Low profile trailer tire options, pics if you got 'em!

[Fishfreq]

Who's upgraded to 17 inch wheels? What brand and size tires have worked well? I'll figure out my backspacing, not that lazy. Posting here because there are more viewers online in this section...

I'm looking for pic posts like this too, but I want to get away from the tiny 14" rims with big bouncy balloon tires. Time to change my trailer tires so might as well go to larger rim and lower profile tires. Just like two or three inch larger wheels, 16"-17", not redic dubs.

C'mon guys, some of you must have done this? I see that low profile trailer rated tires pretty much don't exist, right? You've gotta match your load range with a car tire? A lower sidewall tire, as long as it's good quality, should tow with less bounce, right? How could that be bad? I've read all sorts of 'don't put car tires on your trailer' posts, but nowadays, there's gotta be a solid way to pull this off and have good results...? Don't tell me to go to Wakeboard and Wakesurf forums, Lol.

[JR19]

Basscat and Legend seems to be the two brands that I most often see low profile tires on. As a guess I would say they offer it as an option. I would post my question in the Basscat and Legend forum and see if someone will let you know what tire/wheel they have.

[grout-scout]

1 negative to low profiles is when you hit pot holes, they tend to bend the rim or make the sidewall bubble. No cushion, but if your roads are in good condition then I guess you won’t have that problem. The roads around here suck, my wife has bent 3 rims on her Mercedes from pot holes.

[FishFish]

Look up Vic's Sports Center in Kent, OH. They sell a lot of Ranger boats and I think just recently they sold a couple rigs with the low profile tires. Should be pics on their Facebook page. Or just call and ask them, very nice guys.

[Nova Kaw 650]

Nothing to figure out when it comes to trailer wheel/hub offset: it's always "zero" so the load is balanced between the inner and outer bearings, for long bearing life.
And as noted above ^^^^ big potholes and abrupt pavement edges will lead to pinch flats and bent wheels.

[Skeeterbait]

Just realize that the flex of the sidewall of conventional tire sizes is part of the suspension dampening of your trailer. Low pro tires will transmit a LOT more shock to your hull, transom, engine mount, and every component of your rig unless you also take some steps to soften the springs. I would hope a manufacturer offering low pro tires has taken that into consideration in the manufacturer of their trailers. But retrofitting it is your issue to resolve.

[PolarKraft195]

Why choose looks over function???

[bcreek]

Its California dude.

[catdude28]

I had 17" rims with low profile tires on one of my Bass Cats. Ride was rougher, and really "banged" when you hit a pot hole or bump. Never again. The 15's on my last two Cats ride much better.

[fishnfireman]

Why choose looks over function???

I wanna know who thinks they look good..

[billnorman1]

They're probably good looking but I think you'll be in jeapordy of sidewall damage and rim denting.

[gehol]

Why would you be more likely to bend a wheel on a trailer than the same size tire on a vehicle?

[KandKKustomz]

Went from 14" to 17" on my Rangertrail. ( does look way better btw) Biggest thing is to use wheel tire calculator and just plus size. This way you keep tire height and width exactly the same. What you want to look for is whats called a XL ( xtra load) in a passanger car tire. You need find a load rating the same or very close to what you have now. I went with a Kumho Ecsta 4X II. As mentioned above the rim offset will need to be zero. Its not hard just will take some time playing with combinations on the calculator. Or you can pm me and I can give you what I came up with that keeps everything the same going from a 14" to a 17". Mine have been on 2 seasons now.(few thousand miles) Did pop the tire off the bead this year but was my fault as hit curb pulling into a gas station. ( may not have happened with the higher sidewall tire) Other then that, I see no difference in cushion, bouncing, trailering etc ( does seem to track way better now). Had them balanced and tire wear has been pretty decent no different then every other trailer I own. As mentioned above Bass Cat, Ranger and I believe Nitro ( maybe others now that Johnny owns most brands) offer 17" packages on there boats. Not uncommon by any means.

