Trailer Bearing near disaster.

[Cheech]

??? ??? ???

[Cheech]

:o :o :o

[blaze]

lucky call, maybe they need to be checked more regular
cheers
blaze

[Cheech]

On the way home from Manly at 2.00am this morning after a trip to Mud with Matt (Commodore) and trailer started getting noisy. Stopped and checked the temp of the hubs, but were not too bad. about 5k from home and got worse so stopped again. Left rear was a bit warm. Oh well,,, is the middle of the night, so continue home. Seemed to get better (god know how, looking at the photo's). Made it home ok. Then reversing it down the driveway got that horrible metal on metal sound.

How I got away with doing 60kph just prior to reaching home is probably just an awful lot of luck.

Ok, so where do I start. Have never changed a bearing before. God knows what damage I will find when I get it all off and inspect it.

Still, it could have been a lot worse. Could have colapsed before I got home.

Cheech

[Cheech]

Blaze, they were all changed 5 months ago when I bought the boat. But after I finish this little project and know what to do and to look for, yes, frequent inspections will be on the maintenance list. Very lucky it didn't just fall off while at speed.

[dynamicspot]

You are lucky no boat no fishing and no fun at all

Greg

[blaze]

Hi Cheech
looking at the pic of the inside you have probably damaged the surface the seal runs on. Jack the axle up and the wheel will fall off. Clean up and remove nut from axle and any thing else that will come off and then post another pic. That will take 10 minutes
cheers
blaze

[Cheech]

Oops. I thought I was in the boating section. Mods, please move this thread the the boating section.

No problems - Derek ;D ;D ;D ;D

Blaze, shall do.

[Kerry]

they were all changed 5 months ago by whom ??? That's an awfull lot of disintegration for only 5 months ??

Cheers, Kerry.

[Heath]

It doesn't matter by whom, I've seen bearings last one outting before packing it in. Could simply be a crook bearing.

Cheech, changing bearings is a piece of piss. Most people change them every 12 months, but sometimes you get one that will fail well before.

As to what you will find once you get the hub off? #Possibly the inner racer could be stuck hard on the axel, cold chisel or angle grinder could be of good use. Other than that, the hub & axel will need a good wash down to ensure all metal fragments are removed. Replacing the outter racer ( the one in the hub ) will be required also.

If you are very very unlucky the axel or hub could be damaged.

Big thing to check will be the rear seal. If they look sus, get new ones, a few drops of areldite on it to make sure it stays fast on the hub will do wonders for the longevity of the bearings. Might pay to get yourself a set of bearing buddies also.

[michael_Brewer]

cheech, it really is a piece of piss to change a bearing.... depending on whether or not the axle is damaged!
p.s ya cannot pack enough grease into the bearings!!!

[dfox]

Craig- looking at the pic, salt water has entered the bearing, possiably the rear seal but its hard to say.there was a lack of grease by the looks as well. Theres two types of inner seals available one thats good and the every day commonly used cheep one, if i get a chance i'll take a pic and post the difference and what to look for.
As heath said, its a fairly simple job replacing a bearing and seals. Do it because its handy to know how especially when one goes on you a long way from home, carry a spare in the car...foxy

[blaze]

when repacking wheel bearing, squeeze the grease through the bearing with the palm of your hand, put a smear around the cup, a smearon the sealing surface of the seal. DO NOT fill the hub or cap with grease as it is not a resovoir for spare grease and will only cause premature bearing failure from over heating
cheers
blaze
ps
i hate bearing buddies

[blaze]

I carry my spare wheel on a complete hub assebly so if I do a bearing it just a matter of putting it on tyre and all

[Spaniard_King]

Craig,

when you ask for a seal ask for the two piece version with the stainless cup. And use some superglue to hold the rubber part to the axle (first making sure that you have the correct position for the rubber seal before gluing, doing a dry run helps)

Garry

[dugong]

cheech firstly buy a lotto ticket cause you are one very lucky person, secondly get someone competent to help you change the bearings as you said you have no experance, you say they were only done 5mths ago so either you got a bad bearing or it was installed improperly.
yes bearings and seals are easy to change if you know what you are doing and once shown how to do it properly you should have no probs doing them, just remember they are precision components and unless treated properly whey will fail prematurely.
hopefully you have not ruined your axle or hub.
once you have cleaned it up post a cpl more pic's and contary to popular belief you can cause bearing to fail by over greasing them.

