J-U-N-K Tires !!!!!!!!!!

[204 Escape]

I will shorten this up as much as possible.

Our boat came with Carlisle tires on the trailer. In my opinion, they are junk!!

I had jsut put new COOPER tires on our old boat trailer, and wanted to keep them because as I had stated I think that Carlisles are junk !!

The spare tire on the old trailer was a GOOD FOR A YEAR Marathon. It sttill had the factory sticker on it, had been kept covered, kept inside, etc. SO, I elected to keep that tire, as a spare.

The GOODYEAR had ZERO miles on it.

We went to the lake yesterday, came home, and I went out to clean the boat up this morning, and there is a baseball size bulge in this tire !!!!!

It was made in the U.S.A. !!!!!!!! I am supposed to get another one in a couple of days, through the GOODYEAR shop. NOT what I wanted to hear, BUT, I know that I kept the tire off of the old boat trailer.

The MORAL of this story, is GOODYEAR is GARBAGE !!!!!!!!

Buyer beware !!!!!!!!!!

 

[nathan]

tires are funny! I know of people that have had goodyears for years with no problems. I have used carlisles and norcos with no problems. in the end if you ask what are the best tires and you will get a ton of answers. good luck finding the ones that work the best for you. I do remember reading a story where goodyear was making the trailer tires in china until they started having problems, then they brought the making of them back to the usa and stop having so many problems.

 

[204 Escape]

i'm lucky that this was just a spare tire. I run COOPER tires on EvERYTHING !!! I have NEvER been able to run a GOODYEAR tire in my life !!

 

[Chris]

I've had both brands on trailers, I find they typically are good until they start dry-rotting at which point they all stink.

You might want to check the pressure regularly, as that being wrong can sometimes cause some issues as well.

It's good to hear you've got a spare!

It's amazing how many people I see on the side of the road with flat and no spares, or who messed up wheels which I would think has been caused by not maintaining the bearings properly.

-Chris

 

[204 Escape]

Well, the tire issue is over. My tire shop found me a matching COOPER tire to match what we have. Tire pressures are checked each and every time that we take the boat out.

Have been told that I am crazy, but I/we have a check list that gets checked everytime we go out.

No more GOODYEAR tires !!!!!!

 

[JT Patroni]

There is a well used saying "The only good part is the one that doesn't give you a problem".

Over the years I have used many different brands and not once had a problem with any. As Chris said, the biggest hardship with trailer tires is dry rot. Leaving tires exposed to the sun when you are not towing is the biggest issue with dry rot. Second is under or over inflated tires.

Glad to hear you check you tire pressure/condition each time you go out.

Many years ago I drive 18's on the open road and in NYC. Before you leave the yard, you inspect the entire rig from cab bumper to ICC bar.
When you pull into a rest stop you check your tire before you leave.

Common sense goes a long way and not enough of the "Week end Warriors" use it. So we all get a bum rap.

 

[john lamon]

I had a brand new set of Cooper tires on my truck with a baseball sized bulge in the sidewall of one of them the second day on the truck, when they took it off it was obvious to me that they cut the inside when they installed it but they wouldn't admit it, they gave me a new one but it seemed I always had to add air to all those tires every few months, I went to Toyo's after that and love them, put them on the wife's car too.

 

[john lamon]

There is a well used saying "The only good part is the one that doesn't give you a problem".

Over the years I have used many different brands and not once had a problem with any. As Chris said, the biggest hardship with trailer tires is dry rot. Leaving tires exposed to the sun when you are not towing is the biggest issue with dry rot. Second is under or over inflated tires.

Glad to hear you check you tire pressure/condition each time you go out.

Many years ago I drive 18's on the open road and in NYC. Before you leave the yard, you inspect the entire rig from cab bumper to ICC bar.
When you pull into a rest stop you check your tire before you leave.

Common sense goes a long way and not enough of the "Week end Warriors" use it. So we all get a bum rap.

I love watching the weekend warriors, sometimes if we're bored we walk down to the boat ramp just for the entertainment, I always through a drain plug in my pocket because I know someone will be looking for his as his boat sinks

 

[204 Escape]

Yeah, I guess it's all luck of the draw. EVERYTIME, that I have tried GOODFORAYEAR, tires, I have had problems.

Put some new rear tires on a '69 Chevy one time, made it about 3 miles from their shop and one blew out, causing me to wrec the car. The left front tire blew out on a JEEP SUV, and I rode a jersey barrier down the highway for 168' according to the police report.

There was a woman cop behind me, and said the tire "just blew out". Looked like a bomb had went off inside the tire.

ALSO, IMO, your dealer makes a difference !!!!

I am havinig a custom made spare tire cover made at a upholstery shop, with reflective insulation inside of it, right now.

I made some wood tire "covers" for the other tires. I am trying to "block the sun" off of the tires.


