Well it looks as the rubber industry “tires” are being affected by the pandemic. Some of you probably know this I’m sure somehow I didn’t. Anyway back in 2019 I bought a new tandem 18 foot trailer to haul my Polaris side by side and fourwheelers on. Up until a month ago it has went maybe 10 miles at a time 3-4 times a year snd then sets in the garage. Took it on a 5 hour one way trip and tread separated on one tire and the belt busted in the other. I inflated them to max psi before the trip I’d say the combo of setting and cheap tires are to blame. I was going to wait until spring to get a set since it won’t be used this winter and to my surprise my tire guy said for a good name brand set you are looking at a minimum February-March. If I wait till spring to buy em who knows when. I luckily found another shop that had the Carlisle radial trail hd tires. I grabbed the last 5 the place had they said they had no idea when they would have any more in stock of the major brands. Buy em while you can I guess?
Trailer tire availability.
- Thread starter Ohio91
- Start date
2 thoughts:
1) Trailer tires seem to have a life expectancy of about 5 years. After that, you are on borrowed time.
2) What has happened in the tire industry is that at the beginning of the pandemic, tire sales dropped off the map - so tire manufacturers shut down. But sales bounced back quickly and with a vengeance, catching the manufacturers off guard and without raw materials in the pipeline. Everyone has been trying to play catchup since. This is especially true with raw materials sourced from remote sources like natural rubber. Those places are still battling the pandemic - and not very successfully - so those raw materials are just scarce and will be for some time.
1) Trailer tires seem to have a life expectancy of about 5 years. After that, you are on borrowed time.
2) What has happened in the tire industry is that at the beginning of the pandemic, tire sales dropped off the map - so tire manufacturers shut down. But sales bounced back quickly and with a vengeance, catching the manufacturers off guard and without raw materials in the pipeline. Everyone has been trying to play catchup since. This is especially true with raw materials sourced from remote sources like natural rubber. Those places are still battling the pandemic - and not very successfully - so those raw materials are just scarce and will be for some time.
Take it however you will, but U-Haul uses the Carlisle Radial Trail HD tires on their car haulers.
Just had one of their car haulers on a 800 mile trip over the weekend, loaded, at interstate speeds. Two on one side of the trailer were about half tread, and two were pushing the wear bars ...
... not an issue with any of them.
Just had one of their car haulers on a 800 mile trip over the weekend, loaded, at interstate speeds. Two on one side of the trailer were about half tread, and two were pushing the wear bars ...
... not an issue with any of them.
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when you say you inflated them to max psi, do you mean the number on the side of the tire? Generally the number you want to use is significantly less than this number.
many trailers run them at the max psi number.
I'm not an expert but most vehicles overspec the tires significantly compared to the load. So you can run them lower psi for ride/handling etc.
Trailers not so much.
Note: I'm referring to regular cars and trucks... not actual Commercial vehicles
Here is the placard of my trailer for example. Its a sure-trac with 3500lb axle.
It has been over a decade since I owned a trailer, so I'm having a hard time remembering what my trailers said. But I'm fairly sure that I ran 40psi on my 24" enclosed tandem that usually weighed a total of 7k lbs. I would have followed whatever the placard said.
I'm fairly sure every trailer tire that I ever owned said 50 psi max on it. I put A LOT of miles on my trailers and while I wore out quite a few tires, I never had tread separation issues.
I'm fairly sure every trailer tire that I ever owned said 50 psi max on it. I put A LOT of miles on my trailers and while I wore out quite a few tires, I never had tread separation issues.
Tire pressure on any trailer or vehicle should always be set at the placard number NOT the max pressure on the sidewall. The placard numbers are determined collaboratively by the trailer and tire manufacturer and represents the optimal ride and handling. Look at Goodyear, tire rack and Michelin websites, it says that on all of them. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=8
Right I'm saying that all 4 utility trailers I owned spec'ed 50psi which was the max on the sidewall as well.