[Dug]

If you have driven any distance let the bearings cool before putting them in the water. A hot bearing will suck salt water in if it cools rapidly.

I lost a wheel on the highway outside Dubbo many years ago some grub had stolen 3 of the 5 wheel nuts off my mag wheels while we had lunch only leaving the 2 lock nuts.

About 100km later I looked out the window and said " Oh look at that! some poor B has lost a wheel" as a wheel sped past us and down the road.

This was followed by a sudden bump and a quick halt as I realized I was the poor B.

2 studs had sheared off but 3 remained intact but required special Aunger mag wheel nuts. Saturday afternoon, 50km outside Dubbo, long weekend, first car to pull up to help guy get out and says " I have 3 spare Aunger nuts!"

As if by magic he got the nuts out of his boot and we were underway in about half an hour :D

[Kerry]

It doesn't matter by whom, I've seen bearings last one outting before packing it in. Could simply be a crook bearing....

So you think that's simply a crook bearing ???

Cheers, Kerry.

[Cheech]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Will take more pics as I start pulling it apart.

Still amazes me to think that I drove home at normal speed and the wheel did not fall off.

Also that there was no noticable load increase.

Was serviced and replaced by a professional authorised trailer company because apparently that is the law here in queensland when you sell a braked trailer. Could supply the name as I have the receipt, but is probably irrelevant now.

Wondering that tight turns in reversing to where it is stored may have an impact as well? Seens to add a lot of load doing tight turns with tandem trailers.

[Kerry]

Was serviced and replaced by a professional authorised trailer company

Cheech, For mine I'd be looking for a second opinion from a "different" professional authorized trailer company!

As for tight turns, there's certainly some side ways pressure but the tyre takes a lot of that load. There's one thing worse than a tandem trailer for turning and scruffing tyres and that's a tripple

Cheers, Kerry.

[Heath]

So you think that's simply a crook bearing #???

Cheers, Kerry.



Yes, why not?

[Kerry]

Just curious.

[SeaSaw]

Craig,

Not sure if that one should be chalked up as good luck or bad luck ??? Either way the problem is easily fixed, as already covered by others. The advantage of dual axles is at least you wouldn't have come to a grinding halt if the wheel had come off ;D

Thats not enough to keep you off the water for long, but it could make you late to work one day this week to make sure it is ready for the weekend ;D

Mark

[SeaSaw]

It could also be a crook bearing that was badly installed. Now everyone is right ;D ;D ;D

[blaze]

I have personelly only seen one flawed bearing in 30 years as a mechanic, it was a 300mm roller bearing in a final drive of an exclavator which had been put in an ice box to shrink it to enable it to fit in the housing and when returned to room temp it cracked the outer cage. wheel bearings that fail prematurely have either to much grease or preload too tight, both will generate heat. So IMO it is not the bearing that causes premuture failure but the person fitting
cheers
blaze

[Cheech]

Know what you mean. Why I think it was good luck is at 2.00am in the morning after fishing from 4.00pm, I was totally knackered. So to get home and get to bed, that was very good.

[Cheech]

If it makes any difference,, the trailer does have bearing buddies. Don't know if there are different types as I have never had them before, but this type has a spring and when you pump grease in it then takes up on the spring when the chamber starts filling. I refilled them about a month ago so I know there was grease in there. Are you supose to fill them to the spring? Or is this just some sort of overload release?

[SeaSaw]

Craig,

You shouldn't pump too much grease into bearing buddies. If you pump them up, pressure can blow the back seal out and that is the start of the problem.

