# Trailer vibration above 65 mph???



## jrasband (Jul 12, 2010)

I have a galvanized contenental trailer pulling a gheenoe and can't figure out what is causing a high frequency shuddering on the highway above 65 mph. I replaced the wheels and tires and had the bearings and bearing buddies replaced but the problem persists. The trailer is 5 years old and worked great the first couple of years, but got little use over the last couple of years.

Any advice on what I should look at and/or replace to get this vibration under control? The trailer is only $750 to replace so no point in spending too much.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Are you having and uneven tire wear? It could be that the axle is not square on the trailer frame. I'd get a tape out and measure.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

jrasband said:


> can't figure out what is causing a high frequency shuddering on the highway above 65 mph


This might sound crazy but have you considered slowing down? Perhaps those little tires weren't designed to spin that fast.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

jrasband said:


> ....I replaced the wheels and tires and had the bearings and bearing buddies replaced but the problem persists....
> Any advice on what I should look at and/or replace to get this vibration under control?


Jack the trailer up and give them a spin by hand to see if you've got a tire that is out-of-round.

Did you have the tires/wheels spin balanced? If not, do that too.

I had to return a pair of new trailer tires/wheels because they were so out of round they would shake everything badly. So I went to Tire Rack and did a search by wheel size to determine the diameter & width of the ST tires. Then I found a car tire that size, bought them locally, had them balanced, and rolled up to 90 mph without a hint of vibration.

When those BS Goodyear Marathons on my trailer give out I'll be doing the same.


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## No Bait / Lures Only (Apr 10, 2011)

I had my tires on trailer balanced, that helped a lot. Consider slowing down a little...


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

I pull my little 12' river boat on 12" rims 75mph no problem. You grannies leave three hours early to make a 30 minute drive?


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## jrasband (Jul 12, 2010)

The vibration didn't change after replacing the wheels and tires so I doubt it's a tire issue. I'll check the axle and give the wheels a spin. Thanks for the help guys


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## Daz (Jul 14, 2015)

Have you tried having the tires balanced while on the trailer? I had a car years back that had a bad shimmy until I had the fronts balanced while on the car. Apparently the drums were way out of balance but the "on car spin balance" finally fixed the shimmy problem.


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## jrasband (Jul 12, 2010)

The hub has about 1/8" of assymetry so im going to fix that then try an alignment of that doesn't work.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Are you having and uneven tire wear? It could be that the axle is not square on the trailer frame. I'd get a tape out and measure.


This ^^^

What size rims do you have?


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## jrasband (Jul 12, 2010)

12" rims and tire wear is even. I'm going to play around with the axle positioning, hopefully that is the ticket.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

Good advice to measure with a tape measure and a straight edge to see if something is bent. Get the tires balanced. And also there is not a trailer tire made that I am aware of that is rated for over 65mph, on trailers with 15 and 16 inch wheels some people run truck tires that are rated for higher speeds.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I'm a high end towing guy (average more than 20,000 towing per year now for a long time....). I won't mount new tires on rims without having them balanced properly (and occasionally the tire shop really has to work to balance trailer tires...). If you're showing even tire wear your axle is probably aligned and not sagging at all. If your tires weren't balanced get it done before anything else (and that should end your problem...). Good luck and post up what the problem/fix was when you figure it out....

I just replaced the axle on my trailer (it had over 250,000 miles on it with original bearings still in fine shape - but was beginning to sag, causing bad inside tread wear on both tires as well as shortened tire life..). It's now rolling sweet again - but you'll never see me towing much more than 65mph, period. Trailer tires aren't meant to go faster than that... If you're a weekend warrior drive any way you want. I'll wave when I see you by the roadside with that look on your face....

To complete the picture, I go down the road with a single axle trailer and two spare tires (along with a complete spare hub and everything needed to sort out a problem on the road)... I keep three additional new tires mounted on rims, in my garage -ready to go. When you tow day after day, early and late there's never a tire store open when you need one... so... I stay sorted out and squared away for the long haul, year after year....


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## jrasband (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm pretty sure the trailer tires are rated to 70mph... I'm driving from Ohio to the Everglades in a few weeks and don't mind driving a little slower than normal, just want to make it in one piece.


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## Breeze (Aug 7, 2016)

jrasband said:


> Thanks for the advice guys! I'm pretty sure the trailer tires are rated to 70mph... I'm driving from Ohio to the Everglades in a few weeks and don't mind driving a little slower than normal, just want to make it in one piece.


I didn't know anybody drove 65mph anymore. Be glad you don't live in Texas. They would drive right over you.


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