recently (late spring) i had the misfortune of experiencing the "allowable"
variance in tire manufacturing.
my trailer uses cut down mobile home axles. the tires are 14.5"x 700. in
spring i purchased 2 new tires for the rear axle to compliment the 2 i had
purchased the summer before for the front axle. great idea! wrong!
the 4 tires were the exact same size and ply rating ...but....2 difrent
manufacturers. what followed was an almost accident that to this day i
still am unable to determine how we didn't crash into a ditch on i-95 south
of philly using all 3 lanes to get it straightened out!
once straightened out we headed for the first rest stop heading south and i
was really scratching my head as to what happened? i have owned this
trailer since 1985 and it never ever swayed at speed. it swayed so fast and
violently that i was able to see the entire trailer with my race car on it
in either mirror as it swayed from left to right like a clock pendulum! the
trailer's violent swing was so fast and hard it felt like it was tiping my
full size vans tires up on the one side than the other back and forth. the
thought went quickly through my mind as to how bad is the wreck gonna be and
wondered if i would be able to crawl out of it after it was all over!
what i discovered was that the 2 new tires were almost 2" taller when stood
next to the front axle's tires.
carefull examination provided other information. the front tires looked
almost as they barely touched the road. that meant the rear axle was taking
all of the load and shifted the trailers center of weight distribution. i
decided to swap the tireas from rear axle to front axle and it worked!
after increasing the now smaller rear tires air pressure and droping the
pressure in the now front tires we attempted to continue south. i did not
exceed 85mph. but it followed in traffic like it was not even there! no
sway or handling problems any more! after just running to magna utah and
to tuscon arizona almost 5,000 later it handles great! because i located a
match for my 2 original front tires and i am once again running 4 tires made
by the same manufacturer.
this does not say "do not use a trailer or dolly"!!!! just do your home
work and take it easy on your own terms untill you feel confident with how
it handles and stops before you try to keep pace with the posted speed limit
signs and the 15-20mph faster traffic.
be carefull and be well
chuck.
robert, i read that......
if a hyundai blows up in the forrest and no one is there to hear it
..........does anyone care?(hope not!)
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