Time to replace tires?

M

Mc Tool

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I use ordinary car tires on my trailers , none of which carry more than 1000kg, As long as the weight rating is good . I like a radial around the 185-70-14 with not to thick a side wall (4 ply ) I just find them smoother on the road especially gravel . As said above they dont ever wear out ,they age out like cracks in the bottom of the tread and around lettering on side walls .🙂
 
alldodge

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I like/dislike bias ply heavy duty

Like 6 and 8 ply bias ply ties. Four ply is all that's needed so much heavier and last long time with no steel belts to break from sitting long periods in one spot

Dislike bias because when cold there is flat spots, but I've gotten mostly use to that
 
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airshot

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bruceb58 said:
They still have a finite life. Discount tire won't touch any that are over 6 years old.

For most applications, you can't find an auto tire that has enough load capacity especially considering you need to de-rate an auto tire for trailer application.
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Your right about Discount Tire, they won't even look at a 6 yr old tire....even though their own warranty states they will fix any flat for as long as you own the tire and it has usable tread on it !! I stopped using them years ago......
 
JimS123

JimS123

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Mc Tool said:
I use ordinary car tires on my trailers , none of which carry more than 1000kg, As long as the weight rating is good . I like a radial around the 185-70-14 with not to thick a side wall (4 ply ) I just find them smoother on the road especially gravel . As said above they dont ever wear out ,they age out like cracks in the bottom of the tread and around lettering on side walls .🙂
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In 1984 I bought a brand new TeeNee trailer and it came with bias ply Goodyear auto tires. They were the best trailer tires I ever owned.
 
JimS123

JimS123

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alldodge said:
Dislike bias because when cold there is flat spots, but I've gotten mostly use to that
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Back in the 1960's all the trailer tires I ever owned got flat spots over Winter and needed some driving to get them round again. They were all bias ply.

Move forward to the 2000's and I don't see that any more. Did they get better? I dunno.
 
alldodge

alldodge

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JimS123 said:
Back in the 1960's all the trailer tires I ever owned got flat spots over Winter and needed some driving to get them round again. They were all bias ply.

Move forward to the 2000's and I don't see that any more. Did they get better? I dunno.
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I have them on my car trailer, and had them on my cruiser trailer when I sold it. Their still made and can still be bought
 
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Pmt133

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My fun tire story is a few years ago we came back from the lake. (150 mile drive.) I back in the driveway, wash the boat etc. My post trip inspection revealed that sometime between leaving that morning and coming home, about half the tread of both tires completely delaminated... mind you they had no signs of dry rot or the likes as I regularly check them before a trip... long story short we have new tires on it now. They were 18 years old as I never thought to check that.... I also really really pretrip them now.

I should still be stuck on the side of the road for that one. But hey... young and dumb.
 
Lou C

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alldodge said:
I have them on my car trailer, and had them on my cruiser trailer when I sold it. Their still made and can still be bought
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Kenda makes a decent bias ply trailer tire, (Load Star) I’ve been using them for over 20 years, no failures. When they start to crack I change them, between 5-8 years. I do only local lower speed towing so the use of bias ply is not a drawback for me.
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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airshot said:
Your right about Discount Tire, they won't even look at a 6 yr old tire....even though their own warranty states they will fix any flat for as long as you own the tire and it has usable tread on it !! I stopped using them years ago......
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They are the best around. Best prices...free flat repair even if you didn't buy your tire there.

And I was wrong...they recommend replacing tires after 6 years and won't service them if they are older than 10.

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bruceb58

bruceb58

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JimS123 said:
I don't remember if it was 15 or 20 years ago. Regardless, GY Endurance was crap back then. As I remember they were made in China, and had a bad rep.

I could be wrong, but buying ST tires has been a crap shoot for 40 years.
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LOL...you are thinking about GY Marathons. GY Endurance was introduced late 2017 or early 2018 and are made in the USA.

Marathons used to be made in the USA but their quality went down once they started making them in China.
 
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jlh3rd

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Lou C said:
Kenda makes a decent bias ply trailer tire, (Load Star) I’ve been using them for over 20 years, no failures. When they start to crack I change them, between 5-8 years. I do only local lower speed towing so the use of bias ply is not a drawback for me.
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I was kinda poking the bear, thought I'd get "roughed" up a little being the small ones....didn't happen😁
anyways' it's what my tandem pontoon trailer was equipped with. I get the highest load rate out there, So 4 @ 1600lbs apiece...gives me a little piece of mind pulling a 24' toon. yep, kendall, loadstar........carlisle tire supposedly has one even higher...
 
dingbat

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Lou C

Lou C

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The longest I have ever used any tires was 10 years, I have had 2 sets of General Grabber AT2s used on both of our older Jeeps, no failures with either, in fact the tires on the one that wasn't driven much, look really good, no cracks anywhere but I will still replace them later this year. Trailer tires, the longest I got from the bias ply tires I use is 8 years.
 
Lou C

Lou C

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If you want to use passenger or LT tires, in many cases you'll wind up having to go to a 16" wheel, because the max weight capacity of a 15" LT tire, just isn't high enough. It really depends on how close to the max your trailer is loaded. An ST 225/75-15 at 80 PSI gives about 2830 lbs, an LT 225/75-15 @ 50 PSI gives about 1850 lbs (Load Range C), there are a few in that size that are Load Range D (BFG ATKO3) gives 2335 lbs at 65 psi and one in Load Range E (Falken Wildpeak) gives 2755 lbs @ 80 psi
So that's an option if you don't want trailer tires, but it will raise the height of the trailer a bit and you might have to raise the fenders too.
 
Lou C

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Well that’s easy then. My experience has taught me that unless you weigh it you REALLY don’t know! My boat was rebuilt about 18 years ago and probably so much glass was added it’s a lot heavier than what the specs suggested. If this is as common as I think, that might be a major factor in the high frequency of trailer tire failures…
 
JimS123

JimS123

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Lou C said:
If you want to use passenger or LT tires, in many cases you'll wind up having to go to a 16" wheel, because the max weight capacity of a 15" LT tire, just isn't high enough. It really depends on how close to the max your trailer is loaded. An ST 225/75-15 at 80 PSI gives about 2830 lbs, an LT 225/75-15 @ 50 PSI gives about 1850 lbs (Load Range C), there are a few in that size that are Load Range D (BFG ATKO3) gives 2335 lbs at 65 psi and one in Load Range E (Falken Wildpeak) gives 2755 lbs @ 80 psi
So that's an option if you don't want trailer tires, but it will raise the height of the trailer a bit and you might have to raise the fenders too.
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I had a 1984 tandem axle TeeNee and it came with auto tires. They were 13", B78 or something like that. The boat never went more than 2 miles to the launch ramp. I had them for 20+ years with no cracking or any other issues. I know I should have changed them earlier, but up to that point I had no experience with STs and I didn't know how bad they were. I replaced them with Kenda STs and they DID need to be replaced after 6 years.
 
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