So here is a little bit of an odd topic, but thought I'd ask around here and see what kind of response I could get. As snowmobilers we drive the absolute worst conditions on steep mountain roads, and staying home until the road conditions improve means you'll likely miss the good stuff on the mountain. My gooseneck enclosed snowmobile trailer is due for tires this year, and I was thinking that since it is primarily used in the winter time I'd try to find some trailer tires that are more suited for snow and ice. Something that could be studded would be ideal. However, it seems such a thing doesn't exist. At least in the 225-75-15 size that's on the trailer. BTW the trailer has three 5200lb axles, but only has about 9000lb sitting on the trailer wheels when it's loaded. I thought maybe looking into a light truck tire in that size would improve the selection but the load ratings are pretty low. Going up a size to 235-75-15 I found a Cooper passenger snow tire with a 109 load index rating which is 2271lb. That would be about 13,600lb combined with all six tires and covers my 9000lb load. Thing that scares me about that though is they are still only a 4ply tire according to the Load Range rating. Seems like that is asking for trouble. Especially since the rear most axle scrubs the tires pretty hard anytime you have to turn much of a sharp corner on the asphalt.

I do have a set of chains for the trailer if things get real bad, and buddies with smaller trailers and sled decks we can take when conditions are poor. Would just be nice to tailor the tires to the conditions a little more. Has anyone else explored this situation?

 

There are LT rated snow tires. Check out Nokian.

I've had to chain up my RV trailer to get it off the mountain. That's no fun.

 

Lot of LT tires being used on campers and trailers. Some even come with LT tires. Plenty of choices for studdable LT's.

In my experience, studs and chains are better at getting you moving than at stopping but for stopping and stability they're better than nothing.

 

Some states studs are only legal for certain monthe of the year. IDK about yours; but you may want to check. If it were me, I would opt for a set of cable chains to run on one axle on the trailer when needed. In the oil fields of Western ND, Eastern MT, and NE Wyoming; when hauling crude oil or water; I would just put a drag chain on one rear tire on the trailer if it got to the point where I needed it and that was all I ever needed with whatever configuration of truck and trailer I had.

 

If you go much taller on a typical snowmobile trailer (body and floor over tires), you might end up with tires rubbing over bumps and terrain changes. A wider tire increases your odds of sliding and skidding. Going from a 225/75-15 to a 235/75-15 is only about a quarter inch taller between axle and top so probably not a big deal. If you had to, you could go to a 235/70-15 passenger car tire that is about an eighth of an inch shorter between axle and top.

To the other point above, there aren't a wide variety of LT tires available for 15" rims, so I can understand the difficulty there.

I think going to the passenger car tires would probably work okay. As far as the corner-scrubbing goes, it would be like when passenger car drivers corner hard from the tire's perspective. I would just say go a few feet forward or backward if they're in a bind when parking so they can unbind. I say that about all tires anyways. With a 2,271-pound rating, your 9,000 GVW gives you 33% margin across six tires, so the weight should be fine. I don't think you'll see a huge difference in overall snow/ice performance though, unless you stud them.

 

Just run the chains when you need to. You dont even need to run them on all the tires if youre just looking to help it track a little better. I do alot of towing in crap conditions with company equipment and its either regular trailer tires or chains. If youve got enough weight your biggest concern will be your trailer pushing you around and jack knifing you. Ive seen that a few times. Most of our sand truck drivers will throw chains on the drive tires and call it a day.

 

The trailer is actually an older race car trailer with fenders inside. And there's quite a bit of room up to the top of the fender so I'm not too concerned there. The 15" rim size is the main hang up. Lots more options with 16s.

Studding would be the plan if I can. Otherwise I'd just stick with the trailer tires. Not worried about the "stud season" as that is primarily when the trailer gets used. The few times it gets pulled in the summer I'll take my chances. The chains in the trailer are just a set for one axle to help keep it from sliding and jack knifing coming down off the mountain switchbacks. And that seems ok for maybe 10 miles. One situation we see frequently on our regular routes is glare ice for 40 mile stretches coupled with hard cross winds. That seems like a long way to run chains. My particular trailer is pretty heavy in comparison to most enclosed trailers loaded with snowmobiles, but it's 40' long with a 9' side wall. So like a RV there's lots of wind area to consider getting blown into the ditch. Also the road conditions can change significantly during they day. Road might be mostly clear on the drive up, then be ice on the way back down (or vise-versa). More than once we have left to go on snowmobile trips and had the interstate closed behind us. The clear roads coming into shaded, icy corners are always fun too.

We've survived so far with the regular tires on this trailer, but looking to make improvements if I can.

 

I ran LT tires on all my trailers and never had an issue when people were saying ST were rated at 65mph, the LT was rated for as fast as the truck, not that I drove that fast towing. I could pass at 75 or 80 and not worry. Try these I have had good luck with them. I have ST's on now due to the good rating on the Sailun tire G rated 14 ply.