I have a Malone Ecolight kayak trailer with bunks and it comes with 8” tires. But those tires are rated to only 65 mph and I put a lot of highway miles on my trailer. I worried that the tires might not hold up as long with the 70+ mph speeds and long road trips,

 

So I recently upgraded to 10” Kenda 205/65 five on four and a half tires with galvanized wheels. Although I put them on weeks ago, I had not been out on my kayak for a while and had not tried them out.

 

But I did fish for a bit today and my trip included some highway driving. The first thing I noticed is that the trailer rides a lot smoother. The difference was noticeable. The trailer bounce on big bumps seemed to be a bit more pronounced, but the trailer landed softer.

 

I still need to come up with a larger bracket to put the fenders back on. And as you may notice in the photo below, the spare tire is the old 8” tire and I need to purchase a third 10” tire.

 

But overall, this was another good investment in my kayak fishing. Unfortunately, I don’t have any long trips scheduled until December.

 

Very cool.  Im considering a trailer soon.  I will do this as well.  I like the new Malone and Yakima trailers w the off roadish tires.  
 

but would go your route. 
 

was it easy to source the rims?

33 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Very cool.  Im considering a trailer soon.  I will do this as well.  I like the new Malone and Yakima trailers w the off roadish tires.  
 

but would go your route. 
 

was it easy to source the rims?

I ordered the 10” Kenda 205/65 five on four and a half tires from eTrailer.com. Just make sure you get the ones with the galvanized wheels since you'll be backing them into the water.

 

I was amazed at how much wider these tires were than the 8" tires that came with the trailer. It really leads to a much smoother ride. 

 

It's hard to tell in the picture, but these tires look real bad@$$ compared to the old tires. They make me want to paint flames on my trailer!

I went from 8” to 12” steel rims and Kenda tires. Made a huge difference!

I have a continental trailer made for a Gheenoe. The ride is nice and has those bigger tires. I like it better than the Malone trailers I've seen for kayaks. I can change the bunk configuration super easy for different kayaks

Did you resolve the fender bracket relocation?

8 hours ago, Crow Horse said:

Did you resolve the fender bracket relocation?

I haven’t had time two work on it. I just need two small, slotted brackets for each side and hardware to bolt them in place.

For comparison, here's a photo of the old tires up against the new tires.