Flat-spot recovery on boat trailer tyre?

[boatiebert]

Not mine. Asking for an aquaintance, please. What's the consensus on flat-spot recovery on trailer tyres? This one has been sitting for years, but I'm not sure when it nadir. The other tyre is still holding air, just. This one had gone flat (I turned it around for the photo). No chance ressurecting it with either a foot or even petrol station air. Tubeless. No cracks or perishing at all. Slight problem in that I can't find an identically matching one in the country.

I understand received wisdom is, you pump them up, they vibrate a bit until they get up to heat, then they work themselves out. But I'm not sure. I also don't know how old they are but it looks like near to zero use.

Thanks

 

[TernVI]

Bin it.
Get a part worn that's only a few years old, or a wheel and tyre from a scrappy.
The hub cap suggests it might be a car wheel.
A trailer tyre blowout can be messy.

Correction, get a pair!

You really don't want plod looking at the other tyre when you're on the side of the road.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Slight problem in that I can't find an identically matching one in the country.


View attachment 114969

There is absolutely no way I would even consider using that tyre. It may not have been used much, but it's old and knackered. 6.50R16 isn't impossible to find, though they aren't cheap:

6.50R16 NANKANG NR-066 TT (108/107N) (10 PLY), £111.60 each

However, if you are replacing the pair you could perhaps go for something else in a 16". Mind you, the wheel looks knackered too.

 

[doug748]

The old school solution was to put a rope around the circumference, insert a rod, and wind it like a Spanish windlass. This was said to force the bead into the rim, allowing you to get some wind into it.

Never done it myself but I have a flat that I really should sort out soon.

It's not a rig I would trust for a trip down to Monaco.
.

 

[Plum]

That appears to be an ancient cross-ply tyre way past its useful life. As already said, get a new pair. Because of the corrosion on that rim, assuming it has not lost some of its strength, you may have problems sealing.

www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Bouba]

Unless it’s just for moving the trailer round your garden they should be thrown away. Way past their useful life. I would also check the brakes, all linkages, axles and all welds and nuts and bolts

 

[boatiebert]

Appreciated to you all, I'll pass it on. Yes, I thought it/they might do for a yard trailer but not for the road, which would limit the amount of heating up it could get to make it good. Mind you, at least this way the trailer's not going to roll of if the brake slips ...

It's a Chinese tyre, a Westlake, & the only place I can find them advertised is in Russia. Not good omens. I think it's also only a 2 ply, when new are up to 8 or 10 these days.

6.50x16 equates to about a 205/85, I think. Although I'm guess from vintage motorcycle sizing that it was originally a "100%" ratio, but a second hand pair is a good tangential thought. I wonder if I can find a pair complete with wheels?

I don't know what British cars they fitted, but it reminds me of something off an old 1940s/50s Yank tank. May be an early Land Rover? "Watford" on the hubs (I think now part of Indespension). Leaf springs. Rod to the hitch, cables to the brakes. The cable are u/s but everything else is solid enough. Very probably originally 1960s Tollbridge trailer. I should have measured the stud distances as it's hours away now.

Got to say it was a really sentimental thing to be able to attach a hub cap using a short sharp kit, & hear it kerplunk on, unlike today's plastic frisbees.

I have no idea when people have stuff they don't look after it at all but instead just pass it down to someone else.

The old school solution was to put a rope around the circumference, insert a rod, and wind it like a Spanish windlass. This was said to force the bead into the rim, allowing you to get some wind into it.

Yes, I tried that with a tie down strap, didn't budge an inch in either direction. The wheel has a thick rubber rim tape inside it & the valves looked like they been done at some point more recent.

Got a feeling it's going to be one of those jobs where you start and don't know where to stop.

Thank you.

 

[JumbleDuck]

That appears to be an ancient cross-ply tyre way past its useful life.

I believe that some trailers still run better with cross-plies than radials.

