Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trailer)

[auskier]

I'm about to go pick up a boat a long ways off. (assuming it's as good as promised I'll be bringing it home) It doesn't have a spare and I would like to get one for the trip home. Don't have time to order one so I need to see if I can just pick up a used rim and tire at a local shop that will do the trick.

I know it's a six lug rim but what's the lug pattern?
What size is the rim?
What size is the tire?

thanks folks,

[Dr.John]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trailer)

This may not be not much help, but I picked up a rim from a Dodge Durango that fits, but mine is an '02 Ramlin. Mine is definately NOT the GM 6 hole size, FWIW.
You can borrow mine if you're in the area :mrgreen:

[BigBald]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trailer)

It would be worth a call to the owner to confirm tire size and configuration......but to let you know.....I went to a trailer dealer near my home and they had the tire and rim in stock....and I was out the door with a brand new tire in 20 minutes. It was a bit of $$....but's its worth it. Blowing your spare is no fun.

Also....DR.JOHN.....I thought that boat trailer tires are high pressure and aren't the same as what is used on a car or truck.....maybe I am wrong?

[jhiestand]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trailer)

Some trailers, I think single-axles for the most part, are designed to run at higher pressures but my '01 Ram-lin is spec'd for max weight at 35psi.

[ag4ever]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trailer)

It is the design of the tire (plies and such) taht are different for auto vs. trailer, not the rim or the pressures.

You can use an auto rim no problem, but you should not use an auto tire.

[Dr.John]

Re: RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN trai

Also....DR.JOHN.....I thought that boat trailer tires are high pressure and aren't the same as what is used on a car or truck.....maybe I am wrong?

Yes you are right , in that they are 6 ply rated. As a beater spare, I wasn't too concerned about the rating. I think that with the proper inflation, the tire off the Durango would have gotten me home or to a srevice station, and that level of security was what I was looking for. Also, it was $25, not $$$.$$.

The point really is "don't leave home without it"!

[BigBald]

RE: Re: RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN

Dr. John....I guess it depends on the length of the "gotten me home" trip and the time of the day that you would need to access a service station.....my experience on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of "nowhere" Kentucky....makes it worth the $$. Fortunetly it was a buddy's trailer and not mine.

But your right.....best advice in the world......"don't leave home without it".....and have your trailer serviced each year.

[ag4ever]

RE: Re: RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN

Now I won't leave home without a spare hub too (on long trips), after a sunday mishap where my studs sheered of a hub. If I had a spare hub i could have been back on the road in less than 30 minutes, but as it turned out I was stuck chaining the axle up and driving really slow on three wheels. And to add insult to injury, I had two spares waiting to be used that could not since I had no hub to bolt them to.

[Christopher-W.-Becker]

Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN)

How many regularly check the lugs tight (I acutally use a torgue wrench) frequently. I do before I leave and usually at any stops of length.

I only have a single axle (cause I used need to twist the boat in the OLD garage) and cannot afford a lug nut sheer. Or am I just PHsYCHO!

[ag4ever]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN)

No you are not over concerned. I think thatw as my problem.

[auskier]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN)

Well I was unable to get a spare before I left to go get the boat. I knew I needed one for the almost 1000 mile trip home though; so I was able to "swing by" my parents lake house in Alabama and put the boat in for an afternoon and borrow his spare for the rest of the trip. I left him without a spare but he keeps his boat at the lake. Of course it ended up that I had a blowout about 75 miles from home at about 1am on I20 west into Dallas. Using the extended pylon as a cheater bar I was able to get the lugs off and change the tire. Man was I glad I took the spare. The original tires looked great so I thought I would have no problem. Now I'm in the market for two new tires. My dad uses load range d non radial trailer tires on his single axle trailer and has not had any problems with them over the course of multiple 1000 mile+ trips. So I may go this route, anybody else use tires like this?

As a side note, always check the lugs before a long trip. I was pulling our ski teams 99 SN down to Orlando and collegiate all stars to take the boat to a person who had bought it from us. Before the trip I was checking the lugs when another guy on the team drove up and said he had already done that, so I didn't check the other wheel. At 3am somewhere around Gainesville, FL the lugs sheared off. Very scary. Broke huge chunks out of the rim and left us stranded. We were finally able to get a flatbed towtruck to come and put the boat and trailer on it. Not fun at all. Check those lugs!

[ag4ever]

RE: Info for a spare tire (97 ramlin single axle SN)

I run the cooper radial trailer tires, and will run nothing else.

When I had the lugs sheer off, the fender sat down on the tire and wore a groove in the tire down to the steel belts. I had the tire for about a year after the incident, and it was still holding pressure right before I threw it out. The tread never seperated nor did the tire self distruct like you would expect. There is a thread around here where I posted some pics of the aftermath, and all things being considered, I was very lucky.