Any good trailer tires still available?

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May 7, 2010
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Ocala, Florida
Hi Ladies and gents, we have an older Gore 3 horse trailer with small tack room, etc. Its not too heavy at 7000lbs and we rarely haul more than 2 horses. I have had 3 trailer tire blow outs this year on it with practically new tires. No punctures, no sidewall damage. First set was Trailer King ST225/75/15's less than a year old and now I just lost a "Provider" which was a tad over a year old. 99% of the time its my wife driving to horse shows here in FL and its getting old receiving that phone call at work that shes stuck on the side of the interstate with another blow out and yes, shes a very good driver and takes her horses lives seriously! The last tire cost me $350 because we forgot the spare and it was Thanksgiving day when it popped and had to call roadside assistance for that one...

I just bought a set of Carlisle tires for it today, as shes headed on a 4 hour ride to GA in the morning and I didn't want to chance the other "Provider" on there.

I'm buying 10 ply radials and all are rated for well in excess of the trailer GVWR. Is it just junk Chinese tires these days?
 
A month ago I bought some Made in America Goodyear Endurance tires for my Aluma enclosed trailer.

I replaced some Carlisles that were about 10 years old and starting to crack a bit. No issues with them though.
 
On the RV forums Goodyear Endurance seems to be the top choice and they do cost more than than lesser known brands. Sailun trailer tires are also well thought of for heavy duty tires for big 5th wheel trailers and they're made in China. Almost all trailer tires are now. Carlisles seem to have a good rep but not much following.

7000 lb trailer with 2 horses sounds like 10,000+ maybe? You need good tires. Is she driving at or over the speed rating of the tires on the interstate?

ST vs LT tires on trailers is a big debate also with no clear winner.

You can buy decent aftermarket tire pressure monitors for around $200 now that may be useful.
 
Some 5-6 years ago I switched to LT tires in the heaviest load range available for all my trailers. Not a problem since.
As far as I know this is the only way to get decent made in USA trailer tires anymore. I have a large tire distributor just down the street that supplies everything from passenger cars to 12' diameter heavy equipment tires. The last time I walked their trailer inventory it was all made in China and Vietnam.
 
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my local tire shop put 4 new Carlisle's on TT earlier this year. The trailer weight ranges from ~8K to 11K depending on what we load and if I have water on board.

Age and weather checking tends to be the biggest issue I hear of with trailer tires. I debated using a LT tire as well but went with the trailer tire in the end. I was ~$600 out the door for 4 tires so not too bad IMO.

Just my $0.02
 
I have Carlisles on my 7K trailer. Haven't had an issue. I haul my tractor, atv's, my trail Jeep, and pick up firewood logs and make supply house runs.

I'd like to try something different next time though and would definitely consider the Goodyears as @totegoat suggested.
 
I have had several sets of Carlisles including the current tires on my travel trailer. I have not had any problems with them. Previous to this set I had Maxxis where two went bad that were less than four years old. When I went with the Carlisles I went up one load range from C to D. I also have a TST tire pressure monitor. I tow at 62 mph.
 
I've benn tracking the problem with trailer tires for a good 10 years, and the only thing I am sure about is the Goodyear Endurance. No reports of failures since they were introduced 4 years ago.
Yep … know a couple guys who run them hauling heavy farm equipment
 
I have had several sets of Carlisles including the current tires on my travel trailer. I have not had any problems with them. Previous to this set I had Maxxis where two went bad that were less than four years old. When I went with the Carlisles I went up one load range from C to D. I also have a TST tire pressure monitor. I tow at 62 mph.
Replaced my small utility trailer recently … came with 175/13 who-flungs …
Then found these 235/14 Carlisle and much better in sand … payload ^^^

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I've benn tracking the problem with trailer tires for a good 10 years, and the only thing I am sure about is the Goodyear Endurance. No reports of failures since they were introduced 4 years ago.
Can you track with those that have issues with any tires the following-
1) Curb Hopping
2) Under inflation
3) Over weight
4) Exceeding the speed capability of the tires?
5) How almost all ST Tire brands have added a nylon cap?

