trailer tire choices? building new trailer.

[The motor guy]

I'm going to have a new landscape trailer custom built and the tires on my current trailer are pretty much worn out after about a season. Worn out as in bald. Not sure if this particular trailer has an alignment problem, I wouldn't be surprised, or if it's all the turning around I do. Cal da sacs and u-turns and such. The trailer I'm having built is a 16ft with two 3500 pound axles. Is there anything I can do as far as tires for these things? The original tires are taskmaster tires, I've replaced a couple with Chinese cheapos a couple months ago and notices they're 50 percent gone already and it's not like I've driven a whole lot since then. 2,000 miles maybe if that?

 

[Killer223]

i'm a fan of Hercules tires on my trailers. but for your application i'm not sure any would last overly long.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Killer223
i'm a fan of Hercules tires on my trailers. but for your application i'm not sure any would last overly long.


Is it the turning? I would think quality tires would have better rubber that wouldn't wear as fast. The brand name on my OEM tires is taskmaster. Not sure if that's name brand or not.

 

[The motor guy]

How do you put car tires on a trailer like I always hear people doing? MY rim size is 205/75r15.

 

[Donald]

You should be running trailer tires or maybe LT but not car tires.

My trailer tires get dry rot and then I replace. But my trailers do not get that much use.

 

[Nick1994]

I'd run 225/75-16 LT Load Range E tires on it, the tread should last a lot longer. Their capacity is about 2,680 pounds. Trailer tires in your 205/75-15 size have a capacity of around 2,050 pounds.

If the trailer is being custom built you can tell them the tire size you want to run and all they have to do is space out the distance of the axles a little bit.

 

[neil57]

+1 LT tires will outlast any ST tire. I pull a tri axle gooseneck with LT tires , outlast ST tires 3 to 1

 

[Pop_Rivit]

You could do something simple like search for scrub resistant trailer tires. It's a fairly common issue and there are tires designed to address that very issue.

 

[fsdork]

Goodyear Endurance are US made. I haven't used them personally, but they'll be the next tires on my travel trailer at this point.

 

[The motor guy]

Will I have issues getting the tire shop to install LT tires?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Will I have issues getting the tire shop to install LT tires?
I did at Discount Tire with my trailer, so I took the wheels off and put them in the back of my Jeep and said they were for a 1987 Chevy C10 pickup.

But if your wheels totally look like trailer wheels you might just have TireRack ship tires to your house and have a Mexican tire shop mount and balance for you. Probably cheaper too.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Goodyear just released a US-made trailer tire

 

[Colt45ws]

I saw a some tires today that you might look at. They were on a Pape rents gooseneck pulled by a one ton. So these guys are delivering equipment all over the place with this every day.
What caught my eye is they actually said 'Regroovable' on the sidewall. I thought they were 17.5 tires, but no, they are Geostar G574 ST235/85R16. They have an L speed rating, or 75mph. Load range is 132, or 4409lbs. So, way more than you need, but I thought I might bring it up.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I'd run 225/75-16 LT Load Range E tires on it, the tread should last a lot longer. Their capacity is about 2,680 pounds. Trailer tires in your 205/75-15 size have a capacity of around 2,050 pounds.

If the trailer is being custom built you can tell them the tire size you want to run and all they have to do is space out the distance of the axles a little bit.


Is a 16" rim the key to get an LT tire to fit? I guess they don't have 15" truck tires huh? Kind of small.

 

[rslifkin]

Yeah, 16s give much more in the way of choices for LTs. I'd definitely run 16s for a trailer and plan to run LTs. Saves dealing with sketchy trailer tires. The LTs are usually going to be rated for higher speeds too, so no issues with being limited to 65 mph on the highway.

If you need lots of weight capacity, go for a 235/85R16 (32" tall). The LTs in that size are good for 3042 lbs for a standard load range E. A load range F ST (trailer) tire in that size is good for 3960 lbs if you need even more capacity. Plus, the 235/85 is a diameter match for the stock tires on a lot of newer pickups too, so a trailer spare and a truck spare can be interchanged in a pinch if the bolt patterns match.

 

[CapriRacer]

I think we are at the early stages of a round of improvements in trailer tires. Goodyear recently launched their Endurance series, and Maxxis did so a few years back. It's not clear how well these new tires are performing, but my "nose" says I don't smell the problem like we used to. But it is still too early to tell.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
Yeah, 16s give much more in the way of choices for LTs. I'd definitely run 16s for a trailer and plan to run LTs. Saves dealing with sketchy trailer tires. The LTs are usually going to be rated for higher speeds too, so no issues with being limited to 65 mph on the highway.

If you need lots of weight capacity, go for a 235/85R16 (32" tall). The LTs in that size are good for 3042 lbs for a standard load range E. A load range F ST (trailer) tire in that size is good for 3960 lbs if you need even more capacity. Plus, the 235/85 is a diameter match for the stock tires on a lot of newer pickups too, so a trailer spare and a truck spare can be interchanged in a pinch if the bolt patterns match.


A 265/75 has more capacity, and is the same diameter. It's also common-OE size on 4x4 Super Dutys for almost ten years.

 

[rslifkin]

True, although fitting wider tires on trailers tends to be a little tougher (and finding wide enough wheels of suitable offset for a trailer may be a challenge in some cases).