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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Changing a flat on a trailer

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/02/2004 : 09:10:59

Hi All,

I hope never to have to do this, but I reckon I should be prepared just in case. But what do I need to change a tire should I have a blow-out on the trailer? Is there a special jack, and where do you set up the jack so it doesn't damage the trailer? Are there any special conditions I need to be aware of in jacking up a trailer? My trailer is a two axle trailrite.

Thanks,

Ben
Beneteau 361
Viking Kitty
Columbus, Ohio

Edited by - on

Waterboy
Navigator

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USA
204 Posts

Response Posted - 03/02/2004 : 09:24:09

I'm around folks who haul horse trailers a LOT, and usually what they do is keep a little homebuilt 'ramp' in the back of the pickup - three thicknesses of 2"x6" will do - and pull the trailer up on the GOOD tire so the flat one is off the ground. Very quick, very handy, no mussing about with jacks and having to unload the spring before you even begin to raise the tire. Pa did laugh at me tho' when I tried this with a single axle trailer AND forgot to loosen the lugnuts aforehand. Live-n-learn.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/02/2004 : 13:40:00

Hi Ben,

You must have been a boy scout in your youth

.

I always place the jack under the axle. I use a floor jack as a bottle jack is too tall.

If we travel in a group, one carries a jack, another the spare and another the 18V impact wrench

Edited by - on

Ed Montague
Captain

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USA
499 Posts

Response Posted - 03/03/2004 : 01:03:54

Waterboy's reply is right on for using a block to get the flat off of the ground on a tandem axled trailer. I have changed a few flats (more then I care to remember) on loaded gooseneck livestock trailers and the block provides a more secure lift then a stock jack found in our pick ups or Suburbans. Plus Murphy's Third Law states that in the event of a flat you will stop in a muddy soft spot. Most of us who trailer carry blocks to chock the tires when extending the tongue, carry one with a little less slope and a little larger flat top and it will have two uses.

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 03/03/2004 : 10:31:29

Get a small hydraulic floor jack. A 1 or 1-1/2 ton model will do. They are low enough in compressed state to get under the axle, and have good sized cups on them to provide a secure base for the axle to rest on. Availabale at Walmart etc.....around 1/2 bu.

Loosen the nuts first. I carry a 1/2" drive socket breaker bar with 10" extension to a 3/4" socket. A good sized "X" type multi sized lug wrench will do as well. (Also at Walmart etc.)The standard automotive lug wrench, slightly angled, about 10" long doesn't cut it. The trailer wheel lug nuts are tightened a lot more that car wheels are.

Then, put the jack under the axle as close to the wheel as possible, being careful not to pinch any brake lines, or electrical wires. The jacks are on small metal casters which will dig into a soft surface, so I use a 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 piece of 3/4" plywood under it.

Remove wheel and replace with spare. Lower trailer again and torque down. Torque again after 100 or so miles. Most people don't carry a torque wrench around. Rent or borrow one, torque down the nuts, then loosen one and bring back to original position with YOUR wrench, and feel what 80lbs of torque feels like..(or whatever your owners manual specifies)

Finally, it wouldn't hurt to do a dry run in your drive way before you go.

Oscar, in Austin TX, making BU's.

Edited by - Oscar on 03/03/2004 10:37:49

coach
Navigator

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USA
231 Posts

Response Posted - 03/03/2004 : 17:55:55

I call my wife and she comes to fix it!

Edited by - on

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 07:22:11

Thanks All,

OJ, no, I'm not a boy scout, just really don't want to be left high and dry on the side of the road with a blowout.

Edited by - on

John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 08:19:36

Two years ago I had a tire shreding blow out on my C25 trailer.
Traveling north on I75 near Midland MI. We called AAA on the Celphone
The guy that arrived didn't have a clue. We were not prepared. no spare, no jack..... lessons learned through experience. I detached the trailer and we drove back about 15 miles to a large shopping area where we found a Tractor Supply store. There a very cute sales girl helped us get a 2 ton floor jack, a 5 lug spare and a star lug wrench. They actually had a load range D trailer tire in the correct size already mounted. In order to keep the jack from sinking into the asphalt we had to sacrifice the seats from the dinghy.

Soooo.... carry a spare, a good floor jack, some 2x6's and a lug wrench. Changing the tire with the proper tools was not a problem.
But it did take several hours out of our travel time.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 09:52:45

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Ben
 OJ, no, I'm not a boy scout, just really don't want to . . .
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Ben,

I applaud your prepardness.

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 09:55:22

Oh yeah, forgot about this. Boat US membership with trailer club add on.....they come and fix it, and they DO know what they're doing...

Oscar
250WB#618 Lady Kay on Wheels.

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 09:56:49

Oh yeah, forgot about this. Boat US membership with trailer club add on.....they come and fix it, and they DO know what they're doing...

Oscar
250WB#618 Lady Kay on Wheels.

