I've had it with cheap Chinese trailer tires!

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RockinRobin

RockinRobin

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2 years ago I bought 5 new Load range E trailer tires from my local tire shop. He seems like a nice guy and I thought we were doing each other a favor. 6 months later I started having blowouts. 1st 2 I got free replacements. Then all was ok for about 11 months. 3rd one was 3 weeks ago and he has switched to a different brand of cheap tire, so he cannot give me free replacement, even though the tire just split sideways, no way that could be caused by hitting something. Had a blowout on the way to the track last Friday night. This makes 4 in the last 1 1/2 years! While I'm trying to figure out what to do about the 4th one, I notice one of the freebies that is 1 1/2 yrs old has a nice bulge on the sidewall, so it's getting ready to go.

I've decided to buy Carlisle trailer tires. They are about $20 more per tire, but for $16.95 a piece you can buy a 10 year free replacement warranty. The guy at Discount Tire happens to be a drag racer, so he's giving me a deal on the tires. This should be the end of changing out tires on the side of the highway.

I'll give the old ones to the track, they can grind them up and use them for something useful.
 
we sell goodyear marathons. I've noticed the cheap 10 plies 15" have the same load carrying as the 8 ply goodyear. 225/75R15's?
 
I don't like Carlisle tires. Father in Law had them on his toy hauler and had blow outs ever time he used it. Looked it up and Carlisle have the most complaints of any tires.
 
Check the date codes before you let them install any brand of tire. The older they are the sooner they will dryrot and blow out.
 
Even the Chinese should be able to make a decent trailer tire. This **** is ridiculous.

Blew a tire on the trailer last weekend. Goodyear chinese crap. Two years old, maybe (maybe) 5K on it.
18 miles later the Goodyear Chinese spare with about 18 miles on it blew apart.

Lo and Behold, the only place open to get me back on the road (@#!! wal-mart) only had Chinese Goodyear trailer tires. I'm getting a trailer with 16" wheels so I can put regular super duty truck tires on it. Last year I changed out the original tires on my 2000 F250 at 100,000 miles, and they probably would have been fine another couple of months, if it weren't for the incoming snow...
 
340dartley said:
I don't like Carlisle tires. Father in Law had them on his toy hauler and had blow outs ever time he used it. Looked it up and Carlisle have the most complaints of any tires.
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They were recommended to me by several guys at the track. The thing that has me concerned now is the Discount Tire unlimited warranty I paid $16 per tire for. What they told me at the store and what it says on paper are 2 different things. They say they have it in their computer and as long as the tire has 1/16" tread or more on it they will replace it for free for 10 years. I asked them if I could have something in writing that says that and the slick salesman I was referred to spent 5 minutes over the phone basically telling me "no".
 
I just changed my trailer tires/wheels from 15" to 16" and put on Michelin LT tires. Load range E. Its interesting that a European company manufactures them in the US/Canada. It looks like all the ST tires are made on the other side of the world
 
We Have several large generators we haul around. Some twos so and some 3 axel trailers. After going through the same thing all were converted to LT tires and haven't had an issue since.
 
How important is what you are carrying on your trailer? Buy tires based on the answer.
 
Korea is where the good tire making skills are at now.

Hankook and Kumho are two of the better brands.

One of them has even established an HQ in Akron- smart to capitalize on all that tire making heritage and skilled workforce.
 
you didn't state what kind or size of trailer, nor the tire size so I'll assume you have 15". My old enclosed 24ft had 15". I ran GY Marathons, Carlisle 8 and 10ply, Maxxis 10 ply and it all pretty much came down to throw them out after two years or you WILL be changing a tire. Our new trailer has 16" wheels. The first set of Load Star (Kenda) tires lasted 4 years, 3 of them living in a much more tire friendly environment (not the heat of the desert SW). We sell tires at work and I opted for some cheap 10 ply HI RUN tires..... wore them out in a year, literally ran the tread right off them in probably 5K miles. I saved one of the old Load Star tires for a spare (I carry two), so I got the model number of that one and ordered another set of those and so far with 3K miles on them they seem to be holding up like the original set. They are load range F and I run them at 95 psi as recommended. My next set will be either load range G or I might try the LT tire route that many seem to have good luck with. FWIW I weighed the rig coming back from Salt Lake last weekend and we were 17400 combined. Dodge lists the truck as 8800lb so trailer is sitting at 8600LB or so...