Mark

[25_ponies]

Cheech, I've got a couple of different ideas on this. Kinda hard to tell from the photos, and now that it's self destructed might be a bit hard to prove, but it doesn't look like the bearings that I've seen that have had a lot of salt water ingress.

The grease still looks an ok colour (some silvering from metal fragments). Usually if the water has got it it goes all muddy looking from the water mixing and the rust colour. Like I said, it's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but I can't see too many signs of rust inside the hub itself ?

The hub looks like it's had some heat damage. Maybe when they serviced the bearings last time they forgot to pack one of the bearings with grease. But....at the moment, my money is on overtightening of the castle nut when the hub as been put on after the service. If this nut has been done up too tight, somethings gotta give. It will squash or deform some part of the bearings or hub and dramatically shorten their life. After the trailer has done the first few K's after the service, the whole assembly will loosen up (due to the deforming), cool down, and nobody will know the difference. #:o

Anyway, I would be interested to see some pix of whats left, both with grease and once you've cleaned it up. As others have said, as long as you've not seriously scored the axle, everything else is easily (<$50) replaceable.

Cheers, Ponies.

[Kerry]

With all four hubs being done at the same time one mihgt find some clues when these are checked and obviously these other 3 need some close checking.

Bearing buddies will pop the rear seals as the rear seal simple can't handle the pressure and the concept of bearing buddies can defeat the whole purpose. One idea with bearing buddies is to drill additional holes in the side so any over pressure is reduced before the rear seal. Not over filling thou is the trick.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Dignity]

Cheech - there is some detail here that might help.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfish/board/YaBB.cgi?board=Boats;action=display;num=1107587341 ;start=0

Sounds like the person who changed the bearings when you bought the boat may have taken the easy way out and didn't change the cones. #If they were scored the new bearings wouldn't last long at all. #Check if a new seal ot dust caps are extremely loose, if so you might be better off with a new hub as this may have occurred to the previous owner as well. #SuperCh3@p just had a 20% off sale - you would have just missed it.

Somehow missed a whole page of this thread - I'd look at changing mechanics as well.

Macca, how did you end up with yours problem.

Cheers Sam

[Cheech]

Next lot of pictures. Seems the shaft is not damaged. Have checked all over and it seems to have been riding on the nut.

Those 3 little pieces in one of the pictures was all that was left apart from the rollers.

[Cheech]

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[Cheech]

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[Cheech]

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[Cheech]

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[Cheech]

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[Cheech]

Just got the inner and outer parts of the bearing off. The two parts that are pressed into the hub. Closer inspection looks like the damage to the hub is just that empty area inbetween the bearings. Plus a bit of scouring on the outside next to the larger bearing. I think this may be where the seal sits. Hopefully the seal will still seat in there ok.

Question, that round washer/sleeve looking part that is just behind the nut, how am I suppose to get it off? I have removed the nut and tried to tap it off, but no luck. Does it tap off or screw off?

Off to Supercheap for a new set.

[SeaHunt]

If you have driven any distance let the bearings cool before putting them in the water. A hot bearing will suck salt water in if it cools rapidly.

I lost a wheel on the highway outside Dubbo many years ago some grub had stolen 3 of the 5 wheel nuts off my mag wheels while we had lunch only leaving the 2 lock nuts.

About 100km later I looked out the window and said " Oh look at that! some poor B has lost a wheel" as a wheel sped past us and down the road.

This was followed by a sudden bump and a quick halt as I realized I was the poor B.

2 studs had sheared off but 3 remained intact but required special Aunger mag wheel nuts. Saturday afternoon, 50km outside Dubbo, long weekend, first car to pull up to help guy get out and says " I have 3 spare Aunger #nuts!" #

As if by magic he got the nuts out of his boot and we were underway in about half an hour #:D


Probably the prick who stole yours Dug. ::)

[SeaHunt]

Cheech, invaluable learning experience for you here, if you want something done properly , do it yourself.
The guys who supposedly did it 5 months ago might not have done anything other than jack it up , check the bearings were turning OK and clean up the stud threads with a wire brush to make it look like they changed them. Experience has taught me that there are at least as many cowboys out there as decent honest tradesmen. ???

