Trailer Tires

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moparstud440

moparstud440

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My open full deck trailer needs tires. It weights 1990 lbs empty and I haul my 3000 lb race car on it. It currently has 6 ply tires on it. I'm looking at the Carlisle Radial trailer tires 6 plys rated for 1820lbs and 8 ply rated for 2150lbs. I can get both for within a few bucks of each other. Which one would you pick and why?
 
More ply is better in my opinion because you will haul something at some point that will weigh a bunch more than a race car in my limited experience. Peace of mind. AND....scrubbing those tires against a curb happens.
 
A good friend of mine has a 33' travel trailer and had tire problems not lasting(failure) more than 2 years.He really puts the miles on.
Anyway he was told to buy the 8 ply Carlisle and now has about 5 years on them.He is a happy camper now !
 
Better tires will last longer. Do get the 8 ply tires.
 
I also recommend the better tires. Check the speed rating too. There are many, many trailers being pulled quite a bit faster than the tires on it are rated for. For some reason a lot of trailer tires have pretty low speed ratings.
 
I have those 8 ply tires - and recommend them for peace of mind. Cost diff is inconsequential.
 
I have a 18' gooseneck with two 5200# axles that I pull my car on. I put new Goodyear 10 ply's on it last fall, yes on the spare.
 
I have had trailer tire issues for the last 43 years, put the new design Carlisle tires on it last year and they have been awesome! In the past I had serious issues with Carlisle tires and quit using them 20 years ago, but they upped their game and now would not use anything else! Goodyears have been crap for years now when they used to be the best...
 
Not sure what state you haul in but here in the Communist state of Connecticut. If DMV pulls you over they actually check the weight of the tires side wall status. They will shut you down if your tire weights don’t add up to the gross vehicle weight. And if you have one tire lower than the rest, they use that weight x the number of tires.

I own 4 trailers I count on every day for work. Small to 14,400gvw. I buy the next letter up tire- if “D” then I go “E” just to avoid issues with heat, weight and longevity.
Name brand is always better than China made tires and always check tires pressures before leaving and thru out the drive. Low tire pressures heat a tire up quickly. Also- when I can I go the largest tire available on a trailer when I buy the trailers new. Larger OD means they turn slower creating less heat.

okay- grandpa Sylvia needs a nap lol!
 
Syleng1 said:
Not sure what state you haul in but here in the Communist state of Connecticut. If DMV pulls you over they actually check the weight of the tires side wall status. They will shut you down if your tire weights don’t add up to the gross vehicle weight. And if you have one tire lower than the rest, they use that weight x the number of tires.

I own 4 trailers I count on every day for work. Small to 14,400gvw. I buy the next letter up tire- if “D” then I go “E” just to avoid issues with heat, weight and longevity.
Name brand is always better than China made tires and always check tires pressures before leaving and thru out the drive. Low tire pressures heat a tire up quickly. Also- when I can I go the largest tire available on a trailer when I buy the trailers new. Larger OD means they turn slower creating less heat.

okay- grandpa Sylvia needs a nap lol!
Click to expand...

I got shut down on other sites about the whole truck tire debate using them on trailers and everyone says there is no state that has laws against them, even after I posted laws! I personally know people who have been put out of service and fined for using LT tires! Like anything, you rolls your dice you takes your chances...
 
28ft enclosed. My latest flavor is Greenball Tow Masters 235/85/16. They’re G rated (4079lb per tire) and 75mph speed rated. These are the highest rated tire I’ve run and even with the 110psi cold inflation spec, I generally run 90psi in them. Our biggest problem by far is the insane road temperatures we encounter. It’s nothing during the summer months to see 160 degree + and on our stop inspections we’ll often see 150+ degree tire temps (compared to mid 80s we saw going across Wyo last Labor Day). Memorial weekend was our last outing and I removed my tire investment from the trailer and stored them inside this summer. I rarely get more than two years out of a set of tires out here, but I think I might get more life from these. So far I have 8500 miles on them and the wear is awesome.
 
Notrogen doesn't support water or combustion. It is more temperature stable than regular air. It is used on race cars, aircraft and large mining equipment for these reasons. 78% nitrogen, 21 % oxygen and 1% other gasses and moisture allow for a fair amount of pressure difference in relation to tire temperature.
 
Contained Nitrogen and atmospheric air, (under pressure i.e. tires and bottles) are affected identically to temperature. In other words, heat two bottles (simultaneously) of identical amounts of compressed gas, one with oxygen and the other nitrogen. The pressure in both bottles will rise identically. The only advantage to nitrogen in tires, is its larger molecules slows osmosis leakage from tires and lack of moisture prevents rust and corrosion. (The main reason it is used on aircraft struts and tires.) Boyle's law - Wikipedia Nitrogen Truths and Myths – Power Tank A heated conversation when I was teaching Aviation Technology for the university. Also the one about sitting batteries on the concrete or ground.
 
