Fishing in the Central Valley: Remember to check your trailer tires

Boat trailers are one of those things that at the start of my fishing career I tended to ignore mainly because I was solely focused on my boat and vehicle as ways to get to the fishing hole.

This lack of attention led to more than several trailer adventures, which are responsible for my mildly neurotic tendencies whenever I pull my boat.

Over 20 years ago, I was driving to San Luis Reservoir to meet a friend from the coast for a day of striper fishing, when I began feeling some weird movements coming from my trailer. Since there were a lot of potholes caused by big rigs in that section I passed off the feeling that something was wrong as I neared Los Banos.

It seemed like the vibration was better as I slowed down, and since I was just 20 miles from the lake I figured whatever it was would work itself out.

But the trailer began acting funny again as I approached the exit west of Los Banos. As I made the right turn to the truck stop where we were meeting, a screaming noise broke out to my right rear. Looking in my rear view mirror in horror, I watched my right rear trailer tire completely detach from the trailer and take off along the side of my truck.

It was surreal. I stopped and watched as the tire just kept going.

I actually had been lucky that the tire had not come off the axle spindle while I was going 55 miles per hour on the highway.

My buddy and I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what to do. Finally a mechanic brought over a forklift, lifted the trailer and we shackled up the broken axle with a chain lashed to the frame. We limped home six hours later on just one tire on the right side of the trailer and traveling at about 45 mph all the way back to Fresno

My mechanic had to replace the axle, and he told me I wasn’t lubing the trailer axles enough. Expensive lesson. From that experience I got more proactive and always carry a floor jack, chain, block and tools.

A decade later, once again, I was driving home from the lake about five miles east of Los Banos, when I felt small surges from the trailer.

Yep, I thought it was due to all the potholes again. I thought about stopping but I was tired and the problem seemed to improve as I got up to running speed.

I told myself that it was nothing, just as the trailer jerked and suddenly felt lighter.

Something to my right caught my eye, it was about 50 feet off the road and 25 feet in the air. Incredibly, it looked like a tire!

I watched it hit, rebound, bounce over a fence, then go some 100 yards out into a field of dense, shoulder high weeds. I looked for an hour but never found it.

Seems that my disc brake on that tire was locking up, and the bolts wore right through the holes in the hub.The force also ruined the lugs, making them unusable.

I got to use my jack, chain and wood block this time and again limped home at 45 mph.

Now when I hear or feel anything a bit off, I’m on it.

When my mechanic told me he was going to take my grease gun away because I was lubing the bearings too much, I knew I had crossed some invisible mental barrier. I think I’ve made a lot of progress since then but those little odd sounds still drive me crazy.

Never give up… and grease those trailer bearings but don’t overdo it.

This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Fishing in the Central Valley: Remember to check your trailer tires."