Trailer Tire Talk...

[Tony]

Good article in Trailer Boating magazine about trailer tires. They say change 'em every 3-5 years, whether showing wear or not. They hedge on radial vs. bias ply, saying that if you haul long and fast go with radial because they stay cooler, but if you haul a heavy load go with bias ply because they offer more stability. (High heat speeds the breakdown of the tire.) As I am now sufficiantly worried and will be buying two new tires prior to my 10 hour Kentucky trip...any thoughts or opinions?

[Bryan Tuvell]

TONY, I hear ya on a long trip, over 700 miles for us....
My main issue was to get a spare, mount it and have my bearings repacked/redone. The trailer had almost no miles on it but that damn salt water did some damage. I should be ready to go.

Have a safe trip and tow and see ya in KY.

Bryan

[GEOO]

Tony, I wore out my Bias Ply tires in two years. Not sure why? I did travel at 75 mph from CT. to Toledo, Ohio last year?? Last month I replaced the tires with Radials. GEOO

[Forrest]

I agree with changing your tires every five years or so. Last year at this time while pulling my Donzi to and from the Portofino event in Orlando, I had a blowout on both of my Goodyear Marathon Radial trailer tires. One blew on the way down and the other blew on the way back home. Though the tires looked brand new in every way, they were eight or nine years old, and for that reason I guess, something internal that holds 'em together must of broken down on the highway. Lucky for me I had a spare and when the first tire blew, I stopped at a nearby Wall Wart and bought another spare.

Check those tires! Carry a spare . . . maybe two!

See you in Sanford.

------------------
Forrest

[Blewbyu]

When you buy radials-DONT GET AUTO RADIALS-buy the radials rated "ST"-it means "Special Trailer",and ST tires are 6 ply rated sidewalls,which prevents 'squirm'.Less squirm,less heat,less failure!Radials with 3 ply or less rating,squirm so much as to cause trailes sway,which you REALLY DON'T WANT!

[BigGrizzly]

I switched from nias to radial for two reasions. ! your car has radials so your traliar, it keeps the sway down. you wouldn't put radials on thge front abd bias on the back of your car, would you? 2) when I changed I noticed abig difference in handling a d grip in the rain.

Randy