Beside load capacity. The most important thing to care about is the age of the tires.
Check the DOT''s to make sure the tires are new when you buy them.
Make sure they are inflated properly as heat is the enemy of all things, especially rubber.
Keep your speeds down as the faster you go the more heat is generated in the tire. That is the reason for speed ratings.
I know nobody does it but there is a very good reason that most states limit the speed to 55 mph when towing.
Things like stability, braking distances to name a few.
 
circlepilot said:
Contained Nitrogen and atmospheric air, (under pressure i.e. tires and bottles) are affected identically to temperature. In other words, heat two bottles (simultaneously) of identical amounts of compressed gas, one with oxygen and the other nitrogen. The pressure in both bottles will rise identically. The only advantage to nitrogen in tires, is its larger molecules slows osmosis leakage from tires and lack of moisture prevents rust and corrosion. (The main reason it is used on aircraft struts and tires.) Boyle's law - Wikipedia Nitrogen Truths and Myths – Power Tank A heated conversation when I was teaching Aviation Technology for the university. Also the one about sitting batteries on the concrete or ground.
Click to expand...
Wonder why the NASCAR boys and the mining companies with large earthmover tires spend money on nitrogen then?? Not supporting combustion is a plus for the large earthmovers (safety) and no moistures protects rims from rusting but pressure checking is a strictly followed procedure. Have the Nascar crews been bamboozled?
 
Honestly after driving for at least 35 years now and trailing almost all of that. The nitrogen thing seemed to be a fad in the NE. It was hot and heavy back in the 90’s and died because “I won’t pay for air.”- general consumer.

Honestly with trailer or truck tires, I only get maybe 1 year of driving out of tires. Due to work mileage that is. So nitrogen is not really helping me. But I do like the green caps! The average truck mileage is 30k per unit and trailers are like 15-20k on a set of 4. I can tell you that I was stopped one time on I95 near New York and they only looked to see if any tires were “LT” and I asked “why”- they just said “move along sir.” I did not get my answer. All my trailer tires are “S” which also has UV additives in the sidewalls to help protect from cracks while sitting.
 
grimreaper said:
Wonder why the NASCAR boys and the mining companies with large earthmover tires spend money on nitrogen then?? Not supporting combustion is a plus for the large earthmovers (safety) and no moistures protects rims from rusting but pressure checking is a strictly followed procedure. Have the Nascar crews been bamboozled?
Click to expand...
From the law of physics...yes! This has been a point of many discussions over the years..."Why does NASCAR do it? The day that a NASCAR crew chief proves in "black and white" that Boyle's law is wrong, then and only then will I accept that compressed nitrogen expands differently than any other compressed gases when subjected to heat. Why is it used in earth moving tires? Think about that for a moment. That's a lot of "big rubber there." The larger molecules in nitrogen do not pass through the rubber as fast as atmospheric air or pure O2, thus no need to be servicing the tires all the time. NASCAR? When the tires come up to temperature, they expand so does the grain of the rubber, so the larger molecules will slow the escape of pressure. That's the only explanation I think why it's used by NASCAR. I'll finish with this. I can air up two tires on one of of our planes with identical pressures. (checked with a calibrated pressure gage) One with nitrogen and one with "house air. Let the plane sit for a month or two (nothing uncommon) and check the pressures. The tire with house air, will need to be consideralbly serviced and the one with nitrogen, may need a little.
Norm
 
Sounds like your open trailer has 3500lb axels. Typically, the higher load range tires have a higher speed rating too. For my 3500lb axles I use the load range D tires and iirc they have a speed rating of 82mph compared to the 6 ply load range c tires that have a 68mph rating. In other words going the better tire gives you alot more and is worth the upgrade in my opinion. A really hot day at 80mph on the highway those load range D tires will hold up alot better as speed and weight play with tire durability. As far as the nitrogen thing I agree with most comments. The right tire pressure means more than what you use to fill the tire besides you should check your tires regularly anyhow.

Also I feel like this is why the 3500lb axels on enclosed trailers get a bad rep for blowouts! Those cheap load range c tires aren't made to carry a 6500 lb load all the time and especially at highway speeds.
 
A couple of observations, I've been towing stuff since about 1975. I started hauling my cars on used street tires on open trailers. Had my share of blow-outs, always carried two spares. Finally started buying trailer tires about 20 years ago. One of my concerns is rim width, it seems like real trailer wheels for 3500 lb axles are usually 5" wide. If you pump tires on these rims up to max pressure, you'll probably have tires that'll wear more in the center. I wonder why a 6" rim isn't used?
Now about running 225/75-15 tires when 205/75s are standard, please check and make sure they won't rub inside or outside of the fender! On two of my open trailers there isn't much room on the inside so I'd have to run a spacer. Also if using a 5" rim width, what tire pressure will give you even tire wear? If you run these tires please let me know what pressure you're running in case I'm ever tempted to try this size.
Looking forward to hearing from anyone doing this with 5" rims.
 
From above, yes check to see the tires won’t rub, and that is on uneven ground when the axles are pivoting. With a load on the trailer.

The more tire Pressure the more weight it can hold. I’ll give up the tire wear for that, are you going to run them down to the cords? Or replace them sooner?
 
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