dwe8922

I am having trouble with tire blowouts on my hardly used 2006 featherlite enclosed trailer. I've blown a tire on each of my last two trips to Roebling, and it got me thinking about what I'd do if my tow vehicle (100k+ miles) broke down, or if I had more than 2 tires go out on the trailer (I'm going to get a second spare). I called AAA today, and found out that my coverage will tow my vehicle 250 miles, but that trailers are not included. They cover towing for a "camper trailer" for a small fee, but no other trailers are. Given the distances and desolate places we travel, it got me thinking about what I'd do?

David

Glen

Pull the splitter, mount the rains and head on into town....surely we can find a patrolman to assist...lol. You can get an additional vehicle to tow the trailer in usually and many times Your pcar brethren will stop to help. It all works out....

Gasser

I usually travel in a Truck pool where a bunch of us try to meet up along the way to form a convoy. Came in handy when I decided to have an alergic asthma attack for the first time and had to pull my 40K pound rig off the side of the road. Lucky between all of us, we had the right medicines and a fellow doctor to make sure I made it. Same goes for any mechanical issue.

VERBOTN

David:

Sat-phone is a good start and now that you have had two blow-outs your quota is filled so you should be good to go

Bull

What is the age of those blown tires (date codes)? Anyway, the basic answer is pray and pay, usually in that order. We also usually have some sort of a convoy going, so there will at least be a prayer group!

Geoffrey

Well, I've been there recently, melted the diesel engine in my truck from too high EGT. Stuck on the side with my 2006 featherlite, 964RSR, and my truck. Got it towed, no big deal.

Larry Herman

I had my injector pump fail when coming back from Daytona. With my input, the towing company came with a flatbed for the truck and the right sized ball to pull the trailer. No problems - it cost $100.

About the Featherlites, check the load rating on your tires. Mine came with 2200 lb tires when it needed 2500 lb tires for it's gross weight rating.

fatbillybob

For our sized trailers you can get C ,D or E load rating. You can up the load rating of the tire and buy E rated tires. Also, make sure you are properly inflated which is hard to do for unknown gross weight. So weight the trailer "full" and run at least 10psi per 1000lbs. Over inflation can lead to blowouts as well as eat the tires. I'm also a big fan of steel valve stems. The rubber ones have blown out on me several times. Now I never use them. Do not use dressings on trailer tires it eats the sidewalls. Hope that helps.

dwe8922

The trailer was about a year old when I bought it, but I think the trailer sat a lot, as it looked brand new. Tires were original carlisle. The tire guy in Savannah said the belts kink from sitting, and rust from condensation from sitting. When they're run on a long trip, they can break, all the while the tire looks fine from the outside. My local guy says thats not true, but more likely a defective tire. He said carlisle has 2 grades, and the lower grade he's seen a lot of failures. I don't know which mine is, but I'm taking the trailer to him to get a look at the other tires. I'd assume featherlite would put the better tire on, but I'll check the load rating? He likes the towmaster brand, but he got me a carlisle for my first blowout.

I've always run the tires at the recomended 65psi cold, and thought that's what your supposed to do in all situations? My trailer is empty, besides the car, so I should be way underweight for the trailer.

Carl, my friend and I fabricated the harness bar, down tubes, and seat bracket adaptor plates. It turned out great.

fatbillybob

Cool on the bar. I think yout trailer tires are overinflated. 65 may be max on sidewall then add in more psi from heat expansion and blamo! Try something closer to 10psi/1000lbs and check tire wear. I think something closer to 40-45 psi would make a difference. I actually don't think the cheap tires are the issue. DOT sets the requirement and rates by load. There are literally zillions of Carlise tires out there in fact I'm running them right now.

jrgordonsenior

I have AAA's Premier membership with their RV towing package. I've had my truck and trailer picked up twice by them for mechanicals over the past 3 years.

When you're negotiating for the purchase of a new trailer you should take a good look at the tire ratings and make sure they're at least D rated. I run 16-inch rims with E rated 235's to match my dually's tires and rims. That gives me an extre spare, and the ability to use the rears if the occasion arose.

Gary R.

65 seems really high to me. I run 55 PSI (Cold) in my Thule enclosed 24' V-Nose that most likely weighs about 6000 Lb loaded. Haven't seen a tire problem, been running it since 2005. The tires say 65PSI MAX cold on them.

dwe8922

I have AAA plus, and they told me for an extra $30/yr there was an RV tow package, but that it was limited to RV trailers only. Have they let you slide w/ a car hauler?

I checked my tires, and they car carlisle "trail" ST225/75/16 load range D, capacity 2540lb.

pat056

I blew freshly packed set of bearings on my open trailor on the way to Sebring. I turned into DeLand Florida and limped into a Firestone Station at 4:00 p.m.. One of the kids working there loved my car, so he stayed after the station closed, called a weilding buddy of his that worked at NAPA. At 10:00 that night I was back on the road $500 lighter and very, very happy (they had to reweild the axle as the heat had darned near destroyed it).
On they way back, a friend of mine blew a trailor tire and managed to limp into...you guessed it! The same Firestone store in DeLand. AND the same kids fixed his tire. We got together a couple of months later talking about race trips and misfortune's and that's when we realized we had both ended up at the same place on the same trip with the same kid. He had asked george if he knew another racer that had a yellow, #66 Porsche.

Bill L Seifert

On my 91 Pace, I had a blowout going to Grattan several years ago. . From then on, new tires every 2 years, no problem for 10 years. I have a friend that had a bunch of blowouts. Turned out that his axles were toast. He replaced them with 5000 lb axles, and no problems since. He got his trailer at Trailer World in Bowling Green, Ky. I can't see Featherlite putting cheap axles on, but it never hurts to check. That many blowouts is unusual.

Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car
1999 Civic SI Race Car