New to the club!

I just joined the club! I joined the "trailer tire blowout" club yesterday evening. What fun!

I was picking up my new to me 2000 Super Sport, with a single axle trailer, from 1000 miles away. Made it about 600 miles back and the blowout occurred. No, it wasn't the brand of tire that failed, it was me being an idiot and not checking the tire pressure (which I usually do automatically, no matter the length of the trip). In defense of my stupidity, it was crazy cold outside when I picked up and the tires "looked good", no dry rot and inflation "looked right" (those were my thoughts). Again, what an idiot!

So I'm posting a friendly reminder that when picking up a new to you boat, make sure to test tire pressure. Also, take it easy on the road. I was going 75-80 in the the left lane in heavy traffic (I really wanted to get home). When the tire blew there was no shoulder either side, I was going down a hill and over a bridge. Fortunately the drivers around me were helpful and let me slow down to eventually get off the road. And fortunately the tire structure held up long enough (about a mile). But again, no need to fly down the road, what an idiot, Rest of my trip was 55-60, regardless of the speed limit. Also, checking tire pressure at the next gas station, my other tire was 20 psi down and my spare was 30 psi down.

Finally, a few thoughts for some of you reading. In 25 years of trailering, this was my first blow out. I thought enough to at least bring a new spare, a torque wrench, a couple of heavy adjustable wrenches, some blocks of wood and a bottle jack. I'll never use the bottle jack again, I'm getting a small heavy duty floor jack. I'll also start bringing a hammer, some vice grips and a small pry bar to deal with bent metal. I'm going to make a couple of wood wedges too, to support the jack - you almost never are going to have a blow out on level land.

Just wanted to take a second to share!

-Erik

First....welcome.

I feel your pain, Bro. I had a tire failure with a tread separation. The tire didn't blow, but it beat the crap out of the fender. A BIG crescent wrench was needed to persuade the fender to play "nice" for the rest of the trip. I agree that you need to always carry tire changing tools. I have a scissor jack that works well for trailer tire changes, Before EVERY trip, I check bearing grease level and tire pressure.

JQ

Yes Erik I think many of us have been there .... and I agree, not fun. Before picking up my boat I was told the trailer hadn't been serviced it years, maybe decades and that I'd probably need bearings at the minimum and had him take it to a local trailer shop to check it out. Among many other things the shop called be and said I should also replace the tires if I was going very far. The tires looked like they had great tread and fairly new to me so I didn't heed his advise. Mistake.   On the way back home - about 900 miles - we had not one, but both tires blow out. First, second, and hopefully the last.