Trailer Tires
 

I had a blow out yesterday coming home from W. Lebanon.

Can anyone steer me in the right direction on buying trailer tires.
I have a 24' Enclosed w/ 15 inch rims.

I want to know which tires to avoid ( if anybody had bad experience's with )
and which tires to buy.

Any information is Greatly Appreciated....

I do not want to be changing a flat in 95 degree heat if i don't have to.

Thx for any input.


Pistol Pete
1374- Stock

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Buy new one's every 2 years, best advice i can give..

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Pete, do you have 6 lug wheels? If you do, I would suggest getting 16. in wheels and tires. I made the mistake and bought new 15 in.tires, still had problems, then ended up replacing the wheels and tires a couple years later. Well worth the peace of mind.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Pete,

If you plan on keeping the Trailer, find some 5 lug 16" wheels that fit and go to 16" tires which gives you better choices of tires ..

If you don't change to 16", then carry extra spares and check them every-trip ???? LOL,

Re: Trailer Tires
 

I've used Goodyear Marathons for the past 10 years.I left the first set on too long,unintentionally,and it almost bit me in the *****.A few things I do is keep tire dressing on them(especially the ft. mounted spare under a cover,50 psi in them and I keep them covered when the trailer is not moving.I've never had an incident,luckily.If you want the absolute best 15" tires go to either tires-easy.com or tire rack.com and look up 15" Maxxus trailer tires.A bit pricier than Goodyears but I understand they are the best you can get in a 15" tire.And keep after them.Also whatever tire you buy look at the date code on the sidewall.More than a year old and I don't accept them.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Pete, all good recomendations ,but the most important one is to make sure to use metal valve stems on your rims. ..........the rubber valve stems can fail or loose air pressure that can cause a tire failure. ............One of the reasons we're not allowed to use them on our race cars!............A good friend ,who is a tire dealer and outfits several heavy concession trailers that log way more miles a year than we do , recommended Hankook tires to me....I've had them on for about 35k miles now ,never a problem , and great wear. .........Tom

Re: Trailer Tires
 

If you really want to upgrade your trailer tires, don't stop at putting the 16" tires on it (which is good advice). Go the extra step and replace the entire brake hub with the 6 lug 7,000 lb hub. It will slip right on the Dexter 5 lug 5,200 lb axle and cost about $300.

This is what you will get. You will get a 6 lug hub, a larger outside bearing, and peace of mind that your trailer won't give you any more problems. Not many people realize that this is a perfect fit to the old set up that you have. The larger tire will roll better and won't blow out like the weak 15" offerings. The outside bearing may not be giving you trouble now, but it certainly won't with the 7,000 lb version.

You can really make it bullet proof with the "G" rated Goodyear trailer tires that will allow you to tow at more than 65 mph.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

This comes up about once a year, usually in the summer heat.
The best 15" tire I've found is the Maxxus load range E, fill to 90 lbs. Heat is what kills trailer tires and high pressure goes a long way to stopping that. I second the steel valve stems also.
That being said, I think Fletcher posted on here once that the worst 16" tire is better than the best 15" and who puts on more miles than Dan? I'd listen to him.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Now there are a lot of good recomendations from people that race quite a bit.

ED: What do you mean, "keep after them". By putting dressing on them or what ???
I did have another gentleman tell me about Maxxus, so i think i'm going to look
into those.

TOM: Thx for the tip about the metal valve stems, i wouldn't have known that.


Everyone else that commented, thank you for steering me in the right direction.

BTW, my trailer does have a 6 bolt pattern & I only race locally anyway which means
no more than a 2 hour tow, so hopefully i won't have to get the 16" rims.

OK so no more blow-outs for me....lol

Thx Everyone.....

Pistol Pete

Re: Trailer Tires
 

One More Thing.

Is there any Pro's & Con's to Carlisle Trailer Tires ??????



