Trailer tyres

[Rob Johnstone]

I suspect this is reviving an old topic but ...

After Vagabond has been launched at Mylor I inspected the trailer, only to find that one tyre had become worn so much on the inside edge that the steel banding was showing through the tread.  This had occurred during the 700 miles or so between Oban and Mylor via Bucks.

On inspection, I found that the nearside wheel centre line was some 20 mm to the rear of the one on the other side (as measured from the centre of the tow hitch).

Undoing the U bolts and the vigorous use of a 10lb hammer restored symmetry and I now had to find a new tyre.

This proved more difficult than expected - for, although it was easy to find a tyre of the right size, I could not find one with the right load factor - in the end I had to resort to buying a new wheel and tyre from CLH, who shipped to me at Mylor (for a fee, of course).

I fitted this before towing Vagabond the 250 miles back to home and am pleased to report that my "blacksmithing" alignment seems to have been successful.

I think the misaligment occurred when I hit a deep pothole at low speed in a layby near Fort Willliam - the impact  had been enough to deflate the tyre and damage the wheel rim (so the new wheel wasn't a bad idea anyway) but, at the time, I hadn't given any thought to any change in trailer alignment.

So the moral of this story is to avoid potholes and check your tyre load factor!