the weather checking starts. Doesn't matter, they weather checked, they're trash.

Your chances of getting away with old and overloaded is better at night when the road is cooler. And drive slower, because speed = heat.

Always run the tire at its recommended pressure because under-inflated tires heat up much more.

 

[Lakeshore2016]

The one trip... 350 miles loaded is the only trip the trailer will ever make. Rest if it's life, just pretty much be holding the boat up, since I live 100 yards from the boat ramp.

So that's why I wasn't really wanting to invest in 4 new tires or a newer trailer.

I'll check the manufacturer date on the tires, anyone know what to look for on the tire?

I could definitely probably make the trip back at night loaded to help out.

I'll have to check on the bearings.

 

[fhhuber]

the date code is XXY where XX is week of the year and Y is the last digit of the year. If they are the original tires to the trailer just assume they are the same age, because its common for people to leave the same tires on a boat trailer for 20 years (even though the first road trip on a hot day those 10+ yr old tires are going to blow)

https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/how-to-determine-the-age-of-your-tires

 

[ahicks]

Yup, our neighborhood has several regularly used 20 year old trailers that don't have 5 miles on them due to our proximity to a good boat landing. So I get what you're saying.

Rather than buy new tires, are there any spares you may be able to borrow for the trip?

Or verify you have good road coverage and plenty of extra time.....

 

[H20Rat]

Always run the tire at its recommended pressure because under-inflated tires heat up much more.

Hopefully you meant at the recommended air pressure to match the load... Running max pressure when your load is much less than the rated load on the tire is actually a bad idea. You will wear the tire out prematurely and can drastically affect your traction.