Towing close to trailer capacity, is this not good???

[JWAT]

My EZ Loader Illusion trailer has a max capacity of 4400 lbs. My 2008 210 supposedly weighs around 3800 lbs. I have 400 lbs of lead that I would like to tow in the boat. Do you think this will be too much weight to tow? I have a feeling after the lead weight, gas, and gear, I am going to be pushing the weight limit or even going slightly over. Are the max capacity on these trailers conservative or should I definitely not push those #'s? I usually only tow about 15 miles, but will occasionaly tow ~45 miles one way and will also be taking a 12 hour drive down to Bull Shoals this year. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Hollywood]

I'd take the lead out for any highway trips.

[Rick]

10% safety factor

Most trailers and hitches have at least a 10% safety factor. Having said that the weight is going to be toughest on the tires. What weight rating do the tires have. If they are rated at 1100 lbs each at 35PSI make sure you have them properly inflated. You might also consider going to a higher rated tire. I would also agree that you remove the lead for the long hauls.

[JWAT]

I'll check the tires for their capacity tonight. Thanks for the help!

[CradGen2]

I'd call the manufacture and see what the axles are rated then go from there.

[GoBig]

I assume you have a single axle? 4,400 lbs. seems light for a tandem axle trailer. If you are planning on towing close to or in excess of 4,400 lbs consistently, I would just do a conversion to a dual axle just to alleviate any concerns. Here is a link to a trailer conversion thread...

http://planetnautique.com/vb3/showth...728#post133728

If you already have a tandem axle, your tires are your achilles heel. You could just upgrade these to a higher weight rating and that should suffice any slight overage in weight.

[JWAT]

It's a dual axle and I thought the weight capacity was pretty low too. Now that you mention the tires...the trailer has 20 inch rims, so I'm wondering if that is why the rating is so low???

[bkhallpass]

Don't underestimate the axle rating either. Both my axles have bowed just enough that I wear out the inside edges of all 4 tires. I should replace the axles, but so far, I just keep changing the tires. Right now, I go through a set in about 6 or 7 thousand miles. BKH

[JWAT]

Well, checked the tires and as long as I'm seeing it correctly, I think the tires are rated for over 2,000 lbs each. So, I guess it's not the tires that are holding it back...