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Trailer tires - What's good, what's junk?

Bebop said:
So you suggest I finish my cross country trip at 40mph, overloading the only axle left while 150k$ worth of rigs are on the trailer ?
When and how do I get new trailer tires ?

I'd rather have an impact, proper jack and 2 to 3 spares.
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Personally I'd say there's a difference between running something heavy enough to need load range g tires and running something where you can pick up a new tire at Walmart or anywhere that sells trailer consumables.
That difference would be where you need to bring an impact, a jack, etc every time versus someone pulling a 7-10K car hauler where you can get tires most anywhere.

Aaron Z
 
I don't understand how everyone has such trouble with trailer tires... I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on them and never replaced due to a blowout, always age or wear.

The tires on my car trailer are the ones on it when I bought it... 1 Provider and 3 of another brand I can't remember off the top of my head. The provider is beginning to show some uneven wear, and all of them are now 4 years old, so its time to start thinking about replacements soon. I'll probably order up whatever the other 3 tires (and the spare) are, as they are all wearing evenly and show no signs of age yet.

As for why the tires are mismatched, the trailer was a demo before I bought it. Since the rear axle is an ez-lube and the front a standard axle, I am pretty sure the right front tire was blown and the axle bent by a renter/borrower and the axle replaced along with the 1 wheel and tire (and probably the right side diamond plate fender).
 
DRTDEVL said:
I don't understand how everyone has such trouble with trailer tires... I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on them and never replaced due to a blowout, always age or wear.

The tires on my car trailer are the ones on it when I bought it... 1 Provider and 3 of another brand I can't remember off the top of my head. The provider is beginning to show some uneven wear, and all of them are now 4 years old, so its time to start thinking about replacements soon. I'll probably order up whatever the other 3 tires (and the spare) are, as they are all wearing evenly and show no signs of age yet.

As for why the tires are mismatched, the trailer was a demo before I bought it. Since the rear axle is an ez-lube and the front a standard axle, I am pretty sure the right front tire was blown and the axle bent by a renter/borrower and the axle replaced along with the 1 wheel and tire (and probably the right side diamond plate fender).
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You don't hook your boat trailer that hasn't moved in 6mo up to your crew cab dually and hit the highway at 80mph without checking tires like some guys here do.

Edit: You also have a 5.9 in a MDT and that Mercedes shit. You can BDL (relative to whatever 5-10k trailer you have) or you can go highway speeds, but not both. And that counts for a lot when it comes to how hard you are on tires. You simply don't have the horsepower to abuse things very much.
 
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arse_sidewards said:
You don't hook your boat trailer that hasn't moved in 6mo up to your crew cab dually and hit the highway at 80mph without checking tires like some guys here do.
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Yeah, I generally hook up to a trailer that hasn't moved in a year to haul something at 60 mph... but I lube the bearings and check the tire pressure before pulling out each time.

I've never lost a tire on my 2018 enclosed trailer. I had a bearing explode on the way to Sturgis last year, but I caught that before breaking anything else. Replacement idler hub on the road, and had a new brake hub with backing plate drop-shipped from the factory awaiting me when I got home. Replaced it before parking the trailer for the year, and then I didn't even go to Sturgis this year.

I'll probably have to do some extra maintenance on the thing next year before I go.
 
DRTDEVL said:
I don't understand how everyone has such trouble with trailer tires... I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on them and never replaced due to a blowout, always age or wear.
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You don't live in a hot place. You don't tow at high speed. You will get run off the road out here towing at 60 MPH.

When it's 115°F outside you're going to have trailer tire problems. The temperature on the asphalt starts to approach the vulcanization temperature of the Chinesium tires. Almost every person I talked to over labor day weekend out here in the west had trailer tire problems.
 
FordFascist said:
You don't live in a hot place. You don't tow at high speed. You will get run off the road out here towing at 60 MPH.

