School me on trailer tires and other trailer related things

Jeremy Ellison · **Joined:** Fri May 13, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 186

I ended up buying an 8.5x20 Pace trailer, and I'm picking it up tomorrow. We're going to load it up and tow it across the country when we move.

I know it needs new tires, and that trailer tires != car tires, but that is the extent of my knowledge. 6-ply, 8-ply, radial? Are these going to make a difference for my use case?

What else (maintenance wise) should I do before towing it 2500 miles?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

- just do to Discount and get the Carlisle trailer radials
- repack the wheel bearings
- make sure the brakes work OK
- eyeball or measure toe and camber, make sure none of the spindles are bent (would show up on old tire wear)
- make sure all the lights work, and pack a spare bulb or 2
- Do a visual for any exposed wires chafing on the chassis, tape anything up
- Torque the lugnuts
- If you really want to be prepared, stop by Northern and pick up a spare hub "just in case"
- be sure you have a decent spare tire, a way to jack it up, and the right size lugwrench with you

That's all I can think of.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:18 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

make sure all the lights work, and pack a spare bulb or 2

Or...swap all the lights out with LEDs instead. Yes they cost more, but you'll be glad you did. The constant vibration on a trailer is was causes the filament in the bulb to fail and LEDs don't have that problem.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 1:53 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

- be sure you have a decent spare tire, a way to jack it up, and the right size lugwrench with you
That's all I can think of.

Make sure of that one, trailers are HIGH. I have to use some blocks of wood on top of my jacks to get my trailer off the ground.

Patrice Bousquet · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:17 pm

And make sure your jack is strong enough to lift the trailer and the load inside. I’m using the jack from the Suburban to lift the trailer if the car is inside, my car jack doesn’t have the enough oomph if the trailer is loaded.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:55 pm

Patrice Bousquet wrote:

And make sure your jack is strong enough to lift the trailer and the load inside. I’m using the jack from the Suburban to lift the trailer if the car is inside, my car jack doesn’t have the enough oomph if the trailer is loaded.

Rumor has it that this type of "jack" works well with tandem axle trailers. http://www.doversaddlery.com/trailer-ai ... OgodjksA-w

BretLuter · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 12:17 am

I'll second what Mike said, but add that I would definitely buy a spare hub, with lug nuts, axle nut and cotter pin AND at least 1 set of wheel bearings and a grease seal. You might want to pre-assemble the hub with grease-packed bearings and seal in place so that if you do have a hub issue, you can easily pull the old one off and just stick the spare on there and be back on the road in no time. These things are cheap enough to buy when you can shop around- I'd personally recommend Agri-Supply for this stuff. And I'd definitely have a good spare wheel/tire that has air in it.

Not just for a 2500 mile trip, but I'd pack these things in a box and leave them in the trailer for ever, hopefully you'll never need them, but if you do have an issue on the road, the $$$ you spent on them will be well worth it at least 10x over.

There are alot of crap tires out there, especially for trailer use. I have *heard* that the quality of Carlisle tires has taken a hit in recent years, so maybe do some more research on that before you buy, but as I said I have not personally had any problems with them.

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Sat Apr 12, 2014 10:32 am

Why is it that trailer wheel bearings need a lot of attention? Over loading? Inadequate design or quality? The wheel bearings on my truck have 170K + miles on them without any service to my knowledge.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Jordan Normark wrote:

Why is it that trailer wheel bearings need a lot of attention? Over loading? Inadequate design or quality? The wheel bearings on my truck have 170K + miles on them without any service to my knowledge.

First, they are Old-school non-cartridge design (think first-half-of-the-20th century technology). That means that they have to be adjusted by hand opposed to modern bearings which have pre-set preload.

Add in:
- when a trailer bearing goes bad, you can't hear it like in a car (no early warning)
- trailers tend to get overloaded moreso than trucks
- trailers tend to get driven over curbs and generally not treated nicely

And you are left with people who have more "catastrophic" failures, and more often than cars. my 12-year-old car hauler probably has 40,000 miles on it, and I've only repacked the bearings once.

Rob Keehner · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:26 pm

I had two spares for my old trailer. When a tire blows sometimes the tread works as a flail and pops the other tire too. Not 100% necessary but it's peace of mind.

