To Rotate or Not to Rotate

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

If you remember, we had a discussion not too long ago on whether or not to balance and/or rotate your trailer tires. Consensus was that most balanced but few rotated. Well, I had my buddy in from Florida and he is the head mechanic for the County where he lives. His comment was "Have you ever looked at your tires when making a sharp turn or backing up?" So I looked closer during the trip to Champlain and on dual wheel/tandam trailers the front two wheels take a lot more abuse than the rears. My buddy's advice.....rotate them once in a while. I gotta agree. Just an FYI.



TOXIC

 

[fatrap]

Hey Tox



What about us po folk who only have one axle and two tires on our boat trailers? We need to flip flop them too?

fatrap

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

LOL fatrap, just loosen the lugs and act like you swapped em'!! PS....the po folk ARE the ones with the tandems!!



TOXIC

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Bias Ply tires from what I understand are not designed to rotate unless they're going in the same direction( rotating inside out...left side to right side).

TEE

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Yea but on tandems, the front tire "scuffs" for lack of a better term, on tight turns and backing up. I watched mine and there is some heavy duty sliding and grinding going on. You could actually see the tire being pulled out from the rim. This has to cause uneven wear. Right?



TOXIC

 

[Tony Payne]

Sounds like all the more reason I like my single axle...

 

[Greg Meyer]

Tox,



I quietly took a poll among those of us here who know you best.... And, not surprisingly... all agreed that I should tell you... "to go rotate"..... LOL

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Ha, Ha, Ha, ......I'll do just that (wouldn't be the first time!!).



TOXIC

 

[Larry Harp]

I don't know why but all of a sudden I've got this song in my head..........

You put your right foot out,

You put your right foot in,

You do the Hokie Pokie and you turn yourself around.

THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!





Harpo

 

[Staci Matheis]

ROFLMAO @ Meyer!!







If I were a visitor to the board and didn't know how much good natured humor goes around here..... LOL!!

 

[Paul Jones]

Has anybody ever worn out their trailer tires? Probably not. Trailer tires die of dry rot long before the tread is even close to wearing out. Ergo tire rotation is a waste of time and energy. If you have nothing else to do it's good exercise for the upper body and probably does hurt anything.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Interesting thought from PAULEYE on wearing out trailer tires. I don't trailer a whole lot since the launch ramp is about one quarter mile from the house. When I do take the boat(s) elsewhere I probably limit my driving to less than 1,000 miles per year. If I can get 15K miles out of a set of tires (always radials) I'm good for 15 years, unless they dry rot. How many miles do you trailer in a year??????

 

[Steve Flattem]

my tires rotate on their own...clockwise when going forward, counterclockwise...



Since my boat/trailer is stored outdoors, I cover the tires with tire covers (same as on my travel trailer)...should take care of the UV rot

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Tox, I say you should go rotate! LOL