Does anyone think that the tire spray that is used to "shine" up the tires helps/hurts the tires ??

 

[Chris]

I've had good luck with most tires, strangely enough the worst tires we ever had was a set of Michelins that were on our GMC Envoy.

In 60K we had to replace all the tires plus two more as they were so soft just about everything we ran over put a hole in them. I can't count the number of times we plugged those tires, patched them and we ultimately ended up replacing many of them as well.

Two worst examples of how soft they were, a piece of gravel went through one on the highway and it went down and another time a hunk of plastic did the same.

I would have pulled them all off and replaced them but unfortunately the truck was on lease.

-Chris

 

[JT Patroni]

I love watching the weekend warriors, sometimes if we're bored we walk down to the boat ramp just for the entertainment, I always through a drain plug in my pocket because I know someone will be looking for his as his boat sinks

I don't trust myself when I put the boat in for just the day. I put my plug in before I leave the house not at the ramp. It may sound paranoid but I even start the motor in the driveway and let it run for 5 to 10 minutes before I leave just so I don't look like one of the week end warriors when I get to the ramp.

All too often I get to the ramp and have to watch a guy take 20 to
30 minutes just to get the boat ready and off the trailer. If I can't get it in the water, park the truck and pull away from the ramp in 5 or 6 minutes I become unhappy with my self.

I have even chewed the butt of a few USCG when they tie up the ramp.
They get pissed when I do it to them but when they find out I am a USCG veteran they change their attitude.

I know, I am bad!

 

[Chris]

What amazes me is the people who can't back up properly to the launch ramp!

I can't understand how some people can't figure out how to back up a trailer properly, it isn't that hard people! Just think in reverse and it's all good! You shouldn't need an hour and 100 plus shifts from forward to reverse to get 'er done!

Yolie is always amazed as I just pull around near any launch ramp and then back right down and into the water typically on one go. For me, as long as I can see the trailer I'm fine.

-Chris

 

[JT Patroni]

Chris,

I agree, it shouldn't be a problem backing down a ramp or just plain
backing up.

If they are not that good doing it, they should prcatice at home
for as long as it takes to be reasonably proficient.

Sorry about the big words, I don't even know if I spelled them right.

 

[john lamon]

I'm the same JT, I always put the plug in at the cabin.

I'm only a 1 minute drive at 10km/h to the ramp also and I always take the straps off and unhook the boat from the trailer at the cabin, when we pull up to the ramp I line the boat up and then get in the boat, the wife backs up and as soon as the motor touches the water its running and I back off and she drives away, it's always been kind of thing to me to get loaded and unloaded as fast as possible.

The one ramp we use is really bad and most people get stuck and struggle getting out without 4X4, I have watched people that had 4X4 get towed out and then we load up next with the 2WD mini van, she backs up, I drive on the trailer, hook the bow eye up to the trailer, fire up the merc and when she starts to go I give some throttle and quickly shut it down and trim it up once we are moving good, nothing to it, the guy that just got towed out with his truck is thinking what am I doing wrong, LOL.

I can't stand people that can't back up, go to a parking lot and learn, it's not that hard, I know a guy that got his first boat when he was 35 and won't use it because he can't back up with it, he always wants someone else to do it, one time after watching a guy go back and forth 20 times I went up and told him to get out and backed it in myself, it was real windy that day and I was trying to get out as fast as possible.

I could go on for hours but I don't want to bore you anymore

 

[JT Patroni]

John,

As you said before watching people at the ramp could provide some
good entertainment. But I would have to be bored out of my mind to sit
there and absorb that type of punishment. LOL

I am sure some of the people would definatly get pissed off as I sat there
laughing at them. There are very few that would ask for help, but if they
did I would.

Back in the early 70's after the USCG (here I go giving my age away) I drove 18's
over the road and in NYC. There were many stops that were real tight to back
into. Some of the over the road drivers would watch me back in, in one shot,
then ask me to put their rig in for them before I left.
I always joked about backing up to a platform.
Before my 4 years in the USCG I worked for my buddies fathers trucking company doing repairs and maintenence on his rigs. After a short while he started me spoting trailers at the mill were we where the house trucker. I was too young to drive at that time because of ICC regs. So I told everyone that I had 100,000 miles of driving experiance in reverse before they let me out on the highway. It was a great learning tool for me. I actually had more trouble driving forward (lead foot). LOL

 

[Chris]

Backing up when the trailer is empty and you can't see it, introduces a whole new set of challenges though!

-Chris

 

[204 Escape]

As far as the plug, we have the transome saver. And I found (on another site), I believe it was in Minnesota, where you could get some stickers that said to "REMEMBER THE PLUG". I put one on the transome saver, and one on the trailer tonge.

I'll look and try to find where I got those at. They were free.