Downside to low profile tires?

[kgrove]

I'm looking at a used boat that has a trailer with low profile tires. I would never spend the money up front on low profile tires if I were designing the boat and trailer from scratch, but that's not an option here.

Is there a downside to the low profile tires and wheels? Are they materially more expensive to replace tires? Any more likely to have flats? Does the reduced amount of cushion between the boat and road have any adverse impact to the boat? Any less safe?

I'm trying to figure out if I should be viewing these as net neutral to my purchase or if I should factor in some negative value to me of those wheels. I'm already factoring in a little negative for these as I think this particular choice is ugly, but I'm trying to see if there are non-appearance reasons I should consider as well.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by kgrove

I'm looking at a used boat that has a trailer with low profile tires. I would never spend the money up front on low profile tires if I were designing the boat and trailer from scratch, but that's not an option here.

Is there a downside to the low profile tires and wheels? Are they materially more expensive to replace tires? Any more likely to have flats? Does the reduced amount of cushion between the boat and road have any adverse impact to the boat? Any less safe?

I'm trying to figure out if I should be viewing these as net neutral to my purchase or if I should factor in some negative value to me of those wheels. I'm already factoring in a little negative for these as I think this particular choice is ugly, but I'm trying to see if there are non-appearance reasons I should consider as well.

Tires and wheels are more expensive. Tires are more prone to impact damage from debris in road or pothole. Some ride is sacrificed due to less sidewall, though there is very little difference. Wider tire width will provide slightly more rolling resistance, though also very little difference. The trade-off is the good looks. Not for everyone.

[nickespi]

I'm not a big fan of them. I know guys run them so they can have larger wheels but the load rating would worry me. At least on my X30 it would.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by nickespi

I'm not a big fan of them. I know guys run them so they can have larger wheels but the load rating would worry me. At least on my X30 it would.

There should be no problems using XL tires.

[nickespi]

Agreed, but I've seen some guys cutting corners and throwing cheap stuff on 20 inch rims just so they can say "they runnin' dubs."

[nickespi]

Btw, what would some XLs run me lol

don't forget less sidewall = more chance of curb rash for rims as well.

Definitely need to make sure tires and rims are load rated.

[GoneBoatN]

Originally Posted by kgrove

I'm looking at a used boat that has a trailer with low profile tires. I would never spend the money up front on low profile tires if I were designing the boat and trailer from scratch, but that's not an option here.

Is there a downside to the low profile tires and wheels? Are they materially more expensive to replace tires? Any more likely to have flats? Does the reduced amount of cushion between the boat and road have any adverse impact to the boat? Any less safe?

I'm trying to figure out if I should be viewing these as net neutral to my purchase or if I should factor in some negative value to me of those wheels. I'm already factoring in a little negative for these as I think this particular choice is ugly, but I'm trying to see if there are non-appearance reasons I should consider as well.

When I got my boat it had a low profile trailer. I had the dealer swap with another trailer to get regular tires. One of my cars has LP tires and I hate the extra cost every time I have to replace them (since they are also high speed rated, turns out to be more often than I would like).

Thinking out loud: I would not think that the small amount of money related to the tires/wheels would impact the decision on the boat. If anything, factor in the cost to change over the rims at the next tire replacement time to a standard size and use that to set your go/no-go decision on the price of the boat.

[GoneBoatN]

Looking at this web site, factor in about $85-120 per wheel - http://trailertirewarehouse.com/Aluminum-Wheels_c2.htm

Then again, all depends upon your taste for rims.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Low profile wheel/tire combinations on boat trailers typically are based on a 9 inch wide wheel. If you replace with a conventional 14x6 wheel, you come up with a three inch difference. Hard to make up for that and have the wheels fit properly. Just some food for thought.