Trailer tires?

[Tharrell]

What BRAND tires are you using on your trailers? Tony

[weeble67]

I run BFG's Radials

[JimQ]

In a past life I worked as a Test Engineer in the automotive industry. The businesses I worked for specialized in tires and wheels.

Experience tells me, MICHELIN is the way to go. They are generally pretty pricey but they wear like iron and hold up well in severe operating conditions. (overloaded, over/under pressure). They put a lot of engineering into their products.

Q

[Tharrell]

BFG and Michelin, they make trailer tires? I learned a lot about trailer tires last week after one of mine blew and shredded a trailer fender. I'm not going to use anything but ST designated trailer tires. I'm leaning towards the Goodyear Marathons. Tony

[JimQ]

I'm not going to use anything but ST designated trailer tires.


Good point. ST (Special Trailer) tires generally have a stiffer sidewall. The trailer is less prone to sway especially on single axle trailers.


Q

[scottishmaximus]

It is my understanding that trailer tires don't have the testing that automobile tires do.

Going with experience, i have yet to find a nice trailer tire. I have had the worst luck with Carlisles and have seen blowout after blowout and i'm within the weight tolerences, max psi, and have checked the alignment. Search the internet and you'll see all kinds of problems with them, but maybe they have changed them. I put my faith in a truck tire over a trailer tire.

[BrianC636]

On my enclosed trailer I run the Maxxis M8008 (I think) radial. Had great luck with them so far.

[cpel2004]

Jim Q what model of tire do you use?

[Keith]

I ran automobile tires on my trailers for years and years. Three years ago I bought an Anderson 16' open with real trailer tires. They were Chinese junk and were worn out in 2k miles...I **** you not! I was so mad about it, I parked that brand new trailer and started using my old one. After 8 months I finally dragged it down to put new tires on it. Figuring it was just isolated to that particular brand, I made the decision to stick with ST tires. I bought Maxxis trailer tires to replace them. They lasted right at 1 year. I replaced those with Marathons. I have since replaced two of those, and need to replace the other two. The first Marathons I bought were made in New Zealand, the rest have been made in China. I don't really see any difference in their wear, though I hate buying things made in China.

I figure I am only getting 7 or 8k miles out of them. Almost all of my miles are local with a bunch of tight turning, and that is what is to blame for their short life. Everytime I have gone tire shopping I have been looking for Coopers, but no one ever seems to be able to get them. Cooper seems to have a tough time keeping up with demand on these US-made trailer tires. If I can't find Coopers the next this time I may go with the Kumho trailer tire. I have heard decent reports on them. I will need to buy new wheels, as they only make a 14" version of the 857. But my wheels are pretty well trashed and they are cheap enough to justify. The 857 is a D-load tire instead of a C.

I can't help but think how much longer the old car tires lasted. I may get sick of forking over $400 for new trailer tires every time and go back to them.

[out4now]

The company I work for sells trailer tires and parts. The buyer next to me buys all of our tires. I believe its Titan Tire that has the outgoing message against the Chinese tires. Might want to try them.

[topsites]

Here's speaking from experience, having ran bias-ply and C-rated and what have you's.

There are likely two tires your trailer will call for, standard and recommended, or acceptable and better, or whatever.
In my case for my 6x12 the standard tire is a bias-ply, it lasts one year exact.
The recommend is a B-load rated radial, this lasts two years.

So I asked the guy, what about the next higher rating?
He says to me, you want to put C rated radials on there?
I said sure, why not, how long they last?
He figured probably at least 4 years.

Other notes:
Bias-ply's ran about 65-70 each.
B-load rated radials around 80-85.
C-rated were 100 each.
But figure the time and labor is another $40-50, so why I want to go there twice in 4 years and spend $200 each or do it one time and spend $240? Even if it were more it would be worth not having to go there twice, plus the peace of mind that money buys.

Yes sir I can ride those C load rated tires flat on an empty trailer the sidewall is so stiff it holds up (not true, it has to have 4-5 psi in it, but almost flat). It does ruin the tire, but in a pinch and say a sidewall puncture who cares, and no in 10 miles it didn't shred at all thou I am sure it won't go but so far.

So nothing but one load rating OVER what the trailer calls for as 'recommended' or 'best,' at the very least get the best.
You will not regret it, I never have and I'm never going back either.

In the case of load ratings it's the higher letter is better, unlike some rating systems for tires it is in reverse so it goes low-high from A-D or E, so B is better than A and C is better than B and so on.

For me it's in the load rating.

[RedWingsDet]

Here's speaking from experience, having ran bias-ply and C-rated and what have you's.

