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PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:43 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 1:38 pm
Posts: 418
I have the Trailex/Hobie Double trailer. The tires are a very small 4.80x8 on an 8x3.75 rim. The tire is both very narrow and of small diameter (about 16”). I get only about 5000-7500 miles of tread life out of them before they get to where I don’t really want to use them any more. I know from the forums some folks have switched to larger tires on 12” rims with a diameter of 20-22” depending on tire width chosen. These would likely rub the fenders on bumps and would significantly increase tire/rim weight and loading height.

I wanted a combination that would yield 18 or 19 inches in diameter. Ten inch rims would seem the obvious solution but they and DOT tires for them are quite rare. So instead I went with a slighter wider 5.70x8 tires on the same rims. This yields a diameter of about 18.5 inches. I should get a few more miles out of them and they also provide better flotation in sand.

Here’s a photo of the two tires side-by-side and a photo of my new Easy Lift Trailer Jack in action (which worked perfectly).

Peter

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:10 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:40 pm
Posts: 1365
I too changed the tires on my Hobie Trailex trailer to 5.70 x 8's about 3 years ago. The only modification I had to make was install a 1" spacer between the frame rail and plastic fenders......That moved the fenders outward and over the center of the new tires.
I also run 12 psi in the tires that carries my loaded PA-14...gross weight of about 180 pounds.
I did have the wheels/tires spin balanced by my local tire dealer.
The whole rig trails nicely, no jarring ride and tire life seems to be excellent.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Hood River, OR


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:08 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:19 pm
Posts: 97
Location: North Carolina
I also have the Trailex / Hobie double trailer and changed out the 480.8 tires for 12 inch tires. Trailex now sells 12 inch tires on their site. I thought by changing out to 12 inch all I would have to do is adjust the plastic fender. Boy was I wrong, scraped the plastic fenders and bought aluminum fenders from Trailex that gave me height adjustment holes to get the clearance. Thought that all would be good now but I haul 2 PRo Anglers and use the Hobie cradles. To get the right height on the fenders to clear the tire the PA was hitting the fender, cradle was just not tall enough to get the PA high enough. I ended up having some marine abs cut 1 inch thick to sit between the cradle and trailer to get the clearance I needed. I now have a tire height of 19.5 inches and looking forward to longer tire life.

At the beginning I was really frustrated and was kicking myself for changing out to 12 inch tires and the aggravation that came with my decision. But now I like how the trailer pulls and like the looks of the aluminum fenders over the plastic so all is good.

As a side not when I was working on the trailer I noticed that the right side of the trailer was about a 1 1/2 inches lower than the left. The right leaf spring was weaker than the left, I’m assuming the reason was I haul a PA 14 on the right and a PA 12 on the left and the weight difference was the cause after 5 years of being loaded all the time. Changed out the leaf springs since I make long hauls from NC to the Keys, cost was not that bad anyway so why not.


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