Edited by - on

Waterboy
Navigator

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USA
204 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 10:03:48

It's not that I don't like the hydraulic floor and bottle jacks - they're great when you need 'em. I've yet to figure out a clever way around using a jack on a single axle trailer or a vehicle. But you still have to unload the spring (usually three or so inches) and , worst of all, crawl around on whatever substrate it is that happened to finally do the tire in. Last time I had to do this was on dark asphalt in Arizona in August - I'll spare you the details. If you have a double axle trailer, try the ramp, it's really slick. You'll keep the hydraulics as backup, but when then front tire goes on the tow rig goes, you'll wish it too could be changed so easily.

...too cold to go outides now, must be in the 50's brrrrr....;)

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 16:03:37

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Waterboy
 I've yet to figure out a clever way around using a jack on a single axle trailer or a vehicle. But you still have to unload the spring (usually three or so inches) and . . . <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Waterboy,

I don't mean to over analyze this process, but, I'm curious; by "unloading" the spring do you mean you would place the jack under the trailer frame, raising it up until the suspension bottoms-out, at which time the wheel lifts off the pavement?

Edited by - OJ on 03/04/2004 16:05:04

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 17:20:26

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Oscar
 Oh yeah, forgot about this. Boat US membership with trailer club add on.....they come and fix it, and they DO know what they're doing...

Oscar
250WB#618 Lady Kay on Wheels.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Oscar
I wonder if a honk'n skeg would help your weather helm? That is the first time I have seen a 250 from quite that perspective. I remember Arlyn talking about a little one.

Edited by - on

Waterboy
Navigator

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USA
204 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2004 : 17:43:55

Well, in my newbieness I can't seem to find the lil' 'reply with quote' thingie, so ...

OJ,

Can I say "woops!" ? I was picturing jacking up like one often does a car ... and with the axle of a trailer so accessible I see no reason to do this, so I stand corrected.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2004 : 11:07:11

While we are on the topic of being prepared for trailering troubles.

IMHO... be prepared for the #1 nemisis of boat trailers.. Wheel Bearing Failure.
Carry the 'stuff' needed to change out a set.

Bearing kit (Bearings and seals)
Hammer
Brass drift
Pliers
Crescent wrench or similar (for axle nut)
Tube of wheel bearing grease and rags.

Even if you're unable (or unwilling) to change the bearings yourself, having "parts in hand" will make your life a lot easier when somebody shows up who can change them.

Edited by - on

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 03/07/2004 : 08:45:07

Got the tire changed without a problem, sort of. I tried the 3-thickness 2x6 approach first, but it wasn't high enough to get the problem tire off the ground. After a little bit of swearing, I decided to try the bottle jack from the F250. Worked great.

I learned something new though. Evidently not all tires are the same. This may be old news to a lot of you, but I was completely ingnorant. There are radial tires, and then there are bias tires. I may not have the spelling right, but it sounded like the guy at the tire place was saying "bias" to describe my trailer tire. Let me back up a bit.

I wanted to save money by buying a nice used tire for my trailer, so I went to the boat and looked at the bad tire but couldn't find the numbers. So I took the numbers off the tire in front of it. 215/75 R15 (i think), called it in and sure enough, they had one in stock for $29.something. So yesterday morning when they saw my bad tire, they sayed they didn't have one. We argued, they won. We realized where the miscommunication occured and I got a new "bias" tire. Evidently, the PO of the trailer replaced a bad "bias" tire with a radial. The other three tires on the trialer were "bias." The tire man said I should either go all radial or all bias. If I have a radial tire it will drive "squirley." I'm not too concerned about it. I've driven hundreds of miles with one radial tire and I've, fortunately, seen no squirliness.

I learned something new yesterday.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 03/07/2004 : 10:19:21

The old-style 'bias ply' tires are a lot stiffer in the sidewalls than new-style radials... especially passenger car radials. You're probably better off having the matched set of bias ply tires on the rig. IMHO best tires are 'trailer service' rated radials. They have the nicer running characteristics of a radial but are built with heavier sidewalls to reduce flex and improve impact resistance.

Only place where I've heard of a C-25 getting squirrely is on a freeway with channels worn in the pavement from the traffic. A guy from here totaled a C-25 and his tow rig on I-5 up by Seattle under those circumstances. The trailer started moving around a bit and he decided to 'power out' of it by flooring the truck. (bad move) At 70 mph the boat overturned and barrel-rolled down an offramp. Fortunately (a miracle) nobody was seriously injured.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/07/2004 : 13:27:09

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Ben
 . . . I'm not too concerned about it. I've driven hundreds of miles with one radial tire and I've, fortunately, seen no squirliness.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Ben,

The first mate's car calls for "V" speed rated tires which equates to 150 mph

, about $30 a tire more expensive, softer rubber and less tire life than "H" rated. Sam's Club and others are not allowed to install anything less than what the car manufacturer specs for liability reasons (hence, I transport just the wheels to the tire dealer in the pickup and have them mount "H's".)

You're a few dollars ahead and safer with four bias plys Ben even though you can't feel it.

Edited by - OJ on 03/07/2004 13:37:07

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