The tow dolly I had also spec'ed 50psi which was the sidewall max.
I'm not saying to inflate them to 50psi based off the tire sidewall.
I was saying in many cases the number is the same.
Although I've run lower if the load is light or fragile. Dont need 50psi for 400lb of furniture
While we are talking about best practices.. its also good to get some fresh grease in the wheel bearings if equipped with grease zerk.. I try to at least yearly.
my current trailer is super easy. It has the EZ lube feature
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GON
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Outside temperature, sun, weight, speed, and time on continual travel (how long trailer tires have been on the interstate before a rest) are all huge factors in trailer tire performance, and selection. I ran trailer tires for years on five different trailers and never had a issue. This year, I had blowout after blowout all summer long, on both older and brand new tires. What changed, I was running max weight load across steaming hot interstates hour after hour. All my blowouts were later in the afternoon on the interstate running around 60 mph. Zero blowouts after dark or in the morning.
I am confident same weight, same speed, but running in Green Bay, WI in the late fall- I would not of had tire failures. My tire failures were in Missouri, Southern Illinois, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
Trailer tire risk is much more than just tire pressure, weight, and age of the tire.
I am confident same weight, same speed, but running in Green Bay, WI in the late fall- I would not of had tire failures. My tire failures were in Missouri, Southern Illinois, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
Trailer tire risk is much more than just tire pressure, weight, and age of the tire.
To add on to what GON cherry was saying, heat is the enemy and under inflated tires will create more heat in the tire than inflating to max for a given load. Inflating to max is within manfacturers spec and where a good tire will safely carry the most weight. Not inflating to max with a heavy load is more risk.
If the Maxxis trailer tires are available I highly recommend them. Our toy hauler came with the Carlisle may-pop tires. I literally pulled it from the dealer to home and swapped them out for Maxxis. I would have went with Michelins but they didn't make a trailer tire in a 15" wheel, at least back then, not sure about now.
Our boat trailer also has Maxxis tires, never an issue with either.
Our boat trailer also has Maxxis tires, never an issue with either.
Agree-but then you had in curb hopping, tight turning (scrubbing the tires), and I have never seen anyone check their pressure before pulling out of a camp spot-in regards to travel trailers. I have run all manner of Chinese trailer tires and have NEVER had an issue. But I don't run at max speeds nor any where near max weight. 100 degree temperatures-yes. Also-never more than a couple of hundred miles a day.
A guy I used to work with was big into camping . Pulled a 5th wheel . Several of his family members did as well . He said they all ran auto/truck tires on their campers . Every one of them had trailer tires fail and tear up body panels on the campers . He said they find the right size and load rating and swap them out whenever they buy a new unit .
I've had good luck with maxxis 8008. I just replaced the cheapo dealer tires on my newer travel trailer with goodyear endurance. I would run only the maxxis or the goodyear.
Can't get major brand LT tires in 14 inch. Not room really to upsize my wheels, plus the cost.
I've put 1,500 miles on my Carlisle TT tires this summer without incident. I keep them aired up like the sticker on the trailer says. I usually travel on the interstate between 65 & 75 MPH, depending on the wind. Fully loaded I'm pushing 11K on the Trailer.
I also vote for wheel bearing grease. My EZ Lube axles are awesome but at some point you will need to pull the hubs apart to look at the bearings. Probably next spring for me...
Just my $0.02
I also vote for wheel bearing grease. My EZ Lube axles are awesome but at some point you will need to pull the hubs apart to look at the bearings. Probably next spring for me...
Just my $0.02
Technically that isnt the right thing to do.. but I certainly wouldnt feel bad with a couple load range D LT tires on my trailer.
What are they doing wrong ?
I haven't had Carlisles fail, pretty much all the off brand Chinese ones do. Heat is trailer tire enemy #1-more PSI, up to sidewall rating, equals LESS heat. You can guess what I run mine at!! Only bad thing that happens is the center of the tread wears out a little quicker.
