Restoring a trailer vs replacing a trailer

[Scott Danforth]

Starting fluid and a match works every time

Propane works well too. unlit propane torch. run it inside the wheel, then strike a match and toss it.

 

[matt167]

True I could do that. We used to do stretched tires at the shop I used to work at with ether.

 

[Chris1956]

You can always put a tube inside the trailer tires. That will seat the bead.

The trailer tires I bought a year or so ago had the beads touching, and I could find no way to separate them and fill them with air. I forced on bead on, put a belt around the tire...all the usual stuff

A tube fixed it easily.

 

[matt167]

I was considering tubes if I needed to

 

[matt167]

My wife is filing the paperwork for the trailer on Friday and im picking up tires Friday night. thinking I may tug the parts boat to where im going to do the swap on Saturday.

The trailer I’m going to junk, which is under the StarCraft now has tires that look great BUT they are marked USA Carslile which is great except that makes them at least 10 years old… do I chance it? 60 mile journey… both boats need to make it to where I’m doing the swap at my FILs as he has an overhead hoist, and a big tractor should I need it. One trailer is 4 lug, the other is 5 so I can’t simply swap wheels back and forth

 

[rolmops]

Starting fluid and a match works every time

I always use a wide canvas strap with a winch tightener, wrap it around the circumference and lubricate the new tires. then I winch the tire down and thereby force the bottom of the tire outward to the point that it pushes onto the sides of the rim which is lubricated as well.. Only then do I blow air into it. This works for me every time. When I was young and stupid I created a watch this scenario by putting a bit of carbide in the tire, added some water and held a match to the stem valve. The tire blew off the rim.

 

[matt167]

I always use a wide canvas strap with a winch tightener, wrap it around the circumference and lubricate the new tires. then I winch the tire down and thereby force the bottom of the tire outward to the point that it pushes onto the sides of the rim which is lubricated as well.. Only then do I blow air into it. This works for me every time.

That sometimes works. It will not work if the beads are touching.When I worked at the tire shop we had every available technique. What worked best for cheap trailer tires was a ring blaster.

 

[dingbat]

I always use a wide canvas strap with a winch tightener, wrap it around the circumference and lubricate the new tires. then I winch the tire down and thereby force the bottom of the tire outward to the point that it pushes onto the sides of the rim which is lubricated as well.. Only then do I blow air into it. This works for me every time.

Sometimes works on a lawn tractor tire, but not going to happen with a #150, 15 x 19.5 NHS tire on a tractor

 

[matt167]

The tires I bought might actually go with just a strap. I did buy ether in case.

 

[matt167]

Got my tires on. Strapped the boat. Put a strap on the outdrive. I didn’t tug the boat home. One of the bearings sounds crunchy… anyone have a guess as to which bearing it is? 5 lug 13” tires. 16-17’ boat trailer.

 

[Chris1956]

Usually if you have someone walk next to the bearing as you move the trailer, they can hear the crunching.

In this case, it makes sense to install all new wheel bearings, I would think. It is a PIA, but not expensive and worth the peace of mind.

 

[Lou C]

Take a look at Eastern Marines website they have info on the sizes of trailer bearings given the size of your spindle. I did the modify/restore trailer thing with my galvanized Load Rite over the years. The final version:
Longest tongue I could get from Load Rite
Longer roller bars, added more rollers
Lowered crossmembers to lower boat
Final axle upgrade drop saddle section 6,000 lb axle with 12” brakes & 15” tires
2 speed winch
In the end it was a satisfying project but would have been easier to just buy new.
The one advantage of this one is that it is narrower than most trailers with the same weight capacity and therefore fits better in my narrow driveway and our narrow local boat ramp,

 

[matt167]

When I put the tires on I spun both to listen to them. One sounds fine, the other is ugly sounding. I probably will replace both.

I think the boat will fit with a longer tongue only there is a 96” tongue available which will give me enough tongue for my liking and it costs $300. I can probably do cheaper at a steel yard. The trailer sits nice and low. It’s a really nice trailer. The 16’ glass boat is heavier than the tin SC

 

[rolmops]

Got my tires on. Strapped the boat. Put a strap on the outdrive. I didn’t tug the boat home. One of the bearings sounds crunchy… anyone have a guess as to which bearing it is? 5 lug 13” tires. 16-17’ boat trailer.

If you pull the bearing just clean it off a bit and you will see some numbers on the side. Those numbers will tell you what size the bearing is.

 

[matt167]

If you pull the bearing just clean it off a bit and you will see some numbers on the side. Those numbers will tell you what size the bearing is.

I know. Caveat is the boat is now 60 miles from my house. I was hoping to have everything to do it when I went back down. I ran out of time when I was there.. I’ll probably have to buy all possibilities and return what I don’t need

 

[rolmops]

There is one thing that may help you. If you know whether your axle set is for instance 3500 pounds, your guess becomes a lot more educated

 

[matt167]

I bought every bearing kit that tractor supply had in stock. Brought them, a tube of marine grease and all the tools I should have needed. Pulled the hub off and the inside bearing came out in pieces. Once I got it off and cleaned it up i found out I had none of the right bearings. I had 1 1/6” bearings, 1 3/8” bearings and seals for both but it was actually 1.250 bearings on a non stepped/ tapered axle.

I had to go to the closest advance auto who had the right bearings but didn’t have the seal or claimed not too. I don’t think the person knew how to look it up and my phone had died so I couldn’t… I got back to the boat. Cleaned the old seal out, which was torn with the spring ripped out. But I put it together with the old seal. Stuck new bearings and races in and I got it to the destination. The other side seemed fine so I just pumped it full of grease. That was a safer bet than trying to pull it apart as I only bought one extra bearing they had…. Oh and it was missing the washer behind the castle nut so I had to go to tractor supply and get a castle nut kit

 

[Lou C]

For both axles that my trailer has had (3500 & later upgraded to 6,000) I kept on hand spare bearings & seals. Good to have just in case.

 

[bruceb58]

I just carried an entire hub with bearings, greased and ready to go. In fact, it was also my spare tire carrier. I welded on an axle stub, put the hub on that...tire attached to the hub.

 

[matt167]

I was kind of thinking about keeping a spare hub. I just have to find the right hub now.. I’m hopeful that the ‘good’ side i didn’t touch will have legible numbers on the seal. It appears these bearings my trailer uses 2 of is commonly used on a stepped axle with 2 bearing sizes