 

[JumbleDuck]

6.50x16 equates to about a 205/85, I think. Although I'm guess from vintage motorcycle sizing that it was originally a "100%" ratio, but a second hand pair is a good tangential thought. I wonder if I can find a pair complete with wheels?

6.5 is the tread width in inches, so 6.5 is 165mm. The additional number in a radial spec is the aspect ratio (side wall height / section width) which for a crossply is generally 100% and which for a radial defaults to 80%. The nearest radial equivalent for the same side wall height would therefore be 205/80R16 - pretty close to your estimate. Mytyres has them from £72 in reinforced versions and Black Circles is a bout the same. Looks as if they are used on SUVs.

Without knowing the numbers of studs and PCD it's not possible to say much about the wheels - except that 16" is quite big. Even my DS only has 15" wheels, as does the Rover P4.

 

[boatiebert]

I believe that some trailers still run better with cross-plies than radials.

Thanks. What's the theory there?

So, if I want to pimp the trailer, do I go for whitewalls, or low profiles? (joke) I'm guessing it was a regular size on vans or lorries back then but it does seem to be Land Rover series II size. New wheels are only from around £75.

 

[TernVI]

If it's for a yard trailer, you might do without brakes.
Clearly that has implications for the vehicle you use to move it.
Often with trailers it's economical to change the hub, which can increase your choice of wheels.
Trailer brakes which have been sat for years after being used in the sea are usually a world of pain.

The size and hub cap suggest something like an early Transit van, there used to be a lot of yard trailers around based on a front axle from a RWD van like a Transit or Sherpa or Bedford CF. Not so many in the breakers these days.

 

[john_morris_uk]

There’s a code on the wall of tyres that says how old they are. Recommended life for a trailer tyre is 6 years?
Tyre age and tyre dot code | Help Centre | Blackcircles.com
I took our daughters Pandora trailer tyres in to be looked at a few weeks ago as there was lots of cracking in the side walls. They were eleven years old plus and went for recycling... A new set of four was £170 which was cheap peace of mind when towing a couple of tonnes down the A3.

 

[Laysula]

That's different. Normally tyres just go flat at the bottom. Yours seem to have gone flat at the top as well.

 

[Iliade]

For yard use only - try putting it in a bath of boiling water, or bagging it and running a fan heater or perhaps an IR lamp. If you still cannot get the rim to seal put a tube in it and stand well back when you inflate it slowly. Obviously don't even think of using it on the road.

Have you tried the gas lighter refill/hairspray and a long match trick? Again stand well back!(See Top Gear, some northern climes adventure.)

 

[Stemar]

Look around Youtube. There's all sorts of fun to be had with an aerosol can of something inflammable and a tyre. And eyebrows to be lost...

It may be OK around the yard, but the only way those tyres should be on the road is in the boot of your car on a one way trip to the dump/

 

[Hunterlees]

Perhaps you can measure the PCD of the wheel and get more modern S/h replacements, along with new tyres.

 

[blush2]

About 35 years ago my other half bought a boat which had a trailer with landy wheels, the previous owner used to tow it to Greece with his landy, the theory being that he only needed one spare wheel. You can buy wheels for the older landies easily on line.

 

[Caraway]

Perhaps you can measure the PCD of the wheel and get more modern S/h replacements, along with new tyres.

Yes. The diameter is not really an issue. A 14" wheel and tyre would only lower the trailer by an inch. There are loads of 14" trailer wheels and tyres available on line.

Calculate PCD here https://www.westerntowing.co.uk/pcd-calculation/

 

[Hunterlees]

Once you know the PCD you can check on here to see which vehicles use that
Search by PCD - Wheelfitment.eu - PCD, Offset, Center Bore, mounting and tire size data
Also check the size of the centre bore, and the offset of the wheel.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Thanks. What's the theory there?

I'm afraid I don't know. Maybe less sideways grip reduces the forces which result in snaking? I've just googled "crossply tyres trailers" without enlightenment.