Is it Important to Get Trailer Tires Off Ground if Trailer will be Stored Long Term

Question:

Hi - I have these tires on my boat trailer, purchased from etrailer.com. My question is whether it is okay to leave the boat on the trailer sitting on the tires for part of the year, or do I need to jack up the trailer to take the weight off the tires. As background - for one half of the year, in summer, the boat is in the marina and the trailer is empty sitting in my driveway. For the other half, in winter, the boat sits on the trailer in my driveway. In both cases, I have 3/4” plywood under the tires and my driveway is made of asphalt. I live on the west coast of Canada, where we rarely get snow and freezing temperatures but we can experience overnight lows of 15F for a few nights in the winter, and most nights in Dec/Jan at freezing level. Our summers are relatively cool, average temps are 75F. The tires receive little to no sun exposure. So, is is safe to just leave the boat loaded on the trailer during the winter? Or do I need to put the trailer on jacks and take the weight off the tires? Thanks!

asked by: Glenn M

Expert Reply:

It's going to be a good idea to get the weight off of your tires when it's stored long term. If the tires sit in the same spot for an extended period of time they tend to get flat spots which makes for a rough ride and wears them out prematurely. So the easy solution is the TrailerLegs Tire Saver Stands # 326-TRLLG-2 for a single axle trailer or # 326-TRLLG-4 for a tandem. This is a really easy way to get the tires off the ground so they'll last as long as possible. Basically you put these infront of the axles and then using your tow vehicle pull the trailer up onto them and you're set.

expert reply by: Jameson C