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Boat trailer tires on the off season


speedyalex

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I just place 4 new tires on my tandem boatmate trailer and I'm trying to decide if there is anyway to extend the life of the tires. I live in Minnesota so our boats spend a long time in the off season on our trailers (6-7 months). It seems that having all of the weight of a boat on the tires and no real movement is simply hard on the tires. I have thought about rolling the trailer some but it is stored at our cabin so I'm not always around in the winter. Does placing the boat and trailer on jacks make sense to take all of the weight off? This is a bit of a hassle but maybe worth it if it helps. I realize that underinflation is the No 1 problem to premature failure of tires. Maybe I'm resigned to fact that tires get changed out every 4-5 years as part of the overall expense of boat ownership. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this topic?

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I just place 4 new tires on my tandem boatmate trailer and I'm trying to decide if there is anyway to extend the life of the tires. I live in Minnesota so our boats spend a long time in the off season on our trailers (6-7 months). It seems that having all of the weight of a boat on the tires and no real movement is simply hard on the tires. I have thought about rolling the trailer some but it is stored at our cabin so I'm not always around in the winter. Does placing the boat and trailer on jacks make sense to take all of the weight off? This is a bit of a hassle but maybe worth it if it helps. I realize that underinflation is the No 1 problem to premature failure of tires. Maybe I'm resigned to fact that tires get changed out every 4-5 years as part of the overall expense of boat ownership. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on this topic?

I don't see how it can hurt. It seems like it would help prevent the tire from weakening even slightly because is it sitting deformed in the same shape 6 months, plus there will be no leaching of any chemicals out of the concrete, and also it makes it a lot easier to spin them when ever you do make it up there so the bearings don't sit in the same position metal on metal for 6 months.

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You should try to get the tires off the ground and cover them from the sun. Slitting on the direct ground causes moisture contact which will damage the tires over time. Sunlight uv also hurts them. I usually use concrete blocks with a piece of wood to suspend the trailer over the winter.

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I usually over inflated the tires by 10lbs in the off season but last year I still got a flat spot on the front two tires so this year she is sitting on jack stands in the garage.

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This is a common problem when using old biased ply tires. But not an issue with radials. Keep them inflated correctly. Protect them from the sun & weather (like those Sunbrella covers on most any stored RV), and call it good.

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