There are likely two tires your trailer will call for, standard and recommended, or acceptable and better, or whatever.
In my case for my 6x12 the standard tire is a bias-ply, it lasts one year exact.
The recommend is a B-load rated radial, this lasts two years.

So I asked the guy, what about the next higher rating?
He says to me, you want to put C rated radials on there?
I said sure, why not, how long they last?
He figured probably at least 4 years.

Other notes:
Bias-ply's ran about 65-70 each.
B-load rated radials around 80-85.
C-rated were 100 each.
But figure the time and labor is another $40-50, so why I want to go there twice in 4 years and spend $200 each or do it one time and spend $240? Even if it were more it would be worth not having to go there twice, plus the peace of mind that money buys.

Yes sir I can ride those C load rated tires flat on an empty trailer the sidewall is so stiff it holds up (not true, it has to have 4-5 psi in it, but almost flat). It does ruin the tire, but in a pinch and say a sidewall puncture who cares, and no in 10 miles it didn't shred at all thou I am sure it won't go but so far.

So nothing but one load rating OVER what the trailer calls for as 'recommended' or 'best,' at the very least get the best.
You will not regret it, I never have and I'm never going back either.

In the case of load ratings it's the higher letter is better, unlike some rating systems for tires it is in reverse so it goes low-high from A-D or E, so B is better than A and C is better than B and so on.

For me it's in the load rating.

The only thing I can think of reguarding getting a cheaper tire is a sidewall flat. So far this year I've had 3 flat tires. I had 8 ply tires on my trailer too.

I need new tires for next spring and I am kind of stumped on what to get since I dont mind spending the money for a good tire, however if I am getting more than 2 flats/sidewall flats per year its smarter to get the cheaper tire.

[SimonCX]

I have goodyear marthon's and so far have been alot better then the titans that came with the trailer. I wore the titan's out in about 7-9k and the marthons have about 10k this year and they look about 55-50% worn. If I can get another season out of them I'll be happy. They were alittle more money but it wasn't that much, I think they were about $15-20 more a tire then the titans.

[Tharrell]

I certainly learned a lot about trailer tires after my blowout. I wished I had paid more attention to the air pressure. I'm fanatical about it now. My brand new truck calls for 50psi in the front and had only 35 or so. They LOOKED okay but a guage(digital) is the only way to go. I also had my trailer and truck weighed. I am under the limit but not by much. I bought 9k tags and the whole setup with 1/4 tank of gas is 8300lbs.
Here's a few things I learned. Air pressure is critical, weight is critical, load distribution is critical, speed is critical (especially with underinflated tires), cycles are critical (heatup/cooldown cycles). So, everything is critical when it comes to trailer tires. I have a 14ft single axle trailer and I have to be careful not to overload it with that extra 2 ft although the last 2 ft is the dovetail.
If you combine these critical factors it's not hard to determine the reason I had a blowout. I was running 33 psi when it should have been 50, I was running over 65mph on the interstate, I had the trailer loaded all the time even with things I really didn't need to have on there and it was probably overweight.
The manufacturers say trailer tires don't usually have a chance to wear out, they blow out from abuse. They're probably right.
One more thing I learned, weld a piece of angle from the frame across the bottom edge of the fenders. When a tire seperates, the tread won't be able to scrap the fender like it did mine. The seperating tread caught the backside of my fender and pulled it under itself, in the same instant it peeled the rest of the tread like an onion. Tony

[SiteSolutions]

Yeah, I spend the money, 100, 110 each, and they always tear up too soon, but I just figure it is part of doing business. It gives me a lot of opportunities to try new tires!

[MOWALLTHETIME]

I run milestar 8 ply trailer tires and I cannot wear these tires out. I have them on all of my trailers and they are amazing. put 65 psi in them and forget about em. On my gooseneck deck-over I run the same tires but in 12 ply. The tires cost about $70.00 and I get them from direct tire distributor.

[tomo]

hello, try to run the trailer at around 75% of its rated capacity . Doing so ensures good life out of your bearings ,brakes and tyres etc .The reason behind this is typically trailers are built to the limit, only just enough for the application .

As other posters have mentioned correct selection of load capacity is important . Eg if u used the exact tyre for weight the pressures will have to be run at the max allowed by the maker . This will result in a very very rough ride also .

tomo:waving:

[outdoordynamics]

I have tried 3 or 4 brands and they pretty much wore out after only 1 season on my enclosed trailer. I started rotating tires-front to back twice a season and am now getting 2 to 3 years out of my tires. The back tires wear out faster on a tandem due to dragging on turns. Everyone that reads this should try this as it definately works!