trailer tires and rims
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May very well be a stupid question but I need to replace some tires on my boat trailers and have decided to buy Carlisle tires. Last time I bought a pair, I bought them loose and had a tire shop mount them for me. They balanced them as well and they must have really been out of balance because there were quite a few weights on the backside of the rims. As I look for Carlisles again, I notice many stores sell them already mounted to new rims. I did not see any weights on the backsides of the new rims. I don’t care for the new rims because they’re not very vintage looking. All my rims are in good shape so I plan to mount loose tires on them.
So here’s my question: Is it necessary to spin balance trailer tires? Of the dozens of trailer tires I have taken off old trailers, I don’t believe I have ever seen the balancing weights on the backsides of the rims. I’d rather not have them balanced if it’s not really necessary. Do you guys have your tires/rims spin balanced when you mount new tires onto old rims?
These are 4.80 x 8 and 4.80 x 12 tires/rims.
Thanks for any advice!
ScottThe tires are all made in China unless new developements. They have a date of mauifacture molded on the outside. Make sure you get two matched date tires closest to the purchase date Standing in long time storage impacts their durability.Never balanced my tires. Buyers choice.
Trailer tires are typically not balanced. The most important factor is weather they have been crushed for shipping. The cheapest chinese tires are squeezed flat in piles of 10 for compact shipping. They often have issues with running straight and run hot.
Carlisle likely has better quality control and shipping procedures.
The rims you see pre mounted are for convinience of the guy that just wants to run out and get new assembles to bolt on and go. Any good tire shop should be able to get you a set of carlisle tires and mmount them. I run all of mide at less than the max pressure. some of the 8" tires call for 60-80 psi. At that pressure they bounce all over. I run 45-50, but my boat are no where near the weight limit of the tires.I’ve never balanced the 8 inch small tires either, or the tall skinny 12 inch. I do on the 13, 14 and 15 inch tires though. You do get what you pay for in tires… I bought a set of foreign made ones mounted on steel rims. After my bass boat sets in the yard a couple weeks, it shakes my teeth loose on the way to the boat launch. they flat spot really bad.
Maybe it’s overkill, but I bought new trailer tires a couple years ago (decided to go radial vice bias), and although the manufacturer said they did not require spin balancing, I took them in anyway. All three were out of balance and required weights. Was it worthwhile…I don’t really know, but I feel better for doing it. 🙂
JP
Generally tires that small (8" diameter) do not need balance even though they rotate about 2x + than your car tires, but they wear quicker. The 12" diameter might need a balance. But with a lot of stuff from China products can be pretty bad. The last trailer tires I bought were mounted on steel rims and were Loadstar 5.7 x 8, 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern Load range B and they work well without balance. In my case I bought the tires + rim so I could use the old replaced tires + rim as spares for trips. The Load range B more than adequate for my trailer axle load, I do not run at the max 50 psi my whole rig is only 850 lbs with about 370 lbs per wheel, 45psi works for me. On these small trailer tires for my use the higher pressure causes more center tread wear.
https://www.easternmarine.com/loadstar- … tions=cart
If balance is what you want to do note this:
https://www.easternmarine.com/downloads … g_info.pdf
quote zul8tr:The 12″ diameter might need a balance.Just to clarify my post, my tires are on 12” rims.
JP
quote jpatti75:quote zul8tr:The 12″ diameter might need a balance.Just to clarify my post, my tires are on 12” rims.
JP
You also noted 4.80 x 8" as well.
from your post:
"These are 4.80 x 8 and 4.80 x 12 tires/rims."Oops 😕 I thought you were the original tread starter, forget what I posted.
First not all tires are created equal, some tires of the same manufacturer could be horribly out of balance but a good tire shop should remount them on the rim to try to get it better balanced and not just stick 5oz of weight on one side. Second I did not balance the tires on the front of my camaro and I don’t notice any issues. Also it depends on the driving they will see, if it is mostly highway then it would be a good idea if it is mostly around town then you can get away with out balancing. On another note they probably won’t do the 4.80 x 8 since they are too small.
Typically, small 12" tire/rim combos don’t seem to be balanced. At least, I’ve never seen a balance weight on them. Tire shops vary in their views on balancing these little tires–I think it’s a good precaution if the rig is going to be hauled down the road at highway speeds.
I’ve been buying Carlyle radials, 145R12C, from Amazon. Cost is about $30 each incl shipping. One pair came as Load Range D, 1220 lbs, and one pair as LR E, 1520 lbs. This is overkill but the cost is only a few dollars more. They ARE made in China.
I mount them by hand myself after cleaning and painting the rims as needed. Getting the old ones off is harder than mounting the new ones.
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