[Cheech]

So picked up a marine set. (stainless steel seal housing) But the choice is between Ford and Holden. ??? They only had Ford left so will give it a go. The outer cones of the bearings are the same. Is the only difference the inner diamiter?

[propdinger]

yes cheech the ford bearings are a larger diameter compaired to the holden which is why we usually use ford bearings and holden stud pattern so its a stronger axle but a common stud pattern
but we usually have to do this for ourselves as not many trailers come this way but if you tow it alot its just that bit more safer (or makes me feel safer ) ::)

[Cheech]

Of course it had to be Holden bearings.... Another trip to the shop...

Anyway, the whole saga is now over. Worked out what bits went where and is now all assembled.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Thanks Sam for that tip about grinding the old outer rings and using them to tap the new bearings in. Worked a treat.

Question,,, do they loosen up after they have been used a bit and seated in?

[aido]

good practice when fitting new wheel bearings is to
over torque the axle nut while spinning the wheel
till a noticeable loading against the rotation is felt.
back off the nut, then tighten it till the slightest
resistance to rotation is felt.
too much final torque on the nut will force the grease
out of bearings when the wheels are running.
fit the split pin and your done.

[Dignity]

Thanks Sam for that tip about grinding the old outer rings and using them to tap the new bearings in. Worked a treat.


Cheech make sure you put them in with your spare set of bearing kit (well marked) although in an emergency you can use the old cones if they haven't been scored. Don't forget to include a few spare nuts while your at it. #




Question,,, do they loosen up after they have been used a bit and seated in?


Not sure what you are referring to here Cheech. #Have you tightened up the nut too tight. #I usually torque the nut up not too firmly then back it off one notch on the nut to fit the split pin. #With the wheel on it should spin freely but not have any rock in it. I know how it feels but maybe Blaze or some one else might be able to give you a better explanation.


Cheers Sam.
Edit - the cones will be just as firm next time you do it - they will not loosen up.

[joeT]

All this talk about bearing is scaring me because I haven't really turned my mind to them. My boat/trailer is exactly one year old now and no one has ever looked at the bearings.

The other day I was pushing the boat back into its spot in the yard when I heard a very light squeaking sound, coming from the right wheel bearing. Should I get this checked out? The sound only happens after a trip, and not when the bearing is cold.

Now after reading this thread I want to have my bearings serviced. I do have some mechanical ability but I currently work so many hours I simply don't have time to do it myself. I'd rather spend my remaining spare time fishing ;D. Can someone recommend a place in Brisbane I could take my trailer for a service? Someone I can trust?

[Cheech]

Hopefully I have it right. When I was at the point of removing the wabble, I was half way between the split pin slot. So tried backing off, but was noticeable wabble (just on the hub without the wheel on, so went for the next slot. The wheel still rotated freely. Just a little tighter than I planned to tighten the nut.

Joe, knowing what I now know, I will be looking at replacing the lot annually. Only about 23 dollars per wheel, and if you do not have to deal with what I did in a disintergrated mess then it would probably be a quick job to change (1 hour compared to 8 hours).

[blaze]

Sounds like you have it about right. Recheck preload after a short trip as it may loosen up a bit. I did a post this morning put some thing happened with my connect, it basicly said that the 2 biggest reasons for premature bearing failure are
1- to much grease as applied with bearing buddies
2- over preloading the bearings on assemble (I feel they are better to be on the loose side if you need to choose to get the split pin in)
cheers
blaze
ps cheech- only take you an 1hr to do the lot after a bit of practice

[Mr__Bean]

G'Day Cheech,

Now that you have the whole thing back together may I suggest that you check the amount of clearance behind the marine seal to the square bit of the axle.

As others have mentioned, bearing buddies are great but if you do over pressure them and there is room for the rubber part of the seal to slide back on the axle it will and it may let water in again.

If there is room for the rubber seal to slide back on the axle, this can be prevented by placing a plastic tie-wrap around the axle at this point right behind the rubber part of the seal to take up some space and give the seal something to "lean against" if it is overpressured.

