Trailer Tires

[Run to Rund]

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.

[hjh1072]

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.

[cad]

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

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

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

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.

[Rich Biebel]

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.....

[Kenny Wigington]

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.

[Greg Barsamian]

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!

[Pistol Pete]

Kenny

What is SW wheel ?????

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

[Jeff Teuton]

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.

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

Kenny

What is SW wheel ?????

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

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