With a due respect Capri-I have run all manner of "Chinese" tires thousands upon thousands of miles, and never a problem because I know their limitations and know how to take care of them.

BTW-we all know Carlisle tires had issues 10 years ago, but their new (somewhat) HD radial is a solid choice along with the Endurance.
 
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LT tires can be ok on single axle trailer but I think they are a poor choice for multiple axles.

Trailer tires don't need as much grip as LT tires give. This causes problems in tight turns and some backing situations.

All my trailers use 16" rims and there are plenty of good trailer tires available. Many with L or M speed ratings.
 
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Can you track with those that have issues with any tires the following-
1) Curb Hopping
2) Under inflation
3) Over weight
4) Exceeding the speed capability of the tires?
5) How almost all ST Tire brands have added a nylon cap?

With a due respect Capri-I have run all manner of "Chinese" tires thousands upon thousands of miles, and never a problem because I know their limitations and know how to take care of them.

BTW-we all know Carlisle tires had issues 10 years ago, but their new (somewhat) HD radial is a solid choice along with the Endurance.
Allow me to explain where I am coming from.

When I was working I had access to fairly reliable data - quantity of tires produced, quantity returned, and the condition of each tire returned. We grouped the returns into 3 categories: 90 day returns (typically appearance issues and vibration), road hazards (beyond our control), and endurance (any structural failure not caused by a road hazard). Interestingly, there was a time related pattern to the returns for each group. In other words we could predict based on early returns what the future volume would be.

In the case of endurance returns, the volume peaked in the 3rd and 4th year after production and tapered off slowly after that. The typical failure mode was a belt leaving belt separation where the top belt would detach from the bottom belt and with partial or completely detachment from the rest of the tire - the top belt taking the tread with it. In about the year 2000 (the year of the Ford/Firestone debacle), the failure rate was on the order of 1 in 10,000 (0.01%), improving each year.

By contrast, a typical road hazard was a "Run Flat" where the sidewalls would detach from the tread. The result was 3 pieces (2 sidewalls and a tread), each otherwise intact. In particular, no belt separation.

The company I worked for didn't make ST tires, but I am familiar enough with tires to make reasonable predictions based on the other types of tires the company did make. (If you follow Formula 1, you'll understand that I found what happened in Baku very interesting!)

What this all means is that the average guy isn't likely to see an honest to goodness tire failure, even on a failure prone ST tire. I have heard of lots of folks who have had good luck with even tires clearly identified as failure prone.

The first 4 items on your list are not things that can be tracked. But it's a reasonable assumption that these would be the same regardless of who manufactured the tire. If those things affect tire failures, then it would affect each brand equally.

I am aware that many ST tires NOW have cap plies, where, before, none of them had them. I consider this a major upgrade and possibly the reason why we don't hear about ST failure much anymore.

What I had been tracking is reports on the internet of ST tire failures. In the past, Goodyear Marathons were clearly identified as having issues. I suspected that the reason for the large number of reported failures was because of their huge volume in the marketplace, but I didn't have a good handle on how big their percentage was - just that lots of people reported buying them (or coming on new trailers). Interestingly, ST tires made in China were also clearly identified as problematic - and the one thing that seemed to be a pattern was the brand name changed every year!

In the fall of 2017, Goodyear Introduced the Endurance series, and since that time I have yet to see any reports of Endurance failures - road hazards, yes, but no failures I couldn't identify as road hazard related. I also was aware that they had cap plies. I also could tell that since 2017, lots of people had purchased these and I was confident that if there was an issue, it would have surfaced.

What I am not confident of is the rest of the ST marketplace. I don't have a good feel for how many of the other brands have been purchased, nor if their presence in the marketplace is large enough to discern that their lack of reported failures is anything more than just a statistical anomaly.
 
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