[Fishfreq]

Went from 14" to 17" on my Rangertrail. ( does look way better btw) Biggest thing is to use wheel tire calculator and just plus size. This way you keep tire height and width exactly the same. What you want to look for is whats called a XL ( xtra load) in a passanger car tire. You need find a load rating the same or very close to what you have now. I went with a Kumho Ecsta 4X II. As mentioned above the rim offset will need to be zero. Its not hard just will take some time playing with combinations on the calculator. Or you can pm me and I can give you what I came up with that keeps everything the same going from a 14" to a 17". Mine have been on 2 seasons now.(few thousand miles) Did pop the tire off the bead this year but was my fault as hit curb pulling into a gas station. ( may not have happened with the higher sidewall tire) Other then that, I see no difference in cushion, bouncing, trailering etc ( does seem to track way better now). Had them balanced and tire wear has been pretty decent no different then every other trailer I own. As mentioned above Bass Cat, Ranger and I believe Nitro ( maybe others now that Johnny owns most brands) offer 17" packages on there boats. Not uncommon by any means.

Good info K&K! Thanks. I'll check out XL rated tires. I've been using tire size calculators to determine same diameter, larger wheel sizes. Looks like my ST215/75R14 translates into a 225/55R17 or a 225/60R16. Surprised my single axle trailer only has C, 1,870 max load tires not D? It's a Triton TR20 with a 225 Opti, 36v t/m and a 50 gal fuel tank, it's gotta be over 4,000 lbs with ALL my tackle in it, right?

I hear you guys re shock absorbtion, pothole resistance. I may shy down to 16" or 15", depending on the tires I find. Any brands to look for or avoid? I may need to go slightly smaller diameter to give me a margin for suspension travel? Seems like my tires are kinda close to the fenders. P/O did replace both leaf springs when one broke. Here's a pic...



It's a 2001 Triton and the date codes on the tires are 2001 !!

[Fishfreq]

1 negative to low profiles is when you hit pot holes, they tend to bend the rim or make the sidewall bubble. No cushion, but if your roads are in good condition then I guess you won’t have that problem. The roads around here suck, my wife has bent 3 rims on her Mercedes from pot holes.

...but the real question is Grout, how many rims have YOU bent? Lol, my ex used to be drawn to potholes too. Rims with deep wide lips do bend more easily, but I'm def not thinking anything extreme like that, just some black/machined wheels that somewhat match the BMF's on my truck.

[Fishfreq]

Nothing to figure out when it comes to trailer wheel/hub offset: it's always "zero" so the load is balanced between the inner and outer bearings, for long bearing life.
And as noted above ^^^^ big potholes and abrupt pavement edges will lead to pinch flats and bent wheels.

I know there's some risk, but if I go with a strong beaded rim design and don't go with 19's or 20's like I see on some rigs out West here, I don't see it being much of a problem. I've been driving cars with low profile tires for decades and have not bent, pinched, bulged or popped one yet. Yes I see some cheap light import tires that feel like the sidewall is made of tissue paper, but I'll seek out HD tires, since I'm only buying two. Thanks for the offset pointer, you probably right...

[Fishfreq]

Its California dude.

WORD! ..and our taxes are so damn high out here! The only benefit is our roads are pretty good, knock on wood, except when we have some heavy weeks of rain, a few potholes pop up.

[Fishfreq]

Basscat and Legend seems to be the two brands that I most often see low profile tires on. As a guess I would say they offer it as an option. I would post my question in the Basscat and Legend forum and see if someone will let you know what tire/wheel they have.

Good idea will-do!

[Nova Kaw 650]

...but the real question is Grout, how many rims have YOU bent? Lol, my ex used to be drawn to potholes too. Rims with deep wide lips do bend more easily, but I'm def not thinking anything extreme like that, just some black/machined wheels that somewhat match the BMF's on my truck.

My best example is my boat trailer, single axle, with high sidewall 175/80R13 trailer tires at 55psi. I was turning/pulling onto the pavement, and the gravel-to-pavement transition was severe; probably a 2-3" rise. I was literally at crawling speed, 1-2mph, and watching in the mirror for when the tire hit the pavement. I was shocked to see the tire literally collapse half of it's sidewall height when it met the sharp edge of the pavement, and that was at 55psi!.
Be extremely careful if you go low profile.

[grout-scout]

...but the real question is Grout, how many rims have YOU bent? Lol, my ex used to be drawn to potholes too. Rims with deep wide lips do bend more easily, but I'm def not thinking anything extreme like that, just some black/machined wheels that somewhat match the BMF's on my truck.

I have a small suv as my spare vehicle, it has low profiles and I don’t doubt that I’ll end up bending a rim on it. Been raining so much lately and the holes all get filled with water.