Just curious - what is the life expectancy of trailer tires on a utility - cargo trailer.

I remember someone discussing this once before a couple of years ago but I could not locate the thread. Any experience ?

 

going to vary an awful lot depending upon use, weather conditions and st or lt tires.


For ST's a couple of years...twice as long for LT.


Look for weather cracks and dry rot.

 

I was concerned more about mileage than time - sorry.

I have just about 10,000 miles on the original ST tires on a cargo trailer and they look like they are getting pretty worn, so I was just wondering would this be normal or should I expect to get more miles out of a set of trailer tires.

Thanks for any information

Dan

 

I think that is pretty good for a cargo trailer

 

I agree with senix, the biggest problem with cargo trailers is they put the bare minimum as far as axles and tires so they spend most of their life running at max load.

Denny

 

Thanks for the replies - I have run it at close to capacity a couple of times - it has 2 - 5200 axles and I have weighed in at 9900 pounds a couple of times at the scales.

I guess it is time for some new tires - I have attached a photo of truck and trailer, it is a large 8' wide, 7' tall, 20' long trailer.

Thanks again for the replies

Dan

 

Sharp lookin combo.

 

I wouldn't expect ST tires to wear out the tread in 10k miles. Most of the time it's the time in years, that wears out these tires.

You might check the axle alignment between the two. If off slightly, you can enhance the tire wear, skidding down the road, fighting each other, when not aligned properly.

 

Who does tire alignment for trailers?
~Especially combo axles.


I remember seeing a chronic tire ruiner once at the places I worked at long ago, and it seemed like it had been backed or rammed into something that bent the axle stub.

Nutshell version is that it tore up one of the four tires rapidly...

 

There's a place in town that does most of the axle and spring work for commercial trailers, and they do alignments on RV trailers as well. I'm sure most major cities have some kind of shop like that.

 

That could be extremely helpful info to have on hand - a wrecked tire under load is no joke.
Most of us (me especially) would have no fricking idea where to take a trailer for an alignment, and could only judge by tire wear.

I think it's important enough that it deserves a thread of its own, considering what could happen if we don't know about a bad alignment problem.

Ya think?

 

I have a shop that I use in Kearney NE, its call Bear frame and alignment. He uses a modified 4 wheel computer alignment setup and a bending tool he made. For my 7K Dexter axles it was just under $400 but when he's done they are running true to the trailer and have the right tow and chamber. My tires are over $300 each so it's worth it to get it aligned when it looks like one is wearing funny, I had it done again last summer.

Denny

 

Just to add a bit to this - I have some TowMax (China Bombs) on our new 5er. They are actually (physically!!) a very nice looking tire but I am all too well aware of many folks history with these tires, especially since mine have a late 2012 manufacture date from what I can figure on the sidewall. What I was surprised by was the actual lack of tread depth which is only 10/32nds vs the LTs that I had on our past 5er which were 14/32nds. That's a bunch of potential longevity difference as well as ride quality. Oh and the GY Marathon's - also 10/32nds tread depth.

 

I think this might come under the 'if you have to ask' category-

trailer tires have a pretty finite life, and I've seen (and owned)
too many that 'should have been fine' that came apart early.

t

 

Not sure where you are going with that response - it really is a useless response. pretty much everything has a finite life - and yes I had to ask because I have no idea of what to expect. I expect 40,000 miles on my truck tires, but no clue of what to expect out of trailer tires.

I am sorry if my question offended you but yes I had to ask or I would have no idea what to expect