Two 2540# trailer wheels for $201

normo · Post by **normo** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:18 pm

If any of you are 26X owners are interested in replacing your factory 14 inch trailer wheels with their 1870 lb load rated tires with 15 inch wheels having tires load rated at 2540 lbs check this online supplier: http://www.tiresunlimited.com/carlisle_usa_trail.htm

They offer Carlisle ST225/75D15 load rating D tires mounted and balanced on new painted rims for $101 each. If you prefer radials they are only a few dollars more. Here's the best part. If your order is $200 or more, like in two wheels, the shipping is free if you order them before January 1. This beats the locals prices by a bunch. Sorry, they dont offer galvanized rims but painted rims will easily outlast the Mac trailer.

The 26X I bought did not have a spare. As I will trailer frequently on secondary two lane roads with little room for pulling off to change tires I am uncomfortable operating right at the load limit of the factory tires. I decided to move up to larger wheels and use one of the existing tires as the spare. Hopefully, if the need arises, it will be safe to operate with different sized wheels for short distances at a reduced speed.

Please dont tell me Carlisle tires are NG.

PeteC · Post by **PeteC** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:39 pm

10 years ago I bought 4 of the Carlisle 15-inch tires for a camper. I was happy with the tires, although the tread on one did start to separate after about a year. I had the camper for 3 years before selling it. I bought the tires at a Merchant's tire store. They said Carlisle had a good warranty and they replaced the tires for no cost.

You should do an internet search. I am vaguely recalling a discussion in one of the RV forums and they weren't to happy with most of the trailer tires available (Carlisle included).

Check your local tire dealers to see if any carry the tire. If the price isn't too much more then you might want to get it locally.

Chip Hindes · Post by **Chip Hindes** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 6:40 am

Be aware, the 225-15 tires are a full two inches diameteral (one inch radial) larger than the stock 215-14. They will hit the fenders, hard, if you don't do anything to prevent it. I know my original 215-14 hit the fenders regularly. The clearance between the fenders and boat is already so tight when this happens the fenders could be driven into the boat.

There's no easy solution. Drilling new holes in the trailer frame to move the fenders up will seriously weaken the frame and further reduce the clearance between the fenders and boat. Extended spring shackles will reduce trailer stability and if overloaded can collapse sideways.

normo · Post by **normo** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 10:23 am

Chip: I have read a previous post from you advising against drilling additional holes in the frame and I agree wholeheartedly.

My first approach will be to remove the fenders, put the boat on the trailer to see what clearances are needed and then have a welder rework the fender brackets so I can use the same holes. If that won't work I'll look at different fenders. If that doesn't work I may have to go to thicker bunks to raise the boat up an inch or so.

If anyone else has done this successfully it would be helpful to know what appoach they used.

Chip Hindes · Post by **Chip Hindes** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:35 pm

Might I point out that anything that puts the boat higher (including taller bunks) incurs the stability penalty. Conversely, any method which moves the fenders higher in relation to the boat incurs the reduced clearance penalty. Note as well that though the taller bunks gets the boat out of the way, the taller wheels will still hit the fenders if you don't move them too.

With these as a given might I suggest the least painful solution would be to lower all four spring mounts by 1", thereby simply raising the trailer by 1" above the wheels. This could be done by cutting off the existing mounts and welding a simple 1" steel spacer block between the mounts and the frame. This at least gets the clearances back to where they were before you got the bigger wheels.

A distant second would be longer but also beefier spring shackles. Note that since the front spring eye is bolted directly to the mount (no shackle) the front spring eye is essentially fixed and the rear shackles will have to be a full 2" longer to raise the trailer by 1" total.

Mark Prouty · Post by **Mark Prouty** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:39 pm

What is the advantage of 15 inch wheels having tires load rated at 2540 lbs over 14 inch wheels having tires load rated at 2540 lbs? Can't you just get good 14 inch tires?

Newell · Post by **Newell** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:55 pm

I moved to 15" bias ply 3 years ago. Longer shackles (self-made) to compensate. Lost a wheel bearing last year which took off the starboard fender in the process. Made my own brackets on a new, wider fender looks and works good. I got the tires and rims for $153. 65 lbs of air is a stable ride and no heat build up. Put carpet on the fenders so no black marks on boat.

Newell

Chip Hindes · Post by **Chip Hindes** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:21 pm

Mark wrote:Can't you just get good 14 inch tires?

Nope. 1870 lbs, for the 215-14 load range D is the best there is in a 14" tire.

Don T · Post by **Don T** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 7:17 pm

Hello:
I just wanted to add:
1. I did my 15" wheel & tire mod 2 years ago with no problems. The boat does not hit the fenders.
2. I redrilled my rails to move the fenders and have detected NO deflection or distortion of the rails. Drilling the extra hole does in fact reduce their strength but these rails are no where near their rated load capacity.

FYI

PeteC · Post by **PeteC** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:42 am

Have you considered adding a second axle to the trailer? That's what I am planning. I see Bill Heisey did such a mod the Mac Mods section but no details.

