Hello all;
As we all know tires on our trailers are problematic. In my opinion, trailer tires are junk. I have not found a brand that builds a decent set yet. What are the pros and cons of running automotive style tires on a trailer? I have done it on farm applications but never on something that is exclusively on the street like my fifth wheel. Just trying to get something that will last and not delaminate, stay round, stay balanced and not disintgrate.

thoughts?

 

Trailer Life Magazine has articles every once in awhile about this and they say for medium to heavy duty towing, and even light towing, you should use trailer tires.

The problem with car tires is the side walls are not as stiff since they are designed for a comfortable ride. A trailer tire has to be stiff so the trailer is not as likely to sway. Also, if you have ever turned a trailer thru a tight turn and parked it on asphalt while it was turned, you would be amazed at the amount of twist in the tires you will see, and they stay that way as long as they are parked. A car tire is not designed to handle this kind of twist on a regular basis. Car tires are also usually much lighter load rating so you may be overloading a car tire if you have a typical trailer weighing say 5000 to 10000+ pounds. Most car tires are only good for about 1,500 or so, most are less if I recall.

The problem with trailer tires is usually we do not dirve them enough. They just sit around in the sun developing ozone cracks in the rubber and getting flat spots from sitting too long.

It just seems like car tires are better since we get a lot of miles out of them and almost never see one that has "worn out" due to weathering.

The recommended change interval according to the magazine was about 8 years(regardless of how good they look) or when you see lots of weather cracking, hard rubber or you actually drive enough to wear them out.

I have Goodyear Marathons on my 8,000# trailer and it is about time for a change, I have 8 years and maybe 20,000 miles on them, the tires look good, but better safe than sorry I guess. Strangely I have had more problems with the rubber air valve than the tires. I have had 2 or three rubber valves just pop off just sitting in the driveway.

There is a reason trailer tires are made and that is because a trailer is a vastly different beast from a car. You can get away with car tires for light duty occasional use, but the trailer tires are safer and will give you better service, if you get good ones. There are some real lousy tires out there if you read the threads on them, like the chinese Nankings etc.

Just my recollection from reading and looking at my tires.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I was thinking along the lines of D or E rated truck tires as an option. I would not put true car tires on any trailer due to to many of the things stated above.

 

If you are really looking for a good trailer tire look at Hankook's 14 ply tires it think they call them like F26s but were have always ran them on our cattle trailers with a lot of wieght on them (16000 lbs cattle + 28' trailer wieght on 3 single axles) for long distances and have never had any blowouts and they wear pretty good. Truck tires seem to soft. Smost everone I have seen that runs them doesent have very good luck

 

Truck tires are a better choice but I think they are still a bit soft on the side walls, but I have no experience there.

I have used car tires on a 4,500 trailer and it was OK but a lot more swaying and easier to fishtail than my 8,000# trailer.

My only gripe on trailer tires is that in general the warranties are pretty lame and a lot of dealers claim there is no coverage, which is bogus if you look at the manufacturer info.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson