JDseller/Jon F MN/ truck drivers

Guys I have a problem that Im hoping you can shed
some light on. Around easter I bought a old KW,
and a even older Rodgers fixed neck lowboy. The
lowboy runs 9.00x15.00 tires. The tires run
extremely hot. I blew 2 out in august hauling my
excavator. I didnt think much of it because they
were old, it was 90 something degrees, and it
looking like i had ran over something. Fast
forward to this monday. Im hauling the excavator
back home. It was in the mid 70's and when i
stopped 20mi into my trip they were hot. You
could put your hands on them but compared to the
tires on the KW they were blazing. The 2 new
ones(have around 40mi on them) were the hottest!
That really puzzled me. They are properly
inflated, the bearings arent tight, brakes aren't
dragging, and the excavator only ways 22
ton(trailer is rated for 35ton). The only thing
Dad and I can come up with is the amount of wobble
in the wheels(they arent budd's, i think there
called daytons?) is what is building heat. The
flip side of that argument is that even thought
they wobble it cant be to severe because the
nubbies arent even worn off the two new ones. We
made it home(Dad had the foresight to bring 4 five
gallon pails full of water) by stopping every 20
to 30 mi and watering them down, and keeping our
speed around 60 to 65. It turned a 3hr trip into
very aggravating affair. Do you guys have any
thoughts on this. I'm desperately searching for a
affordable 2 axle detach neck, but I would
probably keep this and my hard earned cash if i
could get this one lined out. Thanks in advance
for your time and trouble.

A 15" tire turning at speed at 65mph is bound to run warmer than a 22.5 big semi tire at the same speed.

Double check your inflation sounds like under inflated tires.

Those old 15 inch tires will not take the 60-65 MPH . We use to call them SURE POP's . Now if you keep them down to around 40-45 MPH and do not use them for long trips they are fine. Now fast forward to todays lowboys , RGN's and step decks . They now run 22 inch LOW PRO tires and can usually stand up to long high speed hauling . Way back in the day of those tires heavy hauling was somewhat a slow deal as we were limited to lower powered trucks and SLOW speeds , they still got warm but not really hot .Hauled many old crawler cranes and bigger dozers back then and at the time the biggest dozer was a TD 30 I H and it weighed more then a D9G . These were hauled on a 50 ton Rodgers T 1 lowboy tandem axle pulled by a 1957 B 61 Mack with a 711 with a turbo and a 5 and 4 transmission . and you thought you were flyen when ya got her up to 55 on the flats but on the hills it was lucky to see 15 MPH . The faster ya drive the hotter they get. You can try adding ten pounds more air to them as it may help and if it don't it makes for a bigger bang when they blow.

yup i second check the tire pressure, low infation and heavy loads create heat,,,had low boy trailer tires was blowing them out, now they were about shot,after a load of hay 15 miles you couldnt touch the tires .blew them up to max inflation drove another 70 miles and you could lay your hand on them. Pump them tires up to the max pressure.

in the racing world, all tires are inflated with nitrogen to keep them from growing when hot. really controls the neat. no experience with lo-boy tires but could help.

All, these answers are good. Double check pressure to start. Those tires will run hot and if you dive a ways will be too hot to touch. That is normal with a heavy load.

My first thought was wheel alignment ? Maybe take it to an alignment shop and have it checked.

On our gooseneck I could tell it was off with a tape measure from the center of the hitch back to each axle.

Also are the new tires side by side and a matched pair? Putting tires from different manufactures and even different tread depths will cause them to run hotter.

It weigh's 22 ton, not ways. Stupid smart phone!

If you have trailer breaks are they set too high or hanging up.

