What's the best "trailer" tire?

[merryman]

My last 5er came with Goodyear Marathons and with in the first two years we had 5 failure (yes, like a dummy I kept buying matching tires) and Goodyear,s best deal was $15. off on a new tire. After the 5th failure (all of them were bulges on the tread of the tire), I switched to a local brand name--belive they were Kelly tires marked for Les Schwab.

New 5er has Goodyear Wrangler HT E rated 3042 pound rating and we have 9K pounds on the trailer axels for about 2250 pounds per tire---------hope they hold up. Only about 4K miles or so on them so far. I would NEVER buy marathons--matter of fact, with the rotten warrantee attitude I encountered with Goodyear, I do not think I would buy anything marked Goodyear, all I ever got from them was a song and dance that their tire was great and it must be something I was doing to cause the failures. BUT a couple years after I gave up on them telling me there was nothing wrong with the tires, I did hear that they finally fessed up that the tires were bad and started replacing them with a later S version for free.

Vaughn

 

[Okie-Go]

Meryman,what brand is your trailer?mine is a Terry 305G. I really need to get it weighed. I don't even know what the hitch weight is. I know it is about 9500 empty. I would guess pin weight at about 1800. I may make a trip to the tire shop,I know the manager and can claim these ride rough and trade em in. Just pay for what I wore off.

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2001 quadcab slt 2500 HO 6spd. LWB,2wd,dk garnett red, trailer tow package,camper special, anti spin 3. 54 axle, speed liner,oversized stainless steel chicken slide,66 gallon in bed aux. tank,K&N air filter,Reese 20k hitch, Terry 2000 EX 30ft. double slide 5er, 2000 20ft gooseneck for haulin jeep, firewood and huntin stuff. 5X12 tagalong for haulin the 4 wheeler. Okie Newton

 

[Bill Stockard]

Mark,

Your tires must have been 235s--mine were 225s. Goodyear refused to pay the damage on my trailer. They said they are having problems with the 235s and not the 225s so they wouldn't cover the damages to the trailer. Fortunately, the damage was minor.

Didn't take this old country boy long to figure out what to do. Eliminate the problem--buy some Michelins. I called the Michelin people and told them what was happeneng and they suggested I get the XP Radials. They did note that the XPs aren't rated for trailer use--only light truck(LT). The Goodyears Wrangler HTs were light truck rated(LT) too.

Goodyear was willing to adjust the tire, after the argument over the cost of the adjustment, for another one, but I was tired of the problem. It's dangerous not knowing when or where the next tire was going to throw a tread. Life's too short to put up with that kind of b---s---!!

Bill

PS I've noticed NuWA now uses Goodyear Unisteel G159 truck tires on their Hitchhiker trailers now--must have gotten too many complaints too.



[This message has been edited by Bill Stockard (edited 03-04-2001). ]

 

[legbert]

who sold you C load tires?

For towing a heavy truck like CTD, you need to stay with 10 ply tires (load range E or above). Yes cost more, but are the only safe tires for highway driving for sure. When it comes down to brass taxes folks, truck will only pull if tires are capable of handling loads. Don't be skimpy on tires with beefed up diesels of any kind.



As for highway which I take it is your main form of road use, you will want a tire that throws rain well. straight groves are only tires that do this, to busy a tread pattern and rain will not travel through tire well causing hydroplaning. Also if going through snow country, will need a little bite for this annoyance, but remember what you gain in aggressive tread for snow, you lose in driveability and rain shedding. You have to find happen balance and what you deam as most needed for your trucks likely conditions it will be faced with.



Short and simple. A/T of any liking 225(235)/85/16E will work best.



smaller first number and larger second will make tall thin tire with less sidewall exposure for flexing and rim popping with tow loads.



Louis

 

[Matt42]

I've been using Michelin XPS Rib tires on a work equipment trailer now for five years. They're 9. 50R16. 5. Through a cosmic mistake, they were low bid! Nary a puncture, never a sidewall problem, and they track like a dream. The XPS tires have steel belts and sidewall cord. They are not in the least bit mushy. Before the Generals on my offices tow 6. 5 chebby went flooey, the XPS Michelins, similarly loaded, would build up less apparent (felt) sidewall heat. Now that the office Chubby has Michelin LTX tires, sidewalls feel about the same.



Wish I could get them for my travel trailer.