When it's 115°F outside you're going to have trailer tire problems. The temperature on the asphalt starts to approach the vulcanization temperature of the Chinesium tires. Almost every person I talked to over labor day weekend out here in the west had trailer tire problems.
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Ahem. I moved here in 2019... from the desert southwest. And yes, I still towed at 60-65 out there, too.

EDIT: I was in El Paso from 2010-2017 and Las Cruces from 2017-2019.
 
DRTDEVL said:
Ahem. I moved here in 2019... from the desert southwest. And yes, I still towed at 60-65 out there, too.

EDIT: I was in El Paso from 2010-2017 and Las Cruces from 2017-2019.
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The getting blown off the road excuse that some people love to bring up is a shitty excuse. Just tow the speed your rig likes to be and and enjoy the ride. If it’s 60 in the right lane with the semis, then that’s what it is. The odds of being involved in an accident or having a mechanical incident are significantly higher at 80mph than 65.

Towing over the speed rating I’d bet is a significant factor in folks that can’t keep tires on a trailer. Most tires aren’t rated past 75. I tow 70-75 religiously with no issues.
 

Carlisle Radial Trail HD 205 75 15 D on my 12' enclosed trailer. No issue whatever is hauled(havent overloaded) on 12+ hour drives multiple times. Rarely over 70mph though.​


Same as above 205 75 14 D on 6x10 open trailer. Always at max or overloaded and never an issue. Dont go over 75 loaded.

Same tires on my landscape trailer. Never had to use spare until it was bald
 
I've always run E rated tires on my trailer (just under 7k loaded), and make sure they are inflated to max pressure (80psi) every time. No issues so far. I never understood using C or D rated tires on a trailer.

My current favorite is the Goodyear Endurance, as it's rated to 87mph and made in the USA. I don't tow that fast, but do tow at 75mph in western CO and UT.

Mark
 
FordFascist said:
My experience with Trailer King tires last weekend. Properly inflated, not overloaded - merely Chinese in origin. They decided to blow up in Modesto and Stockton (I only had one spare - now I carry two because of this horseshit).

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What size? What load rating? How old?
 
Truck tires, same as the tow rig in a 16" flavor balanced.

Guy once told us, how often do blow the tires on your truck, why not use the same, works good.
 
Another vote for LT tires.

put a used set off my truck on my car trailer. tires had to be 10 years old, bald as crap and still worked better than any "trailer" tire I ever bought.

I would rather overload an old bald LT d rated tire than have a new E rated trailer tire.

My tire guys tell me they are happy to sell trailer tires but they are the lowest of the low, even american made trailer tires.
 
FordFascist said:
225/75R15 LR E

Purchased in 2019. Around 4,000 miles. My car trailer is garaged so no sun damage.
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Interesting
It seems you're on top of it, I assume aired up to 80psi?


I can't say enough good stuff about my Carlisle 225 75 15s LRE, I have straight abused them, like 12k on a 7k trailer, low and slow, or, towing a 7500lb diesel truck 100 miles highway in 110 degree heat

I wore them out, have the next set in the connex ready to go



Edit: I've recently bought a 14k trailer with 16s do the car trailer will be getting some reprieve, already stuck a stick in one, so it's got a truck 235 85 on it, we'll see what the future holds:laughing:
 
I have 225/75r16 LR E toyo H/T tires on my equipment trailer.

They are quality. Well worth the cost.
 
So my trailer needs new tires, 2 flats this year at about 3 years old. Currently it's on contender ttt 868 225/75 R15. Would these be a good replacement?

Screenshot_20221125_020759.jpg
 
Bmxbry9 said:
So my trailer needs new tires, 2 flats this year at about 3 years old. Currently it's on contender ttt 868 225/75 R15. Would these be a good replacement?
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Go on CL and get yourself a pile of nearly bald LTs.

There's no reason to run STs unless you're running 14.5s, ancient 15" lowboy stuff or 17.5s.
 
Another vote for Carlisle. I've run a variety of box store tires over the years, also with good luck but the Carlisle's seem to wear a little better.