Thx

Re: Trailer Tires
 

My tire guy said Carlisle is the only one still made in USA but they are the worst tires. Personally I have had bad luck with bias ply Duro (dry rotted and bad wear pattern in 1 year), radial Nankang, etc. It seems that since Chinese stuff undercut prices, the more expensive=better comanies went out of business and now we can't get really good tires in 14" and 15" for trailers. I would definitely not use trailer tires more than 4 years regardless of how much tread is left. With radials, I put on a glove and run my hand around the tread at every stop, checking for bulges = ply separation.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

pete,i recently installed the 15 in. e rated maxxis tires on my 24ft. enclosed trailer, seems to tow quite better with these tires than the marathons, i noticed when i mounted them the side walls were quite a bit stiffer than the marathons. one note about the metal valve stems, they are not all rated the same, the maxxis tires run at 80-85 psi, so be sure to get the correct valve stems if you go with these tires. i purchased my tires from discounttire.com, good luck, howard.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Hankook....
Somebody also posted a bulletin from GoodYear about "over inflating" your tires by 10 psi if you will run over 65 mph, also.

As for changing tires, I keep a 8x12x20 piece of wood with the trailer to set the tongue jack on. When I get a flat, I use scrap 2x4 pieces to make a mini ramp onto the 8x12 and drive the good tire up onto that.
You can change the tire in 5-10 mins.

Clark

Re: Trailer Tires
 

What I meant was keep tire dressing on them,check the air before going to a race,when you make any stops on a trip check walk around and feel the trailer and truck tires and visually inspect,keep the tires covered with a tire cover when not being drive,that includes the few days you're at a race and recheck pressure before leaving for home.You should get 3-4 years out of them then buy new ones.And be aware of the manufacturing date on each tire.Like someone said previously,heat and sun are tires biggest enemy.Going with Maxxis's would be a good choice.
When I went to Norwalk 2 weeks ago I followed this routine and all went well.BTW my trailer is 18' but it weighs 7K rolling.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Most brands of common 15" STR trailer tires are made in either China or Taiwan.......Gooyear Marathons and Titans included. Maxxis are made in Taiwan.....Carlysles and Denmans and Towmasters I would bet are all made somewhere other than the USA. Some tires were made in either Mexico or Canada but I am not sure about some of these brands anymore.

I had old Michelins on my first box trailer and never blew one out. I did lose one due to a cracked rim and an air leak. Tire blew on the way home from E-Town..... Michelin stopped making 15" trailer service tires. I bought 4 Carlysles to replace them.......Total junk.....One blowout and the others had tread seperation. I was hitting most of the Division races at the time I had those Carlysles. They didn't make 2 seasons....... Replaced them with Towmasters...sold that trailer

Bought a nice used Classic and it had load range E Titans......One blew out on a COOL evening on the way home from my local track. Trailer is not overloaded and I rarely run over 70 mph....I check the pressures regularly so it was not low when it blew. Tread came off and was no fun trying to get off Rt 80 to find a decent place to change it......drove 5 miles or more at low speeds to get off the highway.....ruined the other tire on that side.....I would change them all anyway so I didn't care......wasn't going to change a tire on the highway side,at night on Rt 80.......

Replaced them with GoodYear Marathons from Tire Rack......They say made in China right on them and so did the Titans but you had to look closely to find that. I would not have bought them if I could buy the Maxxis tires somewhere at a decent price.

I did find the Goodyear info about upping the air pressure to run over 65mph. I have been setting my tires at nearly 70psi cold and so far they have held up fine.....but I have ZERO confidence in them from past experiences of my own and other racers I have spoken to....

Hankook does have some nice tires but I have not been able to find a 15" trailer servcie radial from them.

If I was on the road a lot going to races.......I would defiantely go to 16" rims and LT tires.....

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Pete, I have another vote for the 16" swap. I blew out 3 15's and went to SW wheel and got 16" wheels for under 180 for 4. 215/16"LT truck tires fit great and have lasted , 2 1/2 yrs now. I do wipe them down with tire/belt dressing too, but usually about 3 times a yr... I have been trying to remember to buy tire covers , because mine sits outside all the time. Sunlight kills the tire almost as fast as low pressure. I run 80 psi in mine, on a 28 ft. They have shown very little wear so far. I even did the Dawn dishwashing liquid in them, figured, it couldnt hurt. I rarely have to add any air to them, honestly. Jimmy Parker told me about SW Wheel.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Sunlight kills the tire almost as fast as low pressure.
Kenny is "Dead-On" with his answer.

Marvin Rifchin from M& H Tire (RIP) told us to never leave tires exposed out in sunlight for long periods of time, it's rays attack the natural oil in the rubber, which has a direct effect on it's performance, the sidewall.
(thats Y Pro's cover they're tires in the lanes)

Look at tires after they've failed, if you see no real damage to the tread, it's usually due to the delamination of the sidewall, and belt failure!

