Best trailer tires on the market now?

[resq302]

for those of you who have a trailer.....what is the best trailer tire out there now? We seem to have had an issue with one, possibly two tires on our trailer on the way back from VA and want to replace them with some good ones. I've heard not too good of things about the Goodyear Marathons that we currently have on the trailer now.

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Hello Resq302,

Saw your post and thought I'd share this website with you.... http://www.harriger.com/tires.htm Here you can find a list of where new tires are manufactured based on the DOT code stamped in the sidewall. Unfortunately, many trailer and automotive tires these days, including those from Goodyear, come from China. To be safe, I believe that trailer tires need to be replaced about every 4 years or so because of the UV damage the sidewalls suffer from sitting in the sun, not because they're wore out mileage-wise. And the Chinese made tires seem to deteriorate faster than most....

I have a car trailer and a 32 foot 5th wheel toyhauler RV, and my best experiance has been with tires made in the USA.

 

[patrick66]

Mine are Liberty brand 700-15 8-ply bias plies. The tires I have on my car hauler have been superb! Yeah, they're made in China - so is everything else - but these have been quite good for my use. I've owned my trailer since 2000, and these are the second set of tires. The trailer has about 120K miles on it, and the tires have maybe 40K on them.

Keep tires covered like on an RV, and/or keep the trailer garaged and the concerns about tire age are mitigated a great deal.

 

[super-bee_ski]

In my opinion patrick66 has some very good points!
Thanks for the info "patrick66"
Good points!

 

[Moparsmitty]

Trailer manufacturers are in a very competitive business so to cut costs, many of them use the cheapest (Chinese) wheel/ tire combinations that they can get. So if you buy a new trailer be aware that the tires that come with the trailer probably meet DOT standards, but just barely. Keep a close watch on them for any problems and definitely swap them out to an upgrade tire when they get 5+ years old. My tire guy says that Maxxis or Carslyle trailer tires are better quality than a lot of oem tires and are worth the few extra $.

 

[mmissile]

Never had any luck with ANY 15" trailer tire, that carried moderate or more weight.

 

[patrick66]

Look at the weight rating. All tires will have it on the sidewall. On a normal 16' - 20' open hauler with 3,500# axles, if your tire has a rating of 2,000# or better, you are above the GVW limitation for the trailer (3,500# x2, and assuming a 7,000#-rated coupler). Take care of your tires, stay off the shoulder and curbs, keep the inflation right at all times, and do NOT use any kind of Armor-All type of tire "protectant", and your tires will be fine. I sold trailers for seven years, so I do have a background here.

 

[resq302]

Here is a little bit of back ground on the trailer and tires. We have a Pace American 28' enclosed car trailer (24' box) with a pair of T3 torsional axles. Each axle is rated at 5000 lbs. I am a stickler for the tires being at the recommended 65 psi with the tires being the correct ST 225/75/R15 sized tires. I'm well aware what can happen if you run tires too low on pressure from when I worked at a tire center a few years ago. While I know that Armor All and other silicone type of "dressings" are not good for the rubber, I chose to put the Meguiar's #40 Rubber and Vinyl cleaner and conditioner onto the side walls of the tires to help prevent dry rot.

I was at my Dad's house today to pull the wheels and check into the issue further. What I found when I pulled the first wheel was scary ! The tread seemed to be in the process of separating from the belts as gaps in between the tread were very uneven in areas where the tire was bulged. Considering the trailer started the "bouncing" on the way back home from the show we attended in Virginia Beach, VA, shortly after we headed home, I consider ourselves VERY lucky that the tire did not either blow or peel the tread off and damage the trailer. These tires are the Goodyear Marathon tires which were Made in China. We had them installed back in 2009 and we store the trailer with the tire covers on it so as to not get dry rot on the sidewalls. Typically, we might use our trailer on an average of 2-3 times a year. Last year, due to vacations and such, we did not use our trailer once as we drove our cars to the local shows with the bias ply tires on the cars.

 

[patrick66]

The Marathons must really be turning to crap. Usage definitely helps tire life. A trailer that sits is like a car that sits - bad things are waiting to happen. With a trailer, it's two things - tires and brakes - that are the most prone to failure. It sounds like you got a set of crap Marathons, and that does happen, regardless of brand or application of a tire.

 

[khryslerkid]

I bought a set of Hercules, steel belted tires, made for trailers, thru a Cooper dealer, over six years ago and they still look new. I only use this 22' enclosed trailer a few times a year, parked on pressure treated 2x12's. Yes they are made in China but they are holding up great so far.