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 8:18 am

I bought 2 new rim & tire combo ST205/75-15 LOADSTAR K550 mounted on white rims for $65.00 apiece from a local shop that sells trailers. I purchased them to use with a second axle I will be adding. You can use a tire compare chart such as

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp
or
http://www.dsm.org/tools/tiresize.htm

to identify the comperable tire you need in another rim size or how a different size compares to the factory size.

If I wanted to use a bigger diameter tire and there is enough clearance between the boat and fender, cut off the existing bolt from the angle iron and weld a new one in a lower position- that would raise the fender. If there isn't enough room between the boat and the fender, do the above change and add a piece of angle to shim it out. You could also cut the fender from the brackets- reposition with a filler to allow enough clearance between the rim, boat , and tire- reweld in place- paint.

Another advantage to the bigger tire is that there are less RPM's (Rotations Per Mile), so the tire and bearings last longer.

southwind · Post by **southwind** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:19 am

If your concerned about frame rail strength when you drill a second hole to raise the fender you could weld a doubler plate of about 4"x4" on the inside of the web of the c-chanel. I really dought that drilling a hole where the fenders are on the chanel would make much of a difference in structural strength since it is near the support point of the axle. If it was farther away, say near the bow where someone might want to mount a spare tire, I would definitely install a doubler. I have done some trailer design and would feel comfortable drilling the hole and raising the fenders.

Duane Dunn, Allegro · Sat Dec 11, 2004 10:49 am

Seems like it would be simpler to just weld a lower bolt on each fender corner and not mess with the frame at all.

By the sounds of it just cutting off part of the existing one and doubling it with a bolt below would ad about 3/4" in height on each side which should be enough.

Doing this is quick and easy and it's much easier to take the fenders to a shop than the whole trailer if you don't have your own welding gear.

Mark Prouty · Post by **Mark Prouty** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:19 am

normo wrote:If any of you are 26X owners are interested in replacing your factory 14 inch trailer wheels with their 1870 lb load rated tires with 15 inch wheels having tires load rated at 2540 lbs check this online supplier: http://www.tiresunlimited.com/carlisle_usa_trail.htm

Boat - 2350
trailer - 710
===
total 3060 / 2 = 1530

To calculate tire load do you divide the total by 2. With this calculation, the tires load is 1530.

load rated tire 1870
empty each side 1530
====
total 340

So I can only have 340 pounds of gear.

load rated tire 2540
empty each side 1530
====
920

So I can have 920 pounds of gear.

Am I thinking this correctly? Anybody figure out a typical load with gear?

Mac Specs

Chip Hindes · Post by **Chip Hindes** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 1:57 pm

Mark wrote:Am I thinking this correctly? Anybody figure out a typical load with gear?

You made it unnecessarily complicated when you divided the trailer load by two in order to get the load and capacity per side. When you subtracted the load per side from the capacity per tire, you got the excess capacity per tire. So now you need to multiply that result by two in order to get the total excess capacity (i.e, the gear you can add).

It's easier to just multiply the tire capacity by two up front, so for your two 215-14 at 1870, the total tire capacity is then 3740. Note that the Mac owners' manual says the trailer capacity is 3500.

The other complicator is the tongue weight. In order to get the load on the trailer wheels, you subtract the tongue weight.

The easiest way to get the weight is to take the loaded boat and trailer to a weigh station and weigh it. To do it right, you need both the weight of the trailer wheels with the tow vehicle off the scale, then drop the jack on the scale and jack the trailer completely off the hitch, and get a second weight which is trailer gross weight or tow weight. The difference is the tongue weight.

I've always intended to do this, but have never gotten around to it. So I just add up the stuff as you did: Motor (200), batteries (120), anchors and chains, (40) spare tire and bracket (65) fuel (6.5 lbs/gal) and water (8.5 lbs/gal), cooler(s) with drinks and ice, etc. Everything you normally carry in the boat.

Most people in the know recommend a tongue weight equal to 10% of the total, the owner's manual recommends 7-8%, but in my experience unless you load everything in front of the axle, if you have a big motor it's probably closer to 5% tongue weight. So multiply the total by .95 to get the weight carried by the wheels.

By my best estimates, my Mac lightly loaded for weekend trips but without fuel and water was pushing 4000 lbs gross. At 5% tongue weight that's still 3800 lbs on the wheels. Add fuel, water and some cruising gear and it could easily approach 4500.

Keep in mind, though they're probably the weakest link, adding bigger wheels and tires doesn't do a thing for the axle, which as nearly as I could determine is rated at 3500 lbs, nor the brakes. These factors are what cemented my decision to add an axle.

If you have a big honker of a tow vehicle, perhaps you can ease the problem somewhat by offloading stuff from the boat to the tow vehicle. If however, the tow vehicle is already approaching capacity with passengers, personal gear, and don't forget tongue weight, you may be simply shifting your overloaded condition from the trailer to tow vehicle. TINSTAAFL.

MacGregorSailors.com

MacGregorSailors.com

Two 2540# trailer wheels for $201

Two 2540# trailer wheels for $201

15" tires

Re: Two 2540# trailer wheels for $201