We now cover the tires!

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Kenny

What is SW wheel ?????

Thx for all the help on my question from all. I will be buying tires shortly.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Get the E rated 16 inch tires. Trailer tires, trailer special etc usually means they don't have the spec to go on a motor car. Really bad stuff. I think many of us have been through what you are expereincing. Dexter makes inexpensive steel wheels (16 in 6 hole) or the aluminums aren't that bad in the older truck and trailer wheels.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

http://www.southwestwheel.com/?gclid...FSI55QodNkzmyg

Re: Trailer Tires
 

just checked with SW wheel ----lowest price the guy gave me was $125 PER WHEEL---- thats $500 for 4 steel rims then you need tires at about another $125-150 each so now you are up to about A THOUSAND dollars for the changeover---who did u talk to at SW ??--the guy I spoke to thought I was nuts when I told him 4/$180!!!! ----Comp 387

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Re: Trailer Tires
 

I took Jeff's advice last year after a blow out. Already has 6 lug wheels, so I bought wheels and ten ply radials with a 110+ MPH speed rating. Uses 80 psi air pressure, and it tows better than ever. Big trucks no longer upset it. I used to really pucker up when passing or getting passed by 18 wheelers. Not anymore.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Right here......http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/...w128700ms.aspx

I bought mine from here, and they had very good run out. We mounted them up, and rotated 2 so it didnt have 2 lb's of weight on a wheel.... Switched tire on one, now they have minimal weights on ea. Like I said the difference was huge. 10 ply 215/16 on those wheels, and , I dont sweat the fast *** rigs coming by anymore. Usually I run about 65-70, and shoot the tires and hubs with a temp gun at every fuel stop, to keep an eye on them. They keep good air pressure, and stay at 80 almost all the time.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

Ken---OK I got it now next ?----- what kind/size tires did u go with??? Did u get them thru them or another dealer???--I remember u from Indy about 3-4 years ago with S Williams hanging out at S Ambrose trailer---talk to Russ about your engine all the time----Nice looking car too----Thanx Comp 387

Re: Trailer Tires
 

I bought a new Featherlite 24' aerodine, all aluminimum trailer in 2004 and it came with 235 X 85 X 16 Uniroyal MS load rated E tires. I have those tires still on the trailer with probably 20,000 miles on them with not one problem. They look like new still! I run them at the max recommended pressure, keep them covered and Armoral them several times a year. That makes them 6 years old now. Am I pushing my luck? Jim

Re: Trailer Tires
 

I have 6 lug hubs. I converted over from 15 inch to 16's. I got steel wheels with 14 ply Foongyangs (sometthing like that) for 158.00 each shipped. They have made it through some long trips so far this year. Chicago to Belle Rose, Indy, St. Louis a few times and more with no issues. I found them on ebay. A place down south called Patriot tire.

Re: Trailer Tires
 

We use a bunch of tires each year on our lease fleet. The company that services our vehicles is very knowledgeable. Last year I had a very small bump on one of my 22.5's on my motor home. They all looked new, but were manufactured in 2003, which would be right for my 2005 chassis produced in 2004. I found out commercial tires cannot be capped after 3 years, so write off the 80 to 100 bucks for the carcus each. I put ten new tires on the thing. I sold the new looking old tires to Hebert Bros Farms (Tim Hebert SS/AH) for sugar cane trailers. They usually get knocked off before they ever wear out. In the first season, 8 of the 9 usuable blew. Age is the factor more than anything else according to my servicing company. On another note, the Goodyear 235/16 G rated always have trouble especially on the triple axle. We changed to 17.5 and went to heaven. Alcoa makes a direct replacement wheel for the 8 hole 16 in wheel. No lug change or anything. On all my two axle stuff, I have 225/16 E tires with no trouble. The 17.5's on the 3 axle. Trailer Special stuff is bad. Chinese tires were good value, but the last 2 or 3 years they have faded badly. The good quality Chinese cost as much as American tires. On the larger stuff, the Bridgestone wears better, the Michelin rides better. We normally run all the fleet 10 lbs below max cold. Seems to give the wall a little better flex. I think there are about 1400 trucks in service now. We use a lotta tires.