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Trailer Tires

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DART

DART

Darth Vader
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I need some input/advise about what brand of trailer tire to get. There is no question about the need to replace the 8 yr old existing ones, just about what brand, bial-ply or radial. This is my 2 axle small car trailer; same as the one Nial uses for his race car. Again, this is not a question of if, it is a question of what. Special attention will be paid to those with personal experiences to relate vis-a-vie quality of brand. When I hang up the Daimler keys for the last time, I want to be able to say "never had a blowout on the trailer"!
 
I would try & go for an American tire company,that's American owned.
This how I shopped for tires for my '68 F250,& '60 Chevy C20.
I've bought "affordable" tires in the past,but they don't seem to last for
very long.
My suggestion is "Pay more initially - pay less in the long run".

- Doug
 
The biggest play in ensuring your don't get standed is obviously have a spare. After that, Tire pressure, load limits, and speed are going to leave you at the side of the road. Unfortunatley I can't remeber which brand I had on my Hallmark but the factory tires worked well. But, the overall consensus on the sport fishing/boat hauling forums is Kuhmo 857s and they pull their toys a lot more often than we do. (I hope)
 
All interesting. I am not carrying enough weight to use anything other than an ST; question is still one of brand. The trailer came with Loadstars, & I don't have any problem with them. Just want to get the best brand I can afford. And since my spare is almost 5, suppose I better replace it too. Gheeeze.
 
I replaced my boat trailer tires with Maxim, were rated good. Made in China I replaced my car trailer dual axle with Goodyear Marathon also made in China. Looked up other trailer tires and have not found one not made in China. So far I haven't had any problems with the tires. As long as you check the air pressure before you leave and replace every 5-7 years, you too should have no problems. Make sure axles are straight and wheels are not bent. Boat trailer (3000lbs.) tires are C rated and dual axle flat bed (8000lbs.) are rated D. My tire dealer did say the manufacture with the most sales will have the most responses to reviews which will have more negative tan positive. Seems negative people post and happy positive people do not. TireRack.com has a comparison guide for free on-line.
 
Sorry, I don't have experience on what brand of tire to get. I just have experience on how to make them last once mounted. Make sure that when you are on a level surface with the trailer connected to the tow vehicle that the trailer suspension is level. Had a landscape guy stop by the shop when I was working with two ruined rear tires. He had replaced them two weeks previous and couldn't believe they were torn up so fast. His ball on the back of the truck was too high up and placed all the trailer stress on the rear axle leading to shredded tires.

Just something to keep in mind.
 
It is always something to see these guys with unlevel trailers heading down the road. I worked with a Marine dealership years back and if a vehicle left the yard with an unlevel trailer you would be next to fired. Basically had to clean the toilets for a year.
 
I don't know what trailer you and he have nor total load weight but I use auto/truck tires on my stuff. I don't go over the load rating and buy off the shelf stuff so a replacement is always easy to find. The thing about trailer tires is they'll rot before you ever have a chance to wear them out.
 
I'm using Kenda Loadstars. These came with the trailer originally and were US made.

I bought two identical Kenda replacements mounted on wheels from Amazon.com for under $100 each.

The new Kendas are Chinese made. I did not expect this when I ordered them (they look the same....same ratings too). The wheels are US made. In the future, I'd look for US tires, but it's getting harder to find them when dealing with trailer tires.

Trailer tires have a specific construction that is different from car tires. Better to stick with trailer-specific tires.

~Kenda tires~
 
Thanks Nial. I have to wonder why you replaced 2, not all. Just curious. Is there a safety reason to replace the wheels too??? Baring input to the contrary, I think I will replace with the Kendas, radial this time instead of the OEM bias. And no question about ST's, in spite of Billy's experience.
 
Billly- trailer weighs about 1,800 and car 2,200 so I figure 4,000 total or 1,200 per wheel with the 20% safety factor. That means almost any Special Trailer tire is OK. I wouldn't take the chance of using a car/truck tire. Just my analality. (wonder is that's a real word??)
 
DART said:
Billly- trailer weighs about 1,800 and car 2,200 so I figure 4,000 total or 1,200 per wheel with the 20% safety factor. That means almost any Special Trailer tire is OK. I wouldn't take the chance of using a car/truck tire. Just my analality. (wonder is that's a real word??)
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That's fine. I'm aware of the differences b/w the two (unfortunately I use to have to sell them). I've never had a problem in handling, safety or performance but that has a lot to do with knowing how they will/are supposed to act. The biggest reason I prefer radials over bias ply is you can't find a bias replacement easily in emergency situations and mixing bias and radial can be really bad news, be that trailer or vehicle tires.


Nial, furniture was never designed to handle exhaust gases either. :playful:
 
The problem with auto/truck tires is that the sidewalls are not as thick as trailer tires and not capable of the heat cycles produced by trailer loads. Trailer tires are made to be curbed, and turned without steering ( dual or triple axles ). Bass Boats and Ski Boats used to come with car tires as the were whit-letter. Now trailer tires come in whitewall and white-letter too. Either type tires are only good for 5-7 yrs.
 
LarryK said:
The problem with auto/truck tires is that the sidewalls are not as thick as trailer tires and not capable of the heat cycles produced by trailer loads. .
Click to expand...

And chairs were never designed to take the heat cycle of performance exhaust but try telling that to Nial. :playful:
 
DART said:
Thanks Nial. I have to wonder why you replaced 2, not all. Just curious. Is there a safety reason to replace the wheels too?.......
Click to expand...

I probably should buy two more due to age. They are about due (the thread on the original tires is still quite good......strictly a concern about the age of the tires). I bought these tires/wheels via Amazon and just bought two to see if they seemed OK. I bought the wheels because I only had a Space-Saver spare on the trailer and I wanted at least one full-size spare. Now, with the old tires and rims, I have two reasonable spares. As Larry says, trailer tires take more forced "twisting" since they don't really steer into a turn. They are designed to deal with this twisting, unlike car tires.
 
Blew out a trilor tire overloading it with rock.
Probably didn't help that it was old.
Neighbors trailer. Good thing he had AAA must have had 2 1/2 yards of gravel in that thing
 
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