This past Summer, took our 15 foot fiberglass on a long road trip
instead in the usual half mile to the marina. The tires are the small
4.80-8 utiltiy type tires, and needless to say, they overheated
badly.....
long story, but I'll be upgrading to a biger tire this Summer.

Here's my question. It seemed that the speed at which the load was
being carried created the heat. While pondering the trip home
(semi desperate and after a few beers) I considered filling the tires
with water (say 50%) in an attempt to dissipate the heat to the rims.

I never did this, but have pondered the the effects of water in a tire
at speed. Would the balance go for a bundle or would the water be
thrown evenly within the tire by the certifugal force?

I made the trip home by upping the pressure to 60 p.s.i. and by
driving slower.

Would water have helped of would I have been courting a disaster?

Joe,

Doubt it would have helped. Matter of fact if the temps of the tires were high
enough it would have encouraged evaporation thus increasing pressure
considerably. Furthermore, the water would never have contacted the rim during
travel as centrifugal force would hold the water against the tread area, right?

Of course, the smaller the tire the more rotations it makes for a given speed.
I have learned to always use the largest diameter wheels/tires possible on
trailers. For a small trailer it could require an axle upgrade but would be
worth it, IMO.

BTW, I'd pull those hubs and take a real close look at the wheel bearings.
They probably got pretty warm on that drive???

Butch

Joe wrote: This past Summer, took our 15 foot fiberglass on a long road
trip
instead in the usual half mile to the marina. The tires are the small
4.80-8 utiltiy type tires, and needless to say, they overheated
badly.....
long story, but I'll be upgrading to a biger tire this Summer.

Here's my question. It seemed that the speed at which the load was
being carried created the heat. While pondering the trip home
(semi desperate and after a few beers) I considered filling the tires
with water (say 50%) in an attempt to dissipate the heat to the rims.

I never did this, but have pondered the the effects of water in a tire
at speed. Would the balance go for a bundle or would the water be
thrown evenly within the tire by the certifugal force?

I made the trip home by upping the pressure to 60 p.s.i. and by
driving slower.

Would water have helped of would I have been courting a disaster?

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 09:39:29 -0400, Joe Here wrote:

This past Summer, took our 15 foot fiberglass on a long road trip
instead in the usual half mile to the marina. The tires are the small
4.80-8 utiltiy type tires, and needless to say, they overheated
badly.....
long story, but I'll be upgrading to a biger tire this Summer.

Here's my question. It seemed that the speed at which the load was
being carried created the heat. While pondering the trip home
(semi desperate and after a few beers) I considered filling the tires
with water (say 50%) in an attempt to dissipate the heat to the rims.

I never did this, but have pondered the the effects of water in a tire
at speed. Would the balance go for a bundle or would the water be
thrown evenly within the tire by the certifugal force?

I made the trip home by upping the pressure to 60 p.s.i. and by
driving slower.

Would water have helped of would I have been courting a disaster?

I agree with Butch, plus I think you would have been courting disaster for
this reason: At higher speeds, the water might well have concentrated in a
single area in the wheel. This makes the wheel unbalanced and
out-of-round. As the wheel goes out of round, the effect is magnified. A
blow-out might well have occurred.

As Butch said - use larger tires. Also, if you don't already have them,
bearing buddies are a very big help in keeping the bearings lubricated,
particularly when you use the bra to keep water out.
--

Larry
email is rapp at lmr dot com

This past Summer, took our 15 foot fiberglass on a long road trip
instead in the usual half mile to the marina. The tires are the small
4.80-8 utiltiy type tires, and needless to say, they overheated
badly.....
long story, but I'll be upgrading to a biger tire this Summer.

Here's my question. It seemed that the speed at which the load was
being carried created the heat. While pondering the trip home
(semi desperate and after a few beers) I considered filling the tires
with water (say 50%) in an attempt to dissipate the heat to the rims.

I never did this, but have pondered the the effects of water in a tire
at speed. Would the balance go for a bundle or would the water be
thrown evenly within the tire by the certifugal force?

I made the trip home by upping the pressure to 60 p.s.i. and by
driving slower.

Would water have helped of would I have been courting a disaster?


nitrogen helps tires run cooler

"Wwj2110" wrote in message

nitrogen helps tires run cooler

How does that work?

JG

They have it at race tracks. Otherwise you need a tank of it. Know anyone
in the hvac business, they use it to purge refrigerant lines while they
braze. Not really likely to help enouhg to be worth the trouble though.
The other posters are right, bigger wheels are the right solution.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Wwj2110" wrote in message

nitrogen helps tires run cooler

How does that work?

JG

Hydrogen is even better yet (better heat transfer coefficient). It is what is
used to cool the 1000 megawatt generators at power plants as air can't carry the
heat from resistance in the windings away fast enough. Just watch out for
flames or sparks. Also hydrogen tends to diffuse through the tire so you have
to replenish it more often.

JJ

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 00:00:08 GMT, "Lawrence James"
wrote:

They have it at race tracks. Otherwise you need a tank of it. Know anyone
in the hvac business, they use it to purge refrigerant lines while they
braze. Not really likely to help enouhg to be worth the trouble though.
The other posters are right, bigger wheels are the right solution.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Wwj2110" wrote in message

nitrogen helps tires run cooler

How does that work?

JG




James Johnson
remove the "dot" from after sail in email address to reply

I don't think they run cooler, but I know that using nitrogen the pressure
stays more consistant as the tire heat up
"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Wwj2110" wrote in message

nitrogen helps tires run cooler

How does that work?

JG

Kevin Anderson wrote:
I don't think they run cooler, but I know that using nitrogen the pressure
stays more consistant as the tire heat up

Do you guys stay up late making this stuff up or do you really, honestly
believe that?

Have you ever heard of - much less read - the "gas laws'? Look up a
French chap named Charles and Gay-Lussac and their particular
contribution to the art.

Exactly how do you "know that using nitrogen the pressure stays more
consistant (sic) as the tire heats up"?

The reason nitrogen is used in high performance tires (usually aircraft)
is that it will not support combustion or oxidation of rubber compounds
in a very high temperature application. Compressed nitrogen is normally
dry, very low in moisture content as well as completely free of oil
which is a contaminant delivered by many air compressors. All the normal
gas laws still apply.

The only thing worse than the general lack of basic scientific knowledge
shown here is the willingness of people to post that they "know" that
the laws of physics simply don't apply.


Rick

(Wwj2110) wrote in message
nitrogen helps tires run cooler

Only because when nitrogen is used instead of air, the pressure to
temperature ratio is more linear. The nitrogen doesn't run any cooler
than with air.