Trailer tires - what are you running?

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ragtopfury

ragtopfury

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With all the china-bomb tires sold on new trailers, what are you guys replacing them with?

In 2010 I took the bombs off the 2006 camper at 4 yrs old cuz one had developed a helluva bulge while camped at Myrtle Beach. Had Black's Tire service come out and set me up with GY Marathons. traded that unit in for a larger one in 2014. It towed a lot betterr it the Goodyears.
So now I'm at 4.5 yrs on the bombs on the new camper. We're going half way across the US and back next summer. In the Spring, I'm going to replace the tires.
My car trailer is a 2005 and still has its original Carlisle brand tires on it. They are showing their age with the 1st sign of drying out from the sun and I'll be replacing them as well.
A buddy of mine just had 3 blowouts in 2 weeks with 4yr old Carlisles. Claims his pressures have always been maintained and they showed no visible issues.

So to you tire gurus, I ask this question - What brand trailer tire do you recommend? Car trailer has 14" and the camper has E rated 16" tires.
 
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I have Hartland Radial S/T on my trailer, reported to be the best trailer tires out there, by my tire guy. He’s been in the tire business for the past 35 years, and I’ve bought a lot of tires thru the years. He claims these are the best trailer tire made, and summarily wrote off the Goodyear tire I had to buy in Florida, thinking I would buy the other 3 from him when I got home. The Goodyear is now my spare!

He works at Discount Tire if you’re looking!
 
I have a boat, a car hauler, and equipment trailers. I never buy "trailer" tires. I bring the wheels in the back of my truck and never mention the word trailer. I buy LT or greater depending on the load. Never had a tire problem in hundreds of thousands of miles. I've used many brands as things change, but right now Starfires are great. They are a division of copper I believe.
 
225/75/16LT is what I am running now.(Trailer has 6 lug wheels) Between my neighbor and I we have 8 trailers running truck tires. We went thru many so called trailer tires and had many blow outs and separations. Both of us are going on 5 years without a problem now. I had a trailer tire fail the day I bought the trailer new and drove only 90 miles.GRRRR!
 
Carlisle radial trail or usa trail for the 14’s. best bang for the buck, we sell a ton of them at work.
Could also put carlisles on the 16’s we havent had maybe one factory defect carlisle in the last 8 year we have neen putting them on.

What size 16’s on your trailer? If they are a standard truck size you could always go the michelin LT tire route. Aint gonna beat a michelin

Also any tire with ST in front of the size is standard trailer

LT in front of the size indicates light truck.

The same size in either ST or LT will be the same basic size however be aware that there are some ST trailer tires that are standard size but a low pro version.
 
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toplscuda said:
If you look at the speed rating on trailer tires theyhave a maxium speed of 65 mph. Extended time at that speed or over causes them to come apart even if the pressure is maintianed. I switched all of our trailers over to 16" 7.50R16LT tires. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MWZ4TBW/?tag=joeychgo-20
Havent had a blowout on one since.
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Carlisle radial trail are rated at 81 mph, much faster than that towing a trailer you are crazy lol

Reminds me of when i moved up to tennessee from florida, the little u haul trailer said max speed 55. I ran about 80 all the way up to tn and at one point i was near 100 lol looking back now that wasnt wise
 
I have Laniers on both the 24’ hauler and the Montana 5ver. They are rated for 75MPH and are ST and stamped as such. Goodyear will not give you a speed rating. Lost too many of those! The Laniers are holding up well at a very reasonable cost. I considered saliens for the 5ver but cost was ridiculous and just keep my speed at 75 and the occasional 85 passing idiots. The hauler tires are D rated and the 5ver E rated.
 
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Have always kept my tires covered when not in use. I think covers are a waste of money, it’s the sitting to long that messes them up and what they are sitting on the most! Still cover them cause I have the covers but seem to waste my time and only keep the Mrs. happy!
 
