trailer question

[Greg Duggan]

is it nessasary to lift the trailer off the ground so that the wheels are not taking the weight while the boat is sitting all winter??

Carlos asked this question a couple of post back and nobody seemed to answer the question.

i didn't lift mine, should i ?

 

[Bill McElroy]

No need to do that.....I've never had a problem with tires going "out of round" or developing a flat spot from sitting over the winter,...and I live in the winter wonderland!!!

 

[Rich D]

I never have. I do inspect my tires each spring looking for cracks in the sidewalls. This is my third year with these tires, and I plan on replacing them in the spring. A cheap investment for peace of mind.



Rich D

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I jack up the trailer and rotate the tire 90 or 180 degrees every month or so to even them out but, mine are on concrete which is a lot harder than the ground. Just what I do...

TEE

 

[Thomas Macaluso]

I not only jacked my trailer up I also removed the tires this year and stored them in my shed.. My reason for removing the tires was two-fold. First I plan to rotate the tires in the spring ,secondly be removing the lug nuts I can prevent them from rusting in place on the studs. Also raising the tires can prevent dry rot.



Let me give a quick example of dry rot . My brother in law didn

 

[Greg Duggan]

thanks guys.

i put planks under my tires so that they dont sink into the driveway. i never had anybody tell me to jack up the trailer. but you learn somting every day.

 

[David Butler]

I go along with tee i jack my trailer up and rotate the tires every so often. Works for me

 

[Michael Snow]

I've bought two repos. Both sat for at least 6 months. The last one only sat for right at 6 months. I blew one tire on the first boat (replaced both). I blew one on the second boat and replaced it. In addition, I did a road hazard on the other tire on the same side. So, out of 6 tires, two blew and the tires were in fine shape otherwise.



Therefore, I STRONGLY recommend at least moving the boat. Jacking it up (and putting on jackstands) is that much better. For the record, the ones that blew were Goodyear Marathons. In both cases, they were replaced with Carlisles.

 

[Scott Smith]

I dont do a thing to my bassboat, other than inspect the tires in the spring.



I do jack up and remove the tires on my pontoon trailer which is stored outdoors at my cabin. I do this for several reasons, first off, it helps prevent theft, second, it prevents premature dry rot and third, it seems the porcupines in the area enjoy chewing on tires. I have no idea why, but my neighbor had 2 tires ruined by the critters.

 

[Bill McElroy]

...maybe they sampled his garbage one night and decided that the tires were better than his cooking!! HA!!!

 

[Steve Rizza]

Greg-

it is a good idea to re-pack the bearings with fresh grease before winter.Any water in there will rust your bearings over the winter months.



Steve

 

[Kim Becker]

I keep my boat in a garage on a concrete floor and take a piece of foam like in a seat cushion and place it under each tire for the winter. Have been doing this for 20 years and four different boats and never had a flat spot on a tire.

 

[Larry Harp]

Or you could move to the south and still go fishing every couple of weeks. Just an idea.



Harpo

 

[Steve Rizza]

Harpo,

I like your way of thinking.

Steve

 

[Staci Matheis]

Jacking the boat up for the winter was necessary years ago when the cords in the tires were made of different materials. (It's been too long, I can't remember what they were made of vs what they are now.) The tires tended to freeze with flat spots where they had been sitting on the ground. Not a problem any longer.



We all tend to forget air pressures in our trailer tires. Sitting for long periods of time on a repo lot is a great way for the tires to be forgotten and loose air. Lack of air pressure is the major cause of blow-outs. CHECK YOUR TIRES PRESSURES ON A REGULAR BASIS.



me!

 

[Larry Harp]

me!, Wasn't nylon the cord material of choice back in the olden days? I remember it would thump for a couple of miles after setting overnight in cold weather.



Harpo

 

[Staci Matheis]

Yes, Sir!



Tires back then didn't have the rubber formulations that we have now, either, so they dry rotted with ease.