If you"re running 9.00-15"s,you could upsize to 10.00-15"s.Not many people use these old tube tires anymore,but that would give you a little more load capacity,less heat.Another thing that is paramount when you"re using these tires with Dayton or Webb wheels is alignment.As mentioned these small tires are realy spinning at 60 mph.When you install the tire and wheel assembly onto the hub,set a block or something similar next to the tire for a guide,as you slowly tighten the mounting lugs and slowly spin the tire.Keep spinning till you get the alignment perfect,no room for error on a small diameter tire like this.It will run hot and create an uneven wear pattern very quickly that you cannot correct.If it"s not perfect,loosen it up and do it again,it will take time,but you can do it.
I"ve been hauling heavy equipment around North America for 40 years,millions of miles and half of it was done on these trailer tires,till the 22.5 tubeless lo pros came along.

Jon the tires are a matched pair, and are side by side. I cant remember the exact number but the tires are set at the max psi recomended on the sidewall.

Tubeless wheels are available to fit your hubs. You will then be able to run 17.5 tubeless tires. I agree that 50 55 mph is all that those nylon 15 inch tires are going to stand.

Sounds like to much speed and weight for those tires. As others have said. Have you ran a string around those matched tires to check their circumference. You may still be mismatched. That air pressure needs to be almost dead on equal as well as the tires or something has got to slip, thus heat. Also that axle alignment can easily be checked by measuring from your kingpin to each axle. I had a brand new grain trailer that dog tracked a good 8 inches when empty just from one axle out of alignment.

Weight and speed are in direct correlation. When the weight goes up, the speed that the tires can tolerate goes down. How many plies are the tires? - heat can build up from excessive flexing of the sidewalls.

May variables to look at to correct the problem.

Those little tires are running twice as fast as your truck tires.They have always been a problem.
We had trouble with them blowing out 30 years ago.
The goodyears were the worst.We found less problems with Michelins.

First question, how many axles? 22 tons should have at least 3 axles with that size tire. Also, you must specify low boy tires as they are of a different composition and must twist and that builds heat. Air pressure and alignment.

I run 9X14.5 lowboy tires on my triple axle goose neck flatbed. Over the years, I always ran the max air. ALWAYS kept them inflated to the max, and religiously checked them. I would hate to guess how many I have blown totally out, or blew the tread off of them. Here recently, I have been dropping the pressure down to 45 psi, and haven't blown any since doing that.

Sounds like your under tire'd . I used to have the same problem with a old set of gravel trains I owned. couldn't run a 10.00 x 20 because of axle spacing so I was stuck with the 9.00's. Then I found I could get a 10R 22.5 radial [Tubeless style] and boy oh boy my tire bill just about became non existent. You can switch the hubs to a budd style or uni mount and run a 17.5 rim with radial tires. I would at the very least step up to 10.00 x 15 tires.

These old 9.00 x 15 tires are just waiting to blow out. We had an implement trailer that ran them. Just about every time we went down to the Moline to pickup a combine you would blow out a tire. We found tubeless 17.5 rims that fit the hubs and then ran radials. We rarely had any issue after that.

You will never get 9:00x15 tires to hold up with 22 ton and freeway speeds to hold up.

my 22.5;'s on our 50 ton do the samething when loaded to maximum weight the first thing id do is check the load rating on the tires then add up the weight of your load and the trailer too and make sure your not too light in the rating dept not all those tires are the same rating and some of those chinese tires tend to be lighter in rating and will heat up and blow out frequently, also be sure your inflated to the maximum psi

I used to work for a guy that had a triple axle drop deck 42ft trailer that ran 8.25-15 tires. Trailer maybe saw 10,000 miles a year but 2-3 new tires every year. He bought it in 2002 cuz it was was going cheap at a auction. He found out why it was going cheap.

Try loading the trailer a bit nose heavy. That will takw some of the load off the trailer. There is room in your weight to do that. If it is only 22 ton. You could load that on a regular step deck with the 22.5 tires. If you are not to high. The decks on them are usually about 40" high.

I agree with Supertrucker. I changed one truck over from tube type to tubeless, and a big time difference heat and the tire bill. Also someone else mentioned moving you equipment toward the front would help a bunch.