[Putershark]

I wanted to swing back on this topic again after the experience I had the last time I was towing my boat long distance, and what it reminded me of... I was in a rush (nothing new about that) the last time I hitched up my boat for the haul to the dealership (100 miles one way) and found one of my trailer tires low.

So when I went to dig out my air pump then remembered that I had put it in my wife's truck for her last trip (so it was missing) so I had to drag the boat to the local gas station that was 500 yards from the house. When I got there, the air pump would check the tire pressure (which I already knew one was low), but would not fill them... So I had one at like 45 and the other at 49. No big deal, I just dropped the the other to 45... Then I got to looking at the tire sidewall and remembered what I had learned long ago about "Max pressure with X weight" applied to each tire. I saw that 50 psi was for weights much heaver that what my 190 and trailer was combined weighed, so I did not worry much about the 5 fewer pounds each tire had. Then later on I noticed that the trailer was not bouncing around as much as going over the same bumps as I remembered on this same trip before

Well it then dawned on me... that I had been punching out the centers on these tires (even worse when they heated up) and was really rolling on a set of rocks and it was making the trailer bounce more like a basketball, this instead of taking up some of these impacts and shock with tires sidewall flex as designed.

So you may want to look at your tires on your boat trailer and see what the max "cold" tire pressure recommendation is for X weight on each tire (you know, the rest of the stamping on the sidewall we all neglect to read) and make sure that you are not doing the same on yours... Too much tire pressure can be almost as bad as too little... More information can be found here http://www.tirecradle.com/tirefacts.htm#Load%20Ratings:

Now the same goes for your truck (or car) and the sticker inside the drivers door recommendations for each axle is the guide to use and NOT what you see stamped on the tire sidewall for it's max weight either. Just make sure that the factory sticker on your truck is for the SAME SIZE tires that your truck now has, this since many dealers may add larger tires and rims (like I had done) so those figures are now just a rough guide, but still (more than likely) closer to what is really needed than what the tire sidewall may say...

So something to think about and consider (and for you guys with dual axles you have even more math to do) the next time you have the tire pressure gauge in one hand, and the air hose in the other... In other words, keep them round, but not too round is the key to long life (and better handling) and fewer possible blow outs on the side of the road

Dave