If the gap is too big for a tie-wrap you can use a stainless hose clamp in the same manner.

Worth a look.

- Bean

[chevin]

I have personelly only seen one flawed bearing in 30 years as a mechanic, it was a 300mm roller bearing in a final drive of an exclavator which had been put in an ice box to shrink it to enable it to fit in the housing and when returned to room temp it cracked the outer cage. wheel bearings that fail prematurely have either to much grease or preload too tight, both will generate heat. So IMO it is not the bearing that causes premuture failure but the person fitting
cheers
blaze

Top quality posting! I used to fit bearings for SKF's and in the thousands of bearings I have fitted I never saw one crook bearing! It would be almost impossible for one bearing in a batch of hundreds of thousands from one batch of steel to be crook. Bearing failure is invariably due to bad fitting, over loading or incorrect lubrication. There is a common fault that occurs when bearings are fitted by inexperienced fitters and that is when drifts are used to position them. Many people choose to use a soft metal drift such as a piece of brass to drive the bearing into position. When they do so, small opieces of brass or other soft metal often fall into the bearing and foreign bodies really are death to bearings. Most bearings are much harder than a hammer and so it is quite safe to tap them into position with a small hammer. But ALWAYS tap the "A ring" (the outer ring) NEVER the "B Ring"

Another thing to bear in mind is that not all bearings are made form the same types of steel, nor are they hardened in the same way. Some bearings are only case hardened and they tend to be a little bit quieter because the hardened area is only about .25 - .5 mm Others are hardened right through and they are minutely noisier. The latter resist brinelling and are obviously better if a bearing is going to be subjected to a rough situation. I don't know how all of the companies make theirs but I do know that the SKF bearings that are made in Europe are made from Swedish chrome steel and they are hardened right through.

[NQCairns]

I am just a little confused, it read to me as if the bearings are Holden? That shouldn't be the case but if they are it might be worth checking them a bit earlier than typical, there is a difference of a couple of hundred kg load carrying capacity between ford and holden.
I have probably replaced 30 or so trailer bearings in the back yard over the years and I have yet to have a failure. I was constantly waiting for a faulty one to cause me big trouble but after Blaze's and chevin's good posts above I will chill out, nice info to know.
All of my bearings to date were changed only because of signs of water ingress at some time on the bearing surfaces.

As stated above if the shaft pin hole and castle nut force a decission to be either slightly tight or slightly to loose - go the loose, you can always come back to it spend half an hour nipping them all up later after some small use. Cleanliness is next to godlyness when changing bearings, a mountain of rags.
cheers

[blaze]

Hi Chevin
The bearing that cracked wasnt even tapped with a hammer, Nearly cost a couple of us our jobs, the bearing was returned to the manufacture and it was an flaw when the bearing was made, it had laminations in it. the only one I have ever seen. I disagree with the bearing buddies and the zip tie to forcable hold the seal in. If the seal needs to be held in like that there is way too much grease in the bearing, the other trouble with bearing buddies is people give them a pump of grease and think they are servicing their bearings in accatual fact they are well on the way to premature failure.
cheers
blaze

[Dignity]

I am just a little confused, it read to me as if the bearings are Holden? cheers

I looked at the pics and thought that they should have been Ford type bearings. Easiest way is to measure the axle - from memory 45mm square should be Ford anything less would be holden.

Cheers Sam.

[Kerry]

I looked at the pics and thought that they should have been Ford type bearings. #Easiest way is to measure the axle - from memory 45mm square should be Ford anything less would be holden.

What's the axle size got to do with what type of bearings are fitted.

Cheers, Kerry.

[Spaniard_King]

Dignity,

I think you should have made a statement about stub axle size ::) as axle size could be anything machined down to take Ford or Holden

Garry

[phewy]

Kerry, maybe you should say up-yours on your sig instead of cheers. How many axles out there are heavy duty 45mm with stubs machined down to take holden sized bearings.