Trailer rated tires theoretically have additional UV resistant rubber additives built in for the long periods that they sit. On the other hand, who cares about that if they are garbage to begin with.



Semi-related: I read in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that DOT's proposed new post-Firestone Wilderness debacle tire standards would make 30% of tires on the US market illegal to sell. The garbage tire industry is upset about it. It's scary to think that a third of the tires on the road are garbage, but that is a lower number than I've seen in my experience. The old standards (I think) required short measurements at about 60 mph at about 70 degrees F. That does not replicate southwestern driving conditions. The new standards, if I recall correctly, require 75 MPH at a much higher temperature. So most of the crap tires would fail the test.



It's about time!

 

[Shooter]

I have Goodyear Marathon S's on the 5th. We have put over 32k miles on thies tires in the last 2 1/2 years. A couple flats, hate to get up in the morning and have a low tire . The air pressure is always maintained at max. I tow at 75 to 80 mph and in temp extremes from -0 to 120 ambient, 75% of travel is in AZ, MN, NV, UT, ( try to avoid OR cuz 65 speed limit sucks ) OR, CO, WY, MT, ID, WA but never ever in Komiefornia.

Several trips to the mid west and south. Every stop I do a walk around and put my hand on each and every tire. In the past 20+ years I have never lost a truck or trailer tire to any thing but road hazards. Again the truck tires are aired to max. You may have premature tire wear in the center of tread, I haven't, but inflating to max will never cause a tire to overheat and grenade, less than max pressure can. By the time you find out that maybe you should have the 80lbs air max on the sidewalls instead of the 65 you put in its too late.

Tires over 4 or 5 years old are not to be relied upon either, reguardless of tread.

I will replace the tires this month as they are to 25% tread.



JME.

 

[Matt42]

Shooter: AMEN! I wish more people did what you do!!.



I just replaced a 7 year old set of Marathons that looked fine. But they were 7 years old.

 

[Charley]

I had the same problem Bill Stockard did and cured it the same way, with Michelin.



Holiday Rambler fifth wheel, 15,000# triple axle.



Charley

 

[Barry]

Shooter has discovered one of the secrets! Read my lips! When you are under a load, every morning check those tire pressures cold and inflate to the max rating on the side of the tire and you will eliminate 90% of your tire problems. Every trailer I hook up to is pressure checked before I move it. It is a pain but not near as much of a pain as changing a tire on the side of the road. In my biz, every time I hear BOOM, I know it's at least $100 out of my pocket. For a $100 bucks, I'll take the time to check pressures!

 

[Matt42]

Inflation Is Good (Tire)

Originally posted by Barry

Shooter has discovered one of the secrets! Read my lips! When you are under a load, every morning check those tire pressures cold and inflate to the max rating on the side of the tire and you will eliminate 90% of your tire problems. Every trailer I hook up to is pressure checked before I move it. It is a pain but not near as much of a pain as changing a tire on the side of the road. In my biz, every time I hear BOOM, I know it's at least $100 out of my pocket. For a $100 bucks, I'll take the time to check pressures!

Barry has the right of it, verily. Inflation matters, and must be checked cold. Never bleed off air to account for the higher pressures you will get once you have driven a while, or on a hot day. Tires are designed to handle the additional pressure that builds up during driving, hot weather, and driving in hot weather.



The sidewall maximum pressure is based on a "standard" temperature of 70 degrees F. When it is 120 F outside, that baseline maximum pressure will be higher. Under those conditions, I find that a Load Range E tire marked at 80 PSI wants closer to 90 PSI. (I discussed this whole issue with a Michelin engineer at the mining equipment show in Las Vegas in 1999. With Michelin tires, the limiting factor on tire pressure is what the wheel will withstand. ) Last August, I moved an equipment trailer (with Michelin XPS tires) from a covered area, at about 100 F, into an air conditioned garage, set at about 75 F. I checked the tires (9. 50R 16. 5) before and after moving it. After three hours in the cooler air, the tire pressures went from 70 PSI to about 60 PSI. They had not finished cooling at that point.



Back in about 1984, we stopped for an afternoon break at Church Rock, AZ. I parked next to a motorhome, where the owner was checking air pressures and bleeding off air. I asked him if he had a lot of tire problems when traveling. He said that he normally did, but that this trip he had only had to replace three of them. Then, using no invective at all, politely cussed out the manufacturer of the tires.



By the way, it didn't get over 108 F here today.