Towing and tyres

[Hawkeye]

Need some advice on towing,
I am not new to towing trailers boats and the like ,  however I need some input on this …I have  just purchased my first deep sea boat, total weight including trailer is 1500
kg.  The trailer is fitted with 15” tyres… these are BFG tyres , really “FAT” beach  type tyres. Understandably these will work well on sand but make little sense  on the road. I am contemplating fitting 16” or 17” rims with “truck” type tyres  for towing to the various destinations  (Sodwana, Ponta, XaiXai, Guinjata etc etc)  then swap the tyres when launching. Plenty space to carry the spares under the  boat on the trailer.
Thoughts please!

[Rory mundy]

makes no sense to me at all, if anything i would match the size of the tyres to tow vehicle so you have a extra spare. to carry 2 tires on rims and then change them is a ball ache and what have you achieved by doing this ?

[colin]

[quote author=Rory mundy
makes no sense to me at all, if anything i would match the size of the tyres to tow vehicle so you have a extra spare. to carry 2 tires on rims and then change them is a ball ache and what have you achieved by doing this ?


    I had 30.5 x15 on an old Landy . they had a load spec of  1350 kg . Check the sidewall of the tyres they will have the load and speed spec of the tyre . The Landy often had a very heavy load and a Jurgens 21 foot van behind  , never a problem .

[FishStyx]

Howzit Hawkeye... 


The old adage... Keep it simple. Stick with the 15s. They are a lot more readily available than 16/17s in the small towns (Murphey's law states that when you have a blow out, it will be in a small town on a Sunday).


I've actually contemplated going from my 15s down to 14s because they are the toughest, most competitively priced and most available of all tyres.

[Serra Moz]

Need some advice on towing,
I am not new to towing trailers boats and the like ,  however I need some input on this …I have  just purchased my first deep sea boat, total weight including trailer is 1500
kg.  The trailer is fitted with 15” tyres… these are BFG tyres , really “FAT” beach  type tyres. Understandably these will work well on sand but make little sense  on the road. I am contemplating fitting 16” or 17” rims with “truck” type tyres  for towing to the various destinations  (Sodwana, Ponta, XaiXai, Guinjata etc etc)  then swap the tyres when launching. Plenty space to carry the spares under the  boat on the trailer.
Thoughts please!

Heya, welcome onboard UA, my observation, I noted that you mentioned Ponta, XX and Guinjata etc - I am just referring to availability of your array of tyres in question -  should things go pear shape in Moz, ok Ponta or near Maputo no issue as such, these tyres can be sourced in a day or so, however further up........ you know Moz? Anyway I am referring to Limpopo's input... on a Sunday in or near a 1 horse town, then you can be buggered. Another point to keep in mind... depending where you cross the border into Moz, you might be questioned about your selection of extra tyres, hence your explanation might be sound, but... you know better, some of them fellows do not like to many spares tyres on SA Vehicles, as they will claim it's for a 2nd hand sale or you are bringing it into Moz for a friend. I am not sure if you belong to any Moz Facebook pages, since December, many posts popped up for people requesting assistance, as they had blow outs and cannot get the particular tyre size in Moz. 

[dugong]

I'm with Rory on this, to have a rim that fits all is a winner and the best way to go.

[Hawkeye]

OK, so one thing does come out of this , same size tyres as towing vehicle , makes perfect sense . Over the holidays I helped one guy on his way to Sodwana and another that had lost a tyre on his way to Durbs...in both cases it was as a result of bad roads ,in both instances the sidewalls had gone and one thing both had in common was the broad tyres , Generally the way these type of sand/mud tyres are manufactured is to have flex and can run at low pressure. (Mostly tubeless).


Unfortunatly the axle width is wider  than the vehicle , so what you miss in the tow vehicle may catch the trailer ,...... hence wanting tyers that can take this sort of punishment .....but these same tyres are terrible for launching ....so will think a bit more about this !

[FishStyx]

Check your stud layout as well on the towing vehicle. If you can't have a trailer wheel with the same stud layout (qty studs and PCD) then having the same tyres as the car wont really help.

[HooknCook]

Agree with Rory, absolutely no sense in having 2 sets of tyres....you will be playing "Musical Tyres" swopping them the whole time and inflating/deflating. BFG's dont have flexiable sidewalls and are one of the best you can get regarding sidewall strength as they either 2 or 3 ply. If you sure that their exipry date is in order then you shouldnt have any issues and with those "Beach Tyres", they will make your life on the sand a breeze!

[Rory mundy]

and pump your boat tyres to 3.5 bar when towing on the road

[Kwade]

Ok I know this is a old thread and I'm sure the tyre story has been sorted out by now... but I thought I'd add my 2c anyway since I've been working for myself in the tyre industry for almost 10 years so I know a thing or 2 about the topic... so for future reference if someone has the same issue - if you wanted to go thinner you should have looked at 195R15,  195/70R15, 205/70R15 or 215R15...
If going to the beach with the boat I'd recommend the 215 because you need a bit of width in the sand...
If you not pulling it over the beach sand I'd say go for one of the 70 profile tyres because it drops the trailer a bit so you don't have to reverse it in so deep (the 195/70R15 will be lower than the rest because profile is the % of the width - so your profile in mm will be 70% of 195 = 136.5 mm )... changing the rim to 16 or 17 makes little sense because 15 and 16 have similar sizes and 17 inch off road tyres start at about 245 width (thinner ones are made but will not be easy to find therefore will cost you a arm and leg)...
also I wouldn't pump my boat tyres harder than 2.5 bar for a boat weighing 1500kg - it's important to remember when you drive the tyres heat up quite a lot so you pressure increases too and this is why 90% blowouts from hitting potholes occur - when a tyres pressure rises near or above recommended pressure (on the tyre) and it impacts a pothole causing a sudden spike in that pressure/temperature  (this still happens if you inflate with nitrogen because NO tyres shop inflates with 100% nitrogen,  in fact the accepted percentage to a working nitrogen machine is 92%)... I know this because I have a nitrogen machine so I know the company who supplied it (and supplys most franchises only service it once they see it is generating around 90% or less and if the service gets it up to 92% they are happy
P.S normal air for inflating tyres has 78% nitrogen)...
another thing is pumping to hard increases the bumping, vibrating, shaking of the load because it's more sensitive to the topography of the road (try pumping your car tyres to 3.5 bar and feel how the road feels compared to 2.5)... but I doesn't mean 3.5 bar will result in a blowout,  the chances are just better that they will and in the long run your tyres won't last as long as they could and puts more stress in the trailer than necessary (including its wheel bearings)...
last thing make sure your wheels are balanced when you replace the tyres (most ppl think it's not necessary for a trailers wheels to be balanced but balanced wheels will extend your bearings service (you can also see if your rims are rolling straight because damaged rims have a devastating effect on wheel bearings and tyres alike...
hope someone finds this useful... tight lines

[Visenvryheid]

Thanks nice informative post bro..

[GT Mayhem]

This is very interesting, i have always pumped my tyres to around 3.2 for long trips up the moz coast. Less than thay and the wheight makes the side walls compress and is very disturbing. That said, i still have my share of sidewall blow outs.

[Kwade]

Well to be fair most taxi drivers (mostly Quantum drivers)  pump up to 3.5bar and they carrying loads over distance on a everyday basis... But when they do have a problem they usually sit with a rim with a shredded tyre on... And if you ever have to remove a taxi wheel after a 60km trip you'll see why - the rims are usually too hot to touch so you can just imagine the stress exerted on the tyre during such a trip