Trailer mechanicals are not capable of the same speeds as your vehicle, when I tow I generally keep it at 65. As mentioned above its cheap old skool stuff.

Jeremy Ellison · **Joined:** Fri May 13, 2011 5:01 pm **Posts:** 186

Thanks guys, this is all good stuff. I've already greased the bearings and I'm going to look into getting a spare hub and wheel before the trip. We're taking it down to the Gopro Motorplex this weekend. It's probably overkill for the karts, but it'll give me an opportunity to drive it around without going too far from home in case something breaks.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:41 pm

I don't recall whether you have any trailer towing experience. I'll assume not since if you do, someone else will be new at it someday. If you know all this great. If you can add anything I missed better yet.

At every stop that is more than an hour after the previous stop visually check tire condition, hitch, and anything else you can see that may have developed a "problem". Get a good idea of how the trailer "looks" so that if something starts to break such as suspension or frame, etc. you can recognize a change. This includes how it looks in the mirrors.

Carefully check by "feel" tire and wheel temps, especially wheels with brakes that might be dragging. Until you get very comfortable with the "look" of a fully inflated tire (50 psi is common but look at the sidewall) check those each morning and be prepared to add air lost during the check.

At least at first frequently check to make sure the load is secure since this trip will literally be a shake down trip.

Be sure the new tires are properly balanced since some tire guys don't bother with trailer tires.

I would check the lights at least each morning and certainly each time you reconnect to the trailer since someone behind you won't see the tow vehicle lights through the trailer box.

Remember that the rear of the trailer will tend to drag in lots of hill/slope situations. Obviously LATE apex is an understatement. Braking distances are LOOOOONG. Ditto with pulling out in traffic.

Crosswinds and trucks/buses and even trucks/buses without winds are things to be treated with care and a firm two handed grip on the wheel.

Downhill curves are accidents waiting to happen unless you slow down.

Depending on the grade, the weight of the combo may exceed the drag in which case you will use the brakes to keep the speed down. Don't assume the brakes are really up to constantly doing much braking. I've found with our heavy big frontal area camper van that even with a light weight open trailer it is best to stay at about the truck speed limit or even less down hill. The "hills" between NC and the midwest are nothing compared to the mountains out west.

Gas mileage will probably suck, especially uphill or when fighting headwinds OR crosswinds. Be sure the tank is full before any long transit even if you think the normal towing fuel consumption and tank capacity will be enough. Especially out west and any mountain pass situation. After you cross the Mississippi assume minimum 10 mph winds most of the time . . . on calm days unless you know that the southern route will be calm. Murphy's law will make most of those winds headwinds.

Finally I think California's towing speed limit is an enforced 55.

If you are bring houseplants, etc. into California double check their agriculture inspection, etc. rules. They worry about bugs, etc. that could harm the huge agricultural industry.

Dick

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:45 pm

I think Dick brings up a really good point. Be super careful in the mountains out west with a 1/2 ton and an enclosed trailer. You can get away with a lot less truck out here since it's fairly flat. That includes watching trans & engine temps on uphills.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:52 pm

A couple more things.

Remember backing up is a real challenge. Look out for dead ends . . . they are EVERYWHERE. :lol:

Google Maps satellite view and some hotel maps are good for finding hotels with room for trailers that also have easy access in and out. Remember where ever you park that unless you park so it cannot happen someone will block you in, especially in hotel lots that you want to leave at 0 dark 30 the next morning. Don't forget that when you cannot simply exit in a straight line that you need turning room for the trailer so there better be enough room but not enough that someone will park in that space.

This assumes you can even find a parking place when you check in. Truck friendly hotels are better but check with the desk clerk if you've had to be creative in parking.

Don't forget the best locks you can find for the doors with lots of keys. Ideally with locks on the various doors and hitch and safety chain get ones which are keyed alike if practical. I suspect that won't be practical except for the doors.

If you have time McMaster is a good source of keyed alike locks.

Dick

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:57 pm

JamesMilko wrote:

I think Dick brings up a really good point. Be super careful in the mountains out west with a 1/2 ton and an enclosed trailer. You can get away with a lot less truck out here since it's fairly flat. That includes watching trans & engine temps on uphills.

Give yourself a enough time and patience to drive 60 to 65 or even slower most of the way. The lower drag will make the truck and the gas bill happier.

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School me on trailer tires and other trailer related things

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