[Kerry]

Kerry, maybe you should say up-yours on your sig instead of cheers. How many axles out there are heavy duty 45mm with stubs machined down to take holden sized bearings.

You tell me Phewy :-X but what does the size of the actual axle have to do with anything. The actual axle size means ziltch with regards what size stubs someone has welded on the end. Like what is it with some of you characters ???

Cheers, Kerry.

[aido]

my new axle is 45mm square with holden ht hubs.
just like the old ones were.

[dfox]

I had a tandam trailer built from a big manufacturer that had the heavy duty axles. the front axle turned out to be holden bearings and the rear ford, made for some head scratching when i changed the bearings. I must have been the lucky bloke that got the last axle before a change in suppliers?
Garry's right, check stub axle size!!!

[Kerry]

As mentioned axle size mean ziltch and when it's all said and done neither is there any reasoning that at the end of the day a ford stub/bearing set is "better" than a holden stub/bearing set as the lowest common denominator rule applies and that is usually the rim or the tyre.

And for those who want to pick the axle comp then here's 2 identical rated axles. One has holden stubs and one is ford, yes same trailer. And for the observant Yes they are stainless steel hydraulic lines #;).

http://www.cqnet.com.au/~user/aitken/axle_SR_w.jpg
http://www.cqnet.com.au/~user/aitken/axle_SF_w.jpg

Cheers, Kerry.

[Dignity]

Ok guys, I only go by what is printed on the packaging when I buy my bearings. Had a look at my spare set and that is what it says. Will check out some bearings over the weekend and I'm pretty sure that the packaging for the holden bearings have axle measurements of 39 and 42 mm but my memory is short these days. ;D Like all things in life, nothing is that simple. Fortunately for me both axles are 45 mm and they both take Ford bearings.

Sam

[NQCairns]

It's been over a year since I went through all this so be kind, I may have some numbers out, possibly a bit, here is what I remember.

The rating of a trailer (unsprung portion) is it's lowest sum of any 2 of its same parts.

45mm sq = 1500kg each rating (by some manufacturers)
Ford bearing = 800kg each = 1600kg rating per axle
Holden bearings=600kg each =1200kg rating per axle
LT tyres 850kg each = 1700kg rating per axle.

I opted for 45mm sq, Ht hubs, 13inch wheels, 850kg LT tyres, and ford bearings.

Why would somebody fit 45 square axles that fit the way under rated holden bearings and stubs (compared to the axle)? When I was checking all this stuff out I came to the conclusion (right or wrong) that the holden bearings were best suited to unbraked trailer applications, certainly to trailers rated under 1000kg. There has got to be a reason ???nq

[phewy]

Exactly nq. All us "characters" know (almost) that you can have holden bearings on heavy duty axles, but why? Composite maybe, but all holden? Kerry, as a caravan repairer for 20 odd years have come across the same thing sometimes with tandem axles. One axle with Ford (slimline) set up and the other Holden or composite. Obviously having new axle put on somewhere and not matching up with original. Tad dangerous if serviced by unknowing person and maybe putting wrong bearings in after checking size of other. (of course holden bearings wont go on ford stub but can the other way)

[Kerry]

Yeah Phewy, much like putting LT tyres on 13" (or 14" HK for that matter) 5 stud holden rims #;) The limiting factor is .....

Cheers, Kerry.

[chevin]

Hi Chevin
The bearing that cracked wasnt even tapped with a hammer, Nearly cost a couple of us our jobs, the bearing was returned to the manufacture and it was an flaw when the bearing was made, it had laminations in it. the only one I have ever seen. I disagree with the bearing buddies and the zip tie to forcable hold the seal in. If the seal needs to be held in like that there is way too much grease in the bearing, the other trouble with bearing buddies is people give them a pump of grease and think they are servicing their bearings in accatual fact they are well on the way to premature failure.
cheers
blaze

When you say "Lamination" do you mean a slag inclusion? Yes, that certainly could cause a bearing failure. It is something I have never seen and something I never considered in my original post, but somethinig that could happen.

