Always carry a spare tire for your trailer.....

kebo · Sep 16, 2012

Last Friday evening I was at my folks house (where I keep all my tractor stuff) and was out in the yard getting ready to hook up my 16ft trailer to my truck so I could take the tractor to the hunt club the next morning to finish up some food plots. Their house is at an intersection and there is a building at each corner. Shortly before dark I noticed a SUV pulling into the lot of the old brick store across the street (which is now used as the office for the local water co-op), they were towing a small trailer loaded with two crotch rocket motorcycles. They were obviously headed to the dragstrip about 3 miles up the highway. It sounded like the trailer was making a lot of noise as they slowed to a stop and I noticed then that one of the trailer tires was all shredded to pieces!

They got out and looked at it, and not too long I saw them looking my way as I was hooking up my big trailer. Well, it wasn't much longer one of the two young guy comes walking over to the yard and wondered if I might be able to help them out. Seems they had no spare tire for their trailer!! So, I asked him what size it was and it was 13". I knew that my big trailer had 15" tires so I didn't think the spare on it would work, but we checked my little 5x10ft utility trailer and it had 12" tires. By now the other guy had walked over and I showed them the spare on my little trailer. It was 5 lug same as theirs and I said if it would fit, and they wanted it, I would sell it for $50 cause it would cost me that much to replace it. It was essentially a new tire that I had not used, it had just been sitting on the trailer. Checked the air pressure in it, and it was low so I pumped it up and it seemed to hold. They put the tire on the trailer on using the jack from their SUV and it looked like it was going to work ok.

Off they went, but not before I suggested getting a new 13" tire to go back on the trailer, and they could then use the 12" as a spare tire in a pinch. Oh yeah, told them to be careful racing them bikes but that's like talking to a brick wall, I think!! They gonna do it anyway! :laughing:

kneedeep · Sep 16, 2012

dudes are lucky you were there and willing to help. I have spares for everything! Once, I bought a wheel and tire from Academy to move a FEMA trailer to the hunting property for a permanent home, as luck would have it, did not use the spare and retuned it for a refund.

:biggrin:

Diamondpilot · Sep 16, 2012

I can not tell you how many $100,000 boats I deal with that do not have a spare for the trailer. Its a $150 option and most think "I dont need to spend the extra money"

I always tell all my customers that the spare tire is the most important tire on the trailer. Take care of it. I tow a lot of trailers in the course of a year, maybe 75 or so. I would say 2/3 the spare is low on air if it even has one. I have 3 spares of my own that I take with me when I do a job like this. One is a 6 ply 205/75/15 on a 5 lug wheel. The other is a 10 ply 225/75/15 on a 6 lug wheel. The other is a 10 ply 245/70/16 on a 8 lug wheel.

Just went to move a 18,500# boat last weekend and the guy tells me he aired up the tires. All were at 80 psi +/- 3 psi per my gauge but the spare was at 43 psi. I made him put air in it for me before we left.

Chris

SSdoxie · Sep 16, 2012

The one and only time I had a flat on a trailer out on the road was when I didn't have a spare. Luckily there was a tire shop a mile down the road and was ble to limp it down there, bought 2 tires and extra wheel.

Bob77064 · Sep 16, 2012

What type of spare tire carrier do y'all recommend for the trailer?

Diamondpilot · Sep 17, 2012

I always weld up or make my own. I also bought a 10' length of 1/2" fine thread all thread and just lay the tire across the A frame and cut some lenghts of the all thread to make long studs. Tack weld on and you are good to go.

Chris

whitechevy · Sep 17, 2012

Like Diamondpilot said..... It's too cheap an insurance to not have one.

woodsmith · Sep 17, 2012

I have never had a flat on any of my trailers. I still carry a spare though.

With my open trailers I haven't yet made spare wheel carriers so the spare is thrown in the back of the car when I hitch up. With my enclosed trailer the spare is bolted to the inside of one of the back doors.

The only trailer that doesn't have a spare is the one that I use with my bicycle, I carry a puncture repair kit instead!

Jimbrown · Sep 17, 2012

Here in the desert pretty much all trailer tires are just time bombs. On my goose neck horse trailer I carry two spares.
Seems like I am always towing at night or early morning or on holidays. If I blow one there is not many if any place to get a replacement. The last thing I need is setting beside the road at 110 in the shade with two or more horses going crazy over the heat.