trailer tyres

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norseman

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Hi folks, you may remember my thread on trailer security 10 days ago & I thank everyone who posted a reply.

Now I have another issue, the answer to which I cannot for the life of me find in any of the countless visits to the net, so maybe some trailer owners can voice their opinion?

When I collected the single axle 750kg trailer last week it had been garaged for some time & the tyre (155/70x13) pressures were down to 21 psi. As the journey home was going to be with the trailer totally unladen I left the pressures as they were, kept an eye on things in the rear view mirror & noted that the trailer rode well with a minimum of 'bounce'
The tyre sidewalls state a maximum pressure of 36 psi so for the short trip to it's storage location I increased the pressures to 26 psi but noticed that the trailer bounced badly at the slightest bump & the wheels probably left the ground when crossing speed ramps at a tortoise pace !
Every answer I get from the 'net indicates that the pressures should be kept at the maximum, which makes perfect sense should the trailer be fully loaded but that's unlikely to happen in my ownership .. it's been purchased for cubic capacity to carry light goods & it will never approach the rated payload of around 600kg

Any thoughts welcomed
TIA
 
In the real world are you going to do enough miles that tyre wear is an issue? If the trailer works nicely at 21 and the tyres aren't bulging then leave things alone. Maybe up the pressure a bit if you're going todo a long run heavily losded.

Trailers leaping about in the rear view mirror is mighty stressful so you want to avoid that.
 
With car tyres of that size on a trailer I'd run them at 26psi. Dedicate 'small' 8" Trailer tyres should be ran at max marked pressure.

If the trailer is bouncing then do try a lower pressure but be careful as when a loaded you may find the trees heat up quicker.
 
Many thanks for all your replies, all points/opinions noted !
Sorry for the long thread.
 
Unloaded, keep the pressures low - around 20psi? Any more and it will be airborne most of the time!
Heavy loads? Increase the pressure to around 28 psi.
Regards
John :)
 
Western Towing.

I've done this for you but it didn't work because of their recommendation.

Screenshot_20260930-103349.Chrome.png



I've got a 1 tonne trailer and lost my shovel out the back when I forgot I was towing and it bounced over a speed bump. Fortunately it was quiet, I saw it and was able to safely retrieve it.

I also have a caravan which has a standard trailer type axle (Alko) but it also has dampers - I don't know whether it's those, or the fact that it's never actually "empty" that makes it behave better.
 
cdbe said:
Western Towing.

I've done this for you but it didn't work because of their recommendation.

View attachment 423278

I also have a caravan which has a standard trailer type axle (Alko) but it also has dampers - I don't know whether it's those, or the fact that it's never actually "empty" that makes it behave better.
Click to expand...
Probably the latter.
Thank you for your time & input.

The upshot of this is that trailer & tyre manuf. all seem to agree the the max pressure should always be applied, but reality states otherwise :rolleyes:
Yes underinflated tyres can overheat/blow out, but then a trailer whose wheels spend much of their time out of contact with the road surface will be an even greater danger to other road users.
 
I have the same - those "Indespension-style" rubber suspension units are famous for it. I have a 2 ton, twin-axle dropside trailer and it bounces like crazy when empty. However, running the tyres soft (especially on cheaper tyres), causes my sidewalls to crack at the shoulders after a while. They seem to flex too much when run soft.
 
Avocet said:
I have the same - those "Indespension-style" rubber suspension units are famous for it. I have a 2 ton, twin-axle dropside trailer and it bounces like crazy when empty. However, running the tyres soft (especially on cheaper tyres), causes my sidewalls to crack at the shoulders after a while. They seem to flex too much when run soft.
Click to expand...
Are you running trailer tyres or car?

Apparently the former have stiffer side walls that the trailer manuf. insist are essential, but there's no legal requirement to do so.
Perhaps my lightly loaded outfit would be better off with car tyres, come the day the originals (5 years old) need renewing ?
 
norseman said:
Are you running trailer tyres or car?

Apparently the former have stiffer side walls that the trailer manuf. insist are essential, but there's no legal requirement to do so.
Perhaps my lightly loaded outfit would be better off with car tyres, come the day the originals (5 years old) need renewing ?
Click to expand...

I just run whatever I can find with a suitable load rating on a 10" wheel. Given that's 500kg minimum, they're almost always 8-ply trailer tyres, though. It's hard to think of anything on a 10" wheel that would need to carry that sort of load. The only thing that might be an issue, is whether your trailer is new enough to have a manufacturer's plate on it with a maximum laden weight. Mine is very old, so it doesn't, but the tow hitch is much more recent and that does. I'm told that "Plod" looks for any kind of plate on the trailer and will do you for anything else not being up t the spec of what he finds. So if you have a twin axle trailer with a manufacturer's weight plate on it that says 2000kg, he will expect every tyre to have at least a 500kg load rating - even if you never load the thing up to 2 tonnes. Likewise, if the axles or the hitch have their own weight plates, he'll expect the tyres to be up to whatever the highest weight is shown on any of the components. (If he can be bothered, that is)!
 
Avocet said:
I just run whatever I can find with a suitable load rating on a 10" wheel. Given that's 500kg minimum, they're almost always 8-ply trailer tyres, though. It's hard to think of anything on a 10" wheel that would need to carry that sort of load. The only thing that might be an issue, is whether your trailer is new enough to have a manufacturer's plate on it with a maximum laden weight. Mine is very old, so it doesn't, but the tow hitch is much more recent and that does. I'm told that "Plod" looks for any kind of plate on the trailer and will do you for anything else not being up t the spec of what he finds. So if you have a twin axle trailer with a manufacturer's weight plate on it that says 2000kg, he will expect every tyre to have at least a 500kg load rating - even if you never load the thing up to 2 tonnes. Likewise, if the axles or the hitch have their own weight plates, he'll expect the tyres to be up to whatever the highest weight is shown on any of the components. (If he can be bothered, that is)!
Click to expand...
Definitely trailer tyres for that weight on 10in wheels. I guess that's to keep the load height low .. is it a platform trailer? (wheels under the load bed)
My un-braked 750kg runs on 13in wheels with 155 section tyres. If I ever switched to car tyres I'll make sure the load cap. of each tyre meets at least 50% of the plated mass.

I suspect the Plod would only be interested in the trailer if he/she is having a boring day.
 
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