Most boat trailer bearings are over lubricated - mine included - but as long as the axial loading on them is correct they don't run fast enough to suffer from that. However, on long journies it is a good idea to have tyres inflated to their maximum running pressure. Soft tyres can generate a huge amount of heat much of which can finish up in the bearings.

[NQCairns]

How does that work Kerry? Bit cryptic, from memory again, Axles are rated this way as a standard. 1500kg axle is only rated at 1500kg if fitted with 14 inch rim and ford bearings, if fitted with a 16 inch rim the 45sq rating is much lower around 1100kg.
If a person happens to have holden bearings/16 inch wheels...even with 45sq - you do the math, I would be jumping out to hold the trailer up every time any weight got transfered to that set!!! on an above 1500+kg trailer!!!! Just in case :o

If 1600kg to 2000kg per axle is needed then 6 stud and 4wd type hub/bearings are then called for. nq

[Kerry]

....If 1600kg to 2000kg per axle is needed then 6 stud and 4wd type hub/bearings are then called for. nq....

For sure.

So what's your thoughts on fitting LT tyres to 13"/14" passenger vehicle rims?

Cheers, Kerry.

[finga64]

Must be big boats to fit on the trailers you fellas are talking about. What size boat/trailer weighs 3.2ton.? That's what 2 times 1600 kg amounts to. What do you tow them with?

[DR]

So what's your thoughts on fitting LT tyres to 13"/14" passenger vehicle rims?

as opposed to what?, galvanised trailer rims of the same size?, whats your point?

[Kerry]

as opposed to what?, galvanised trailer rims of the same size?, whats your point?

Being galvanized is irrelvant a 13"/14" 5 stud holden rim is still the same rim gal or not.

So what's your thoughts on fitting LT tyres to 13"/14" passenger vehicle rims? The point is what are the thoughts on fitting LT (Light Truck) tyres to passenger vehicle rims, are passenger vehicle rims designed/meant to handle the extra load/pressure? Just curious to see what the thoughts on this are.

Cheers, Kerry.

[DR]

i would imagine commonsense would prevail.
the (average) boat would not be a lot different to a car in weight one way or the other, so i would imagine it would matter little.
as you get into the larger/heavier models as suggested earlier i would go for 4WD or similar that is purpose built for that particular use.
but thats just me..

trailers, i would imagine are like some boat packages, to get the good price they supply the absolute minimum to get you on the water (which in my mind makes them borderline safe anyway) trailers would probably be the same. so there is more than likely a lot of trailers running around that are at their absolute minimum,tyrewise, & the owners are oblivious, as they trusted the dealer or the previous owner was a tighta**
& fitted cheap tyres.

[NQCairns]

Kerry I would say they are, all the trailer axle packages that are rated to 1500kg use aftermarket galvanized 14 inch rims and 850kg Lt's to gain the 1500 in the first place.
Who would run a light truck tyre at it's max pressure anyway!! on a boat trailer!, regardless the total rating must allow for it as does aust standards.
I am sure someone could do even better and search out a blank aftermarket performance rim somewhere that would blow the typical metal rim's ratings away and then get it drilled for whatever, but that is the case for all trailer parts.
It's fine to run an LT at even 36-50psi indefinitely at load weights associated with legal trailers, with some common sense.

[billfisher]

Nqcairns,

Whats wrong with running near the max pressure with light truck tyres on a boat trailer? I have always run mine at 60 psi with a 1250 kg rig and have had no problems. Occasionally when I have forgotten to check the pressure I have noticed a tyre looking half flat at 40 psi. This has got to lead to damaging heat build up on long trips.

[NQCairns]

Hi Billfisher, nothing strictly wrong with it except it is kinder to the boat and trailer and gives a better tow to pump up on a sliding scale, max weight to psi if that makes sense ???

With new tyres I use the pressure increase from cold to hot as the clue to a good pressure, and from then on in tyre wear.
I would guess that unless your towing on or over the tyres rating you will have to run a fairly lower pressure at some time in the future to even up the tyre wear, each tyre brand etc can be different.nq