71DodgeDemon340 said:
Carlisle radial trail or usa trail for the 14’s. best bang for the buck, we sell a ton of them at work.
Could also put carlisles on the 16’s we havent had maybe one factory defect carlisle in the last 8 year we have neen putting them on.

What size 16’s on your trailer? If they are a standard truck size you could always go the michelin LT tire route. Aint gonna beat a michelin.
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That's the kind of input I'm looking for - from someone in the tire business.

So that leads me to another question. I've seen people running LT on their trailers. I've thought about that very thing. Any pros and cons to running a load range E truck tire as opposed to an E trailer tire?

I'm probably over thinking this whole thing, but that's what we, as people, do sometimes .
 
No difference really, the ST 10 ply trailer tires tend to cost less than the LT truck tires. The ST are specifically designed for trailer use only, the LT are designed for light trucks, years ago we sold mostly truck tires for trailers but the cost of the ST trailer tires tends to be less. So we have mainly switched to selling ST trailer tires. What size 16’s or on your trailer?

If you want a particular brand dont be affraid to put a LT on your trailer. The only downside to the LT is the ply rating, in an LT you are limited to 10 ply. In a ST there are 12 and even 14 y available in some sizes. In anything 15” and under your best bet is with a ST trailer tire, they are heavier ply than any 15” or smaller passenger tire. When you go to a 16” you have more options, either ST or LT
It really depends on size
 
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ragtopfury said:
That's the kind of input I'm looking for - from someone in the tire business.

So that leads me to another question. I've seen people running LT on their trailers. I've thought about that very thing. Any pros and cons to running a load range E truck tire as opposed to an E trailer tire?

I'm probably over thinking this whole thing, but that's what we, as people, do sometimes .
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Well apparently 10 years of tire experience isnt enough for tire opinions on here lol but thats on another thread.
 
E rated ST trailer tires are constructed for the purpose. Long periods of sitting and torsional loads that are different.

Lots use LT but ask yourself what was the LT designed for?

I will not use them on my trailers.
 
1969383S said:
E rated ST trailer tires are constructed for the purpose. Long periods of sitting and torsional loads that are different.

Lots use LT but ask yourself what was the LT designed for?

I will not use them on my trailers.
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The torsional load is my concern on the LT as well. They do a lot od "twisting" backing the camper in at near 90 degrees to the truck
 
The 235/80R16 is 30.8” in diameter

The 235/85R16 is 31.7” in diameter

So it would make the 235/85R16 .5” bigger all tge way around.


Also the carlisle radial trails are a 12 ply in that size. 10 ply in the 235/80R16

Retail on a ST235/85R16 carlisle radial trail 12 ply is roughly $125 thats what we would sell them for at work mounted new valve stems and balanced, just plus $5 tire disposal and tax

The ST235/80R16 carlisle radial trail 10 ply is roughly $105

To put it in perspective a LT235/85R16 10 ply firestone h/t would be roughly $160, pretty good price increase from the ST to the LT
 
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71DodgeDemon340 said:
The 235/80R16 is 30.8” in diameter

The 235/85R16 is 31.7” in diameter

So it would make the 235/85R16 .5” bigger all tge way around.


Also the carlisle radial trails are a 12 ply in that size. 10 ply in the 235/80R16

Retail on a 235/85R16 carlisle radial trail 12 ply is roughly $125 thats what we would sell them for at work mounted new valve stems and balanced, just plus $5 tire disposal and tax

The 235/80R16 carlisle radial trail 10 ply is roughly $105
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I Thought about going to 235/85R on the 5ver and it seemed it would work out ok and enough room. Until you actually toe it on a trip and who knows. Also it would have made it tight on the type wheel chocks I use between the tires with the 235/80s. All this must be considered!

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How much clearance from the top of the 235/80R16 to the underside of the fenders do you have? Id say id try to keep clearance at a minimum of 2”. The good thing with trailers is that the tires tend to absorb the weight more so than the springs
 
Agreed . Don't know if I could get my spread chocks between mine if I went to an 85 series and lost an inch of space between them. I've got a good 6 inches or more above them.
 
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