Tires... for a horse trailer

[GWBourne]

the trailer in question is a 3 horse slant with nice large front tack room. has 15 inch for F150 tires and rims on it now. its not my trailer, but i would like to make recomendations for a new setup. i did the math and added everything up and they are just at weight limits. i felt safe for the trip as we would be stoping every couple of hours to let the horses eat and rest a bit. they all made it fine...



i would like to go to a 16 inch tire and rim but i know trailer tires are firm or can be wanyway. i am sure the horses enjoyed the softer tires more... so this is where i start to think that in this case an LT tire is fine...



im not a horse guy, but i enjoy them. as stated before she is asking about tires, but this is a time i dont have advice... .



what to do?

 

[Hoefler]

Use trailer tires. Stay away from LT tires. The load capacity is much higher for the trailer tires and the side walls are much stiffer. They are designed for the side loads that trailers exert on them.

 

[RustyJC]

Use trailer tires. Stay away from LT tires.

The Michelin XPS Rib (E-rated) and the Goodyear Unisteel G614 RST (G-rated) are both all-steel construction radials recommended by their respective manufacturers for commercial and/or RV trailer service. Both are available as LT235/85R-16 - in fact, that's the only size designation for the G614 RST at present.



The ST designation is less common on purpose-built 16" trailer tires than on smaller sizes. You might want to check out the speed rating of the specific ST tires you're considering before deciding on them.



Rusty

 

[DTroy]

Use trailer tires.

Exactly right. Tires designed specifically for trailers are constructed differently.

They are designed to help prevent swaying. Their sidewall construction is designed to help tracking.



I've pulled the horses with both types of tire and of course prefer the trailer specific tires.

 

[RustyJC]

Exactly right. Tires designed specifically for trailers are constructed differently.

OK, here you go. THIS is a trailer-specific tire. It comes only in size LT235/85R-16G. My point is that not all trailer-specific tires are ST-designated.



Rusty

 

[Grizzly]

Use trailer tires. Stay away from LT tires. The load capacity is much higher for the trailer tires and the side walls are much stiffer. They are designed for the side loads that trailers exert on them.

Having had a four horse trailer, I agree that Trailer Service Tires is the only way to go for reason already stated. The most important thing to know about horse trailers is that your load is like no other load. Horses are very heavy and tend to move, shifting there weight from side to side. Slant trailers are better in reducing that side to side shift. Also keep proper air pressure.

 

[DTroy]

Hiya RustyJc,



I wasn't disagreeing with you. It was my assumption that if he wanted trailer specific tires, that he would have to consider staying with the 15" that are already on there. Especially since the 15 is so much more common than the 16.



I won't argue the safety of the speed rating. If I couldn't get the rating that I wanted on the 16, I would use the 15.

 

[SnoKing]

Use trailer tires. Stay away from LT tires. The load capacity is much higher for the trailer tires and the side walls are much stiffer. They are designed for the side loads that trailers exert on them.

Most ST tires are junk, rated to only 65 MPH. It is an "old wifes tail" that ST are something special. The Michelin LT XPS RIB is the best E rated tire available for a trailer, bar non!

 

[Grizzly]

Most ST tires are junk, rated to only 65 MPH. It is an "old wifes tail" that ST are something special. The Michelin LT XPS RIB is the best E rated tire available for a trailer, bar non!

You are entitled to your own opinion, but I don't agree with you.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

ST tires have a seperate designation because theyre inferior to LT and unfit for a passenger vehicle, not because they're necessarily better. As others have said, the BEST 16" trailer tires are LT's.



The "best" trailer tires are around $200 a piece for just the tires. You can get new wheels with LR E Uniroyal 235 85 16 tires for $140/each at etrailerpart.com.