Also another vote for extra spares, a 12 ton bottle jack and a cordless impact. Bebop makes a strong argument. I fell asleep behind the wheel on the way back from Moab one time out in the middle of BFE Illinois, went off the road and it was only the rumble strips waking me up that saved us. We were far enough off into the median that we hit something and blew both driver side tires on my 26' Kaufman trailer with 2 rigs on it.

What a fuckin shit show. Yes we had 2 spares. But with both tires flat, the bottle jack wasn't tall enough to get the frame high enough in the air and the axles were only inches off the ground. So we had to pull the high lift off the Jeep, lift the trailer frame as high as we could with the bottle jack, use the hi lift to help hold the frame up, block the bottle jack again to lift it again. We still couldn't get the axles high enough so we had to use the OEM jack out of the truck to get the axle high enough to get a fresh tire on. So, 2 tires and 3 jacks to get the job done. Then we still had another 7 hours home with no spares.

Cordless impact? Why the fuck would someone NOT carry one when trailering? No explanation needed.

Carrying enough spares to cover one side of a heavily loaded trailer makes sense. So often people don't realize they have a flat and end up wiping out the other tire that is carrying all the load. I carry 3 spares for my tri-axle gooseneck because I know it's possible to blow the whole side.

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned, TPMS's are awesome! I've caught a low tire one of my trailers more than once.
 
A ramp made from 2x6s or 2x8s cut to different lengths, stacked, and screwed together is helpful. It might not be a great idea if loaded super heavy since it puts a lot of weight on one axle while changing a tire. We used it a lot on a KOH trip after blowing out 5 Chinese trailer tires. Only a worn out BFG LT tire survived the trip from TN to CA and back.
 
Bebop said:
Seriously, I have NEVER encountered a tire shop with good trailer tire options, ever.
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I lucked out when I needed one, Big O tires has a G rated trailer tire. 6 years later and it's still holding air surprisingly.
 
Bmxbry9 said:
So my trailer needs new tires, 2 flats this year at about 3 years old. Currently it's on contender ttt 868 225/75 R15. Would these be a good replacement?

Screenshot_20221125_020759.jpg
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Or go 14 ply in the same tire?
 
Gravy said:
Truck tires, same as the tow rig in a 16" flavor balanced.

Guy once told us, how often do blow the tires on your truck, why not use the same, works good.
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I've heard that truck tires don't like the scrub that trailer tires see. Although, I think it's pretty rare to actually wear out a set of trailer tires (unless it's a triple axle) :homer:

Benny said:
It seems odd to have 15" wheels instead of 16" on a trailer like that.
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I'm betting he doesn't have 7k axles.

I actually broke 2 wheels on my father in law's 10k buggy hauler. Had a samurai and stock 1st gen Toyota on it. So like 7k lbs maybe? They were the lightest cheapest steel wheels I've dealt with.
 
KungFooMASTA said:
I have had good luck with Power King Super Highway bias ply trailer tires. I had a set that were almost 15 years old and still didn’t blow out even being that old. I decided to replace them with the same thing again before I had any issues. I did have one blow out but it got cut on the fender and I dont blame the tire. The mice thing about bias plies is when they blow out they do not do as much damage around them.

Amazon.com: Multi-Mile Power King Super Highway II Industrial Tire 7/-15 : Automotive

Buy Multi-Mile Power King Super Highway II Industrial Tire 7/-15: Performance - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
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We have some tires on a log trailer that are from no later than the 70s. 10.00r20s with riveted split ring wheels.

Seems like modern tires got to shit in a hurry. I have a set on one of my truck that are MAYBE 5-6 years old and they are already rotting.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I've heard that truck tires don't like the scrub that trailer tires see. Although, I think it's pretty rare to actually wear out a set of trailer tires (unless it's a triple axle) :homer:



I'm betting he doesn't have 7k axles.

I actually broke 2 wheels on my father in law's 10k buggy hauler. Had a samurai and stock 1st gen Toyota on it. So like 7k lbs maybe? They were the lightest cheapest steel wheels I've dealt with.
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Correct, 5k axles. I was wrong about that
 
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