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trailered on 3 wheels


isellacuras

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So I'll start by stating I don't have pictures so take it as you will. I was headed out of town on a 2 hour drive to spend a day on the California Delta. The drive to the delta is a flat easy one that is usually an hour tops. I was going to spend the night at my brother in laws house and then head out in the morning the next day. He lives in a town called Livermore which is about a 20 min drive to a southern delta launch called lands end Marina. Anyways, I headed out at about 9 pm on what should have been an easy two hour drive. About 45 minutes into the drive I noticed the trailer acting a little funny and the truck had a little more drag than normal. I pulled off the side of the road and checked all the tires and all seemed fine, felt the hubs which were nice and cool. All tires had air and looked to be in good shape. I continued on for about a mile or two before looking in my rear view mirror to see tiny spark coming from the passenger side trailer tires. I knew that was belts on the asphalt so I quickly pulled off and took a closer look. At first glance, again, things looked good. I took a closer look and could see that the inner side wall had separated from the inner liner. The tire was still holding air. I knew I couldn't drive like this so I called my brother in law who also has a Malibu and asked him if he would bring me his spare. I know, silly me hasn't had a spare for the last two years. Well, neither did he so he suggested that I pull the tire and continue on. My initial thought was "HECK NO!!!" but after weighing out my options of staying in a hotel in lovely Stockton, Ca. with the boat loaded with gear (If you're not familiar with Stockton, Ca., look it up), turning around and going home, sleeping in the car until morning (I had my wife and kids so that wasn't gonna happen) or limping her in to our destination. I proceeded to remove the wheel, strapped the wheel on the swim platform and continued on. I took it nice and slow, 50mph max, for the next hour+ (58 miles according to the navigation) and limped in to our destination. Every bump caused the trailer to dance around a little more than usual but it really was uneventful. I stayed in the slow lane so others passing by me wouldn't try to flag me down and especially to avoid law enforcement as I am pretty certain that would be an infraction. Whether it was the right thing to do or wrong, we made it. I took the tire/wheel in to the local tire shop that opened at 7 am. Luckily they had my tire size in stock. I wasn't able to buy a spare there since they would have to order a wheel. We enjoyed our day out and made it home safe and sound. Spare is on order. Anyone else done this? I am ready to hear all the reasons why I shouldn't have done it. Lets hear it.

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I've never done it. But I did see a guy with a Malibu come to my local lake with only 3 wheels. And he had a spare...not sure why he didn't use it. It looked dangerous to me. But it seemed like all worked out for you.

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I have a spare & I've done it. I lost a wheel bearing so the tire itself wasn't the problem. I read about how to do it here on TMC too. Worked out great for me too.

I used a motorcycle tie down to raise my axle a bit, which gave me a little more room under the wheelless hub.

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Oh, man I would have been sweating the Altamont pass. The 2 slow lanes are minefields with busted concrete and pot holes. Even with 4 good shoes I still cringe a bit.

I'm 20 min from Livermore, I could have hooked you up.

Edit: I may have needed an uber to get there depending on the time though

Edited by Stevo
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Thanks Stevo but I was North of Stockton when it happened. That's 20 min from Livermore + 58 miles. And yes, Altamont pass was a bit unnerving.

Eh, you've got the # , it's hindsight but... I could have at least met up with your brother in law.

If I can make the September 3rd ride day I may need a place to crash that night, as I have work in sac on the 4th,

Edited by Stevo
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The first summer I owned my boat I had a bearing go out on me and had to limp home on 3 wheels. Finding a person with the equipment to tow (flatbed) a trailer that is as low to the ground as ours is nearly impossible. I even asked a guy that does towing for a living and he told me basically what most here said, tie up the broken axle if you can and baby it home or to wherever you're going to repair it. I drove around 25 to 30 mph, but didn't have too far to go (about 30 miles). Learned a lesson though, don't trust that your dealer has made sure your trailer is ready to go. As it turned out, there wasn't hardly any grease in any of the bearings and the surge brake fluid reservoir was bone dry.

I now have the spare tire carrier that has a spare spindle, bearings, seal, rotor and of course, tire and lug nuts and although I cant replace the spindle on my axles, everything else is right there if I ever need them.

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There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY you didnt think to take out a phone and take a pic of this event.

I need you to go back and one up this situation and trailer on 2 tires and take a damn pic.....

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Never on a boat trailer but numerous time on equipment trailers at work. About two weeks ago I had the eye on the spring pack break on a trailer about 140 miles from home. Took the tire off, used a ratchet strap to tie the axle up. Ran fine the whole way home.

I will say when I went to pick my boat up after buying it I commented about a spare. The guy laughed and said that's why I have two axles. Didn't make it 30 miles and one of the "New" looking tires lost its tread. Unhooked the boat on the side of the road and took the bad tire back to town and got the tire fixed and bought a spare.

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I have had to do this twice.

How HOT did that single tire get. From Stockton to Modesto, Mine got so hot I could not touch it.

However at 930pm on a Sunday we dont have much other choice.
You should have just pulled into Paradise Point at 8 mile and borrowed one from a trailer in the lot. LOL!!!

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You might want to consider replacing the tire on the single side as a precaution.

If all the tires are the same age, replace them all. You'll be better off in the long run.

  • Like 2
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You can run on 3 tires if you need to and be fine. Would I take it on vacation with 3 wheels no but to get it off the road and drive to a shop to fix it, 30 to 40 miles, sure. Not all but lots of boats can go on single axle trailers and be fine. When I purchased my 2004 VLX it came on a single axle stock I made them swap the trailer to a dual axle. 2 of my buddies had single axle trailers with 2004 VLX's sitting on them.

Call the manufacture to see if it's ok.

That being said I need to get new tires for my trailer as I still have the originals from 2004.

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You can run on 3 tires if you need to and be fine. Would I take it on vacation with 3 wheels no but to get it off the road and drive to a shop to fix it, 30 to 40 miles, sure. Not all but lots of boats can go on single axle trailers and be fine. When I purchased my 2004 VLX it came on a single axle stock I made them swap the trailer to a dual axle. 2 of my buddies had single axle trailers with 2004 VLX's sitting on them.

Call the manufacture to see if it's ok.

That being said I need to get new tires for my trailer as I still have the originals from 2004.

The single axle trailers come with higher rated tires

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Wow brian I am glad you made it out of this jam. I would have done the same thing, Stockton of all places to break down. I fueled up there one time and realized I would never return again, that place is sketch.

Knock on wood I have never had a tire issue, but probably something everyone will face at one point during boat ownership. Maybe it's a good time to replace all your trailer tires, at least that is what I would do. I'm not sure sport boat puts the best tire on there trailers in the first place.

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I would do the single wheel trip too if I had an unrepairable bearing failure. I am fortunate to have a 6900 lb T/A trailer under my 2900 lb boat. I use to trailer a lot over long distance with lots of stuff in the boat. Therefore the over kill. Spare tire, bearings, and jack are a must.

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I have replaced 2 of the 4 stock tires due to curb strikes. The trailer came with greenball tires. I had never heard of them before and was unable to locate the same tire locally so I went with what they had in stock at the time. The one that blew was a Towmax. It was almost new. Won't be buying tomax tires again.

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C or D?

I don't remember all I know is they where the exact same and we were all amazed. Shoot I can't even remember the brand I have on them now other than they are original and they are horrible tires.

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