 

[GWBourne]

wow, lots of replies...

thats good.

im a trailer tire guy as well. i made sure my goose had brand new trailer tires on it when delivered. i dont know why some companies offer used tires or non trailer tires.....



my question was more of wahts better for the horses. the softer ride of the truck tires seems like a better way to go. i had two race horses both close to 1800lbs each, one slightly over, and a pony. like i said, i did the math and there was enough room for them to shift around and not overload the tires.



this is my first time pulling horses, but i have pulled cattle before. needless to say, the cattle were less "important" due to the fact they were going to become food when i dropped them off. the horses... well, "mom" was riding with me and i promised her i would be nice and go easy on the go/woah pedals.



anyway, thanks for the advice, and keep it comming.

Grant

 

[Grizzly]

ST tires have a seperate designation because theyre inferior to LT and unfit for a passenger vehicle, not because they're necessarily better. As others have said, the BEST 16" trailer tires are LT's.



The "best" trailer tires are around $200 a piece for just the tires. You can get new wheels with LR E Uniroyal 235 85 16 tires for $140/each at etrailerpart.com.

Uniroyal and Firestone have always been the worst tire money can buy. Quality is not a word in the manufactures vocabulary.

 

[J&LRam]

GWBourne

all our stock trailers have LT tires as ST tires are only 65 mph rated, have a narrow tread design, less tread depth and are only ten percent more capacity than a "P" tire. We stopped using ST several years ago as they have a basketball shapped sidewall that we had lots of sidewall damage and tire seperation when on the interstates. Here in ranch/farm country the LTs are preffered by cattle/stock haulers for trailer use. Those basketball sidewall ST tires find every rock, stob in the pasture. One of the best for commercial trailer use is the Michelin XPS Rib LTs. Another good tire for commercial trailer use is the B F Goodrich Commercial LTs [75+ mph rated]. The XPS Ribs [75+ mph rated] are probably the most popular with the cattle haulers/hotshoters/ commercial haulers that refuel at both the truck stops that I use.

... ... ..... JIM

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Whatever. I was just throwing out a price and an example. $140 will get you a brand new wheel and a brand new LT 235 85 16 in a Load Range E. There are tons of tires in the $100 price range that will in my opinion beat any ST tire.

 

[SnoKing]

The Mich XPS RIB carries a Q speed rating which is 100 MPH.



ON Edit. In Michelin's RV section of their WEB site they have a 75 MPH max speed (mph) for the XPS RIB.



As I said it is the best E rated tire available for a trailer, for increased load Goodyears G rated tire is the best. As J&LRam states and I stated above ST's are cheap junk. SNOKING

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Here is an alternative.



Steel belted retreads from Wingfoot or whomever will run $75/each including casing.



This is basically a retreaded Michelin XPS rib (could be a few other brands but either way it is a LR "E" and it is "steel/steel" construction).

 

[GWBourne]

im VERY sketchy with retreads... i dont think they should be allowed on the road personaly, but thats me.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Most people feel that way ... retreading has come a long way

 

[AfterBurner]

wow, lots of replies...

thats good.

im a trailer tire guy as well. i made sure my goose had brand new trailer tires on it when delivered. i dont know why some companies offer used tires or non trailer tires.....



my question was more of wahts better for the horses. the softer ride of the truck tires seems like a better way to go. i had two race horses both close to 1800lbs each, one slightly over, and a pony. like i said, i did the math and there was enough room for them to shift around and not overload the tires.



this is my first time pulling horses, but i have pulled cattle before. needless to say, the cattle were less "important" due to the fact they were going to become food when i dropped them off. the horses... well, "mom" was riding with me and i promised her i would be nice and go easy on the go/woah pedals.



anyway, thanks for the advice, and keep it comming.

Grant

1800lb race horses! what the heck kind of races do they run? a sled pulling race?

 

[GWBourne]

they USED to run derby. have been retired for one reason or another. i know one got retired due to the fact she is a bleeder. the other i think was tendon reasons, but cant remember. not my horses. they are FAST. the owner has been with horses since she was a lil one and is a great rider. she let her first throughbred full out ONCE and she wont do it again while on top of her due to being scared.



i saw them racing each other once around the field and i tell ya... WOW! i was talking to the owner the other day and one is 1725 the other 1759 for weight. i guess they had to be weighed in NM for some reason.