HI All,

It's been about 20 years (yes 20) since I thought about trailer tires .... (and that's just since I owned the trailer ... don't know how old the tires were since the previous owner had put them on)

Last I looked at the tires up close and personal they had obvious signs of age (side walls cracked ... despite having really good tread left (probably 65% to 70% left .... I don't tow it very often) and never losing air).

Anyways, I typically load the trailer (12K GVWR , 16" load E ... LT tires) light (no more than 2500 to 3000 lbs so fairly light use) so I felt OK doing it until I lost a wheel / tire due to a failed bearing and figured I'd better address things more often than I have ..... including tires

With that I plan on buying new tires

I was looking at tire rack and even read up on ST VS LT tires there ....

I was leaning towards getting LT tires mainly because they have nearly double the tread depth than the trailer ST tires (surprised to see that most of the new ST tires only start off with 1/4" tread .... WOW .... I would NOT buy new truck tires starting off with only 1/4" of tread so why do trailer manufacturers think that is OK ? (heck my big truck tires start off with almost an inch of tread !)

Even though the LT tires cost a bit more I think I would get more life out of them because they start off with roughly double the tread.

Anybody have real life experience with LT VS LT as far as longevity / tread wear / stability. ( It was interesting that load range for load range the ST tires had more load capacity than the same rating for LT tires).

I was looking at tire rack offerings but any recommendations for tires outside of them ?

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

Andrew



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In my expirience, 10 ply LT tires don't hold up well to "heavy duty" trailer use.

The best ones to get for durability and mileage life are going to be 14 ply Steel radials. ST trailer tires.

I drove hotshot (mini-trucker) for half a million miles. Don't buy any Chinese trailer tires. I'd blow out one or two a week. Goodyear Endurance tires worked well, but also wernt quite tough enough for true heavy duty use. But since you're running light, I'd say this might be your best option.

I started buying 14 ply steel tires, mastercraft? And they would last. Never had one blow out.

As far as tread depth, deep tread squirms. Squirming tread on a trailer leads to instability and swaying more. That's why they keep tread lower. And trailer tires only have to roll along, and assist with braking. They will last just as long as the tires on the truck.

 

Never worn out a trailer tire tread always the age. Would recommend radial ST with 87 mph speed rating.