Overweight on trailer by 500 lbs. Will my tires blow?

[EBX]

On my enclosed trailer I have D rated tires at 2540 max load each. I am over by about 500 lbs. I am going to Ohio. So each tire is loaded at about 2660 lbs. each. Should I just keep some stuff behind and pick it up on the next go around or should I chance it.

Is there a safety cushion above the 2540 rating or is that it?

[CorvetteGuy]

Its a long trip to be overloaded on.. What type of tire is it? I.e. brand.

[Rich807]

If they are fairly new tires, you keep them aired up, and you keep your speeds down to around 60mph you'll *probably* be ok. Age, heavy load, summer heat, and high speeds are death to trailer tires.

[busbreath]

If the tires are Carlisles - loose at least 1500-2000 lbs! If you have real tires, you might do OK if you keep your speed down. I would do anything I could to lose some weight.

[Faceplant409]

I agree with thr Carlile post...
They are on a A LOT of ski boat trailers and blow all the time.

Pat

[SmokeyWren]

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Is there a safety cushion above the 2540 rating or is that it?

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Technically, there may be an engineer's "fudge factor" there. But in the real world I wouldn't load trailer tires even close to their sidewall capacity. Experience is my teacher. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

The stock trailer tires on my 5er weren't overloaded, but they were right up against the max weight per the sidewall. I maintained the PSI at the max on the sidewall, but I blew out three of them within a few thousand miles of cross-country cruising at 62 to 65 MPH. I replaced them all with 5 new Cooper tires, one size up and one load range up on new proper-size wheels for those tires, and haven't had a blowout in the last 50,000 or so towing miles.

Speed matters. If you can't get the trailer weight down to way below the tire capacity, then you should keep the speed below 60 MPH all the way from Florida to Ohio. Maybe even poke along at the double nickle. Even then there's a good chance you won't make it without at least one blowout. So haul at least a spare, and maybe even another unmounted tire to replace the spare when it blows out too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] And as soon as you blow a tire, stop in the next town and replace it. You don't want to be caught without a mounted spare. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Set your mirrors so you can see all 4 trailer tires, and then pay attention to those mirrors. If you stop immediately when a tire blows, then you'll be a lot less likely to have extensive trailer damage when that steel belt beats the hell out of your trailer. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Or better still, I would replace the tires with at least one size up. In your case you already have ST225/75R15D, and I don't think you'll find a bigger tire or higher load rating in a 15" trailer tire. So I would replace tires and wheels with 16" wheels and ST235/80R16D tires. That would give you 3,000 pounds weight capacity per tire, so you'd be good to go.

Measure the wheelwell first. ST235/80R16D tires on 16x6 wheels will be a bit more than 1" closer to the top of the fender well when installed.

The only outfit I know that make the ST235/80R16 is Goodyear.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.j...irePageLocQty=
You could also go with LT235/85R16E tires from lots of brands for a lot less money, but they are about a half-inch more radius than the Goodyears, so they would be less likely to fit in your wheelwells.

[spg]

If you choose to keep the tires you have make sure and run them at max cold inflation pressure. Also as Smokey says upgrading to a larger tire will help. I think that a 245/75-16E tire is the same wt rating as the 235/85-16E but not quite as big if clearances are tight.

[SmokeyWren]

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I think that a 245/75-16E tire is the same wt rating as the 235/85-16E but not quite as big if clearances are tight.

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Same height, and a little wider and same 3,042 weight capacity.

Using Michelin XPS Rib as the example:

LT235/85R16E is 9.7" wide and 32" diameter
LT245/75R16E is 9.6" wide and 30.6 diameter

Compare to Goodyear Marathon with 3,000 pounds weight capacity:
ST235/80R16D is 9.2" wide and 30.7" diameter

So yep, the 245/75s would give you about 3/4" more clearance to the top of the wheelwell as the 235/85s. But the Marathon is about the same height but narrower than the 245 Rib.

Those XPS Ribs also come in smaller 16" sizes which would be narrower and shorter, but they have a load rating only 2,680 pounds. That's enough (barely) for his 2,660 load, but probably wouldn't be enough gain in weight capacity for me to bother with.

http://www.michelinman.com/specs/xps_rib/30.html

And BTW, those XPS Ribs are the best trailer tires in the world, but they cost around $200 each at Sam's Club. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Rich807]

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If the tires are Carlisles - loose at least 1500-2000 lbs! If you have real tires, you might do OK if you keep your speed down. I would do anything I could to lose some weight.

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I absolutely agree with this post as well.....been there/done that. I'll NEVER put CRAP-lisles on anything I own ever again, won't buy anything with them on there either. Asian-made crap priced like quality U.S. or Euro rubber.....what a rip off/hazard.

[EBX]

Thanks guys for all the input. The tires are Crap-lisles with less than 7000 miles on them and are less than 1 yr. old. I always keep them aired at the max. 65 psi.

I will get as much weight as possible out and just make two runs. I hate to do it, but I would rather be coutious than stupid.

I just have to get the trailer about 30 miles away so I can unload some of the stuff. Then I will rearange some of the weight. I'll take it slow at about 50 mph. so hopefully, the tires will be ok for the 30 miles.

[Kubotaman]

I could be wrong but if I understand correctly, wouldn't you be time and money ahead to purchase tires versus driving from Florida to Ohio considering the price of fuel? You could save your present tires for future use if needed. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

[DezRacer]

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I could be wrong but if I understand correctly, wouldn't you be time and money ahead to purchase tires versus driving from Florida to Ohio considering the price of fuel? You could save your present tires for future use if needed. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

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Not to mention the time for missed work and lost income.

[Rich807]

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The tires are Crap-lisles with less than 7000 miles on them and are less than 1 yr. old. I always keep them aired at the max. 65 psi.


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Oh, that sucks! BTW, it doesn't matter one itota how few miles, how new, or how carefully someone watches the pressure on them. 7,000 miles on them without a failure is pretty lucky if you ask me.

I've had them separate with as few as 1,500/2,000mi. and under 6mo old. I always kept them aired up, put in use at least 1 weekend a month (yr round), and had them covered when not in use........they still detonated. The kicker is the Generals they replaced were 1 load range weaker Ds as opposed to the Craplisle Es I bought and I never had a failure with the General D rated ones in 2+ years.

Once again, Good luck to you.

[EBX]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I could be wrong but if I understand correctly, wouldn't you be time and money ahead to purchase tires versus driving from Florida to Ohio considering the price of fuel? You could save your present tires for future use if needed. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

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Not to mention the time for missed work and lost income.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great thinking. That makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, I have more crap than empty trailer space. I'll have to make two runs anyway. So I'll empty around 1500 - 2000 lbs. out and come back and get the rest on the next run.