Boat Trailer Tyres

[aeb870]

Hey Raiders,

Just a quick question, silly one I might add.

My boat is fairly light, only a 3.9m fibreglass and along with the trailer weighs within 460kg so overall very light. My question is, what should the tyre pressure roughly be? Is there a certain weight to pressure ratio?

Any help would be appreciated as I will be heading down to Melbourne in 2 weeks and need to make sure everything is in good order.

Cheers

[Ian J]

You could start off with the standard pressure of 36-38 pound should keep you out of trouble.

Just keep on checking the tyres for heat by feeling the tread with your palm when you stop for fuel etc. Hot is no good = something wrong, under inflation over inflation, bearings.

keep in mind that the tyres are going to get warm and running down the highway is going to create more heat due to speed, a good indication should be the heat in your car tyres for comparison

But if you are really worried the ideal pressure should only vary by around two pound from cold to hot.

I always check my hub/tyres temperatures about an hour into the trip. Though I always check and pack the bearings before I leave, but the heat in the hubs/tyres tells me if everything is right.

Hopefully this will get you out of trouble.

Cheers

Ian

Edited September 13, 2011 by Ian J

[grinners]

If they are light truck tyres around 32-36 psi.if there passenger tyres 36-40 psi.

for the weight you are towing.

]

[abecedarian]

If you look on the wall of the tyre it should tell you the size of the tyre and the maximum pressure rating. The big determining factor is the profile of the tyre. If it's bulging too much then the wall will heat up which could destroy the tyre. If you have it filled to 30 psi and it's not bulging and the tyre looks round with no real flat spot on the ground then it's probably fine. If it is bulging then it may need a bit more. Just don't go above the maximum rating.

[Guest hawkesbass]

my experience from towing boats and car trailers around is to set trailer tyre pressures to the same as the tow vehicles tyres this prevents the trailer swaying and keeps it more stable. hope this helps

Edited September 14, 2011 by hawkesbass

[Fisherman36]

I recently got new tyres for mine (light truck tyres as that's what was on it). It's a 4.75m Alloy and was told by the tyre place to use 40 PSI.

Cheers

[aeb870]

wow, thanks for all the help guys. Really appreciated.

[pjbink]

A lot of trailer tyres are designed to run at much higher pressure than car tyres, eg 60 psi. If you run them at car tyre pressures at speed and heavy load (as a lot of boat trailer are) then you are asking for a blowout.

[aeb870]

Finally went on the trip, and all was well with the trailer and towing except for losing the handle on my winch along the way. Fishing however was terrible, and weather was even worse. Next time I go Melbourne, probably fly out and leave the fishing for back home.