The Kenda tire is also a Chinese tire iirc Karrier ST235/85R16 Radial Trailer Tire - Load Range F Kenda Tires and Wheels AM10501

Heat kills trailer tires. Often when I hit the road the surface temp of the highway will be 150 or greater. That combined with trailer load and speed makes for the perfect storm for failure. Even sitting in the yard covered will ruin them in a couple years. After a race I'm attending July 9, I will pull the wheels off the trailer and store them inside till mid September when we go racing again.
 
FWIW - I believe that all of the ST tires are rated at 65MPH
This was another reason I went the LT route
 
The Kenda Load Star tire I run are rated to 81mph..... but I'm a 65 to 68 kind of guy anyways when towing. Sweet spot for my pickup.
 
Yep, just went to the 16'' tires on mine 225/75/16 10 ply load range E LT's.I bought my trailer(24' enclosed) new in 2010. in 6 years I went thru 4 sets of trailer tires. The first one let go on the 76 mile trip from trailer store the day I picked her up. In 1983 I bought a new(24' enclosed)trailer.The tires (Goodyears) lasted 13 years and over 100,000 miles of cross country trips.In 1996 I replaced them with Maxis...Didn't make it 2 years.Went back to Goodyears,,,They lasted 4 years and the belts started to break.I keep them covered when not in use and park them off the ground on wood.
 
Trailer tires sit for long time, and then are expected to run 80+ MPH, fully loaded and then some! Then we hook up are trucks and the trailer nose dive or is perked up. either way you have a lot more weight on the front or rear axle. What am i trying to say?????? You could have a load that is less than the max payload, and still have one axle(two tires) over the weight limit of that axle/tire, while the other axle has very little load.
Sun rot is the BIG killer.
Going from a 15" to a 16" is the best move you can make!!!!!! How ever wheel well limit, can hold you back.
When i when to buy my last 15" tire the tire shop had almost new set of tires with rims for a screaming deal. To make it even better they were 16" with the same height as my 15".....................tread was slightly larger but the side wall bulge was to much and would have rubbed under a load. Back to 4 new 15" tires.:rolleyes:
An before you ask! I'm NO tire salesman:wtf:
 
You are right about how the trailer is hooked up.I see it most with travel trailer people overloading the forward or aft axle because of wrong ball height. Most car guys should be and are aware of this. I know I'm anal, and when the trailer is not in service,I store it with another set of wheels and tires.
 
The goodyears are starting to be foreign made as well. Carlisle usa trail is the only strictly us made tire that im aware of
 
I sell tires every day for a living. I havent seen a 15" (or for that matter 13" or 14") trailer tires in the last 6 years that was made in America. The best trailer tire that I have ever been associated with is the Hercules Power STR. Unfortunately we no longer carry them but they held up better than any trailer tires we have sold and I can give you a list of 15 or more that we have tried. Right now we are carrying a tire called summit and it is junk! I agree with the above about the poor quality of the Carlisle. They used to have a good tire but since being ship over seas they are now junk. As for a 10 year warranty Im sure you can kiss that money good bye because trailer tires have no warranty except for manufacture defects and we all know how that one plays out. Heres the key to make them last as long as possible: Make sure you carry the correct air pressure as when low they build up to much heat, also do not over load beyond the tires load capacity and make sure the load is centered on trailer to your axles. Even when following this, trailer tires still fail way to often.
Best of Luck
Rod
 
oldironbarracuda said:
FWIW - I believe that all of the ST tires are rated at 65MPH
This was another reason I went the LT route
Click to expand...
The Carlisles that Discount Tire keeps on hand are rated at 81mph, but the sweet spot for my truck is 63mph, so I would never even come close to that.
They have another Carlisle that's special order rated at 87mph.
 
rod7515 said:
As for a 10 year warranty Im sure you can kiss that money good bye because trailer tires have no warranty except for manufacture defects and we all know how that one plays out.
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I believe the warranty is from Discount Tire and not from the tire manufacturer.
 
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