Trailer tires

[jdp_509]

What kind of trailer tires is a real good brand. I have a 22ZX with about 3000 mile on tires. The last 3 times I pulled it down the road I had 3 tread separations. The tires are Goodyear Marathon trailer tires with c rating, you would think that they are good tires. Still looks brand new but the tread is separating.

[ChromeGorilla]

I know lots of people like the GY Marathons. I too had 2 of them lose their tread. I had them on the trailer the first 2 years, then that happened.

I switched to plain ol bias ply Carlisle's and I just got home last night after putting another 2000 trouble free miles on them this past weekend....

Just food for thought.

[jdp_509]

Thats about how old my tires are. There is one more left of the original tires except for the spare. I going to try to find some that has more plies.

[mrfixxall]

Thats about how old my tires are. There is one more left of the original tires except for the spare. I going to try to find some that has more plies.

If you have 14'' wheels their are not many mfg that carry a 8 ply tire,you may have to go to a 15'' wheel to get a heavier ply tire.. i use nankang radial which are a 6ply rateing..they look like the gy marathons and never had a issue with them coming apart but then i keep them covered when the trailer is not in use to keep the sun from drying them out which in most cases leads to trailer tire failers..nankang 205 75 14 52.00 ea 205 75 15 57.00 ea and they are radials.

[jdp_509]

The sun weathering the tires is not a issue here because the boat has been stored in a garage since the day I drove it home from the dealer. I did think that a 14" tire might be to small for that size boat. A set of 15" rims and tires might be the way to go. If you wanted to take a trip 4-500 miles down the road you should have to worry about the boat trailer tires not being able to handle it. :confused:

[jdp_509]

Except for the days we were boating. :bonk:

[RickSE]

Man my 2002 Goodyear Marathon tires have been from Florida to Texas to New Mexico to Arizona, to the lake every summer month for the last 3-years, then back to Florida this winter and back to Arizona. :boggled: No problems at all, love the tires.

[mrfixxall]

Also,people neglect to keep a eye on their air pressure..This will also cause the tires to come apart...The 6 ply tires are rated at 1760lbs per tire whichshould carry over 7000 lbs.. mabe when you get your new tires have them fill the tires with nitrogen,this will help the tires run cooler..

[MOP]

Buy quality radials you will never regret it! The run cooler and tow easier. Radials are much easier on the boat then bias which have little to no give.

[Sweet little 16]

Buy quality radials you will never regret it! The run cooler and tow easier. Radials are much easier on the boat then bias which have little to no give.

can you please expound on this reply what would be a high quality radial besides the Good Year marathons which he just had 3 tread seperations?????

[Team Jefe]

My philosophy is that you can never have too much tire on a trailer. What I mean is up size as much as you can and still fit into the wheel wells.

My trailer came with 15" wheels 205 75 15's Carlisle ( I think, the were load range D). I blew one out on the way home from Florida. I had replaced them all within the year, and went thru a second set in less than 18 months of ownership (both Carlisle & GY's).

What I did was switch to radial truck tires, 16" 285 70 16's, load range E and have not (Knock on wood) had a blow out since. I put about 10K miles on the first set, they were fine but I got nervous and replaced them. On my second year with this set.

The best part. The originals were pull-offs from my truck....Zero Cost I did have to buy the wheels and raise the fender with some Stainless angle iron. Still that was not much cost.

The second set were pull-offs I got a Discount Tire for $25/each. These are stock sizes from most full sized truck 285 or 265 will work. The move to 17" & 18" wheel on these trucks is pretty disheartening, but there are still plenty out there. I have a standing order for 285 16 pull-offs at the tire shop.

Per the tire guys, the delamination was happening due to the tire getting too hot for long periods and being at the max of its load range. I travel at 70-80 mph and have had ZERO ISSUES when I moved up to Load range E tires.....Plus its kinda cool to have all-terrain tires on the trailer:wink:

There are some nice 15" 8-ply and 10-ply tires out there to handle the load, but they are pretty pricey. You may not need Load Range E for a 22, but look into D's at least.

[gcarter]

Jefe, you're the man.
I've been thinking about this a lot. I don't have a lot of boat trailering experience, but I do have several business trucks that are frequently loaded to the max. We haven't had a blowout in YEARS!!!!!!!
So my question is; What's wrong with truck tires????????
I could even write them off!!
Did I say that????
I would NEVER do a thing like that!

[Forrest]

After running Goodyear Marathons, Carlisles, and other ST tires that ultimately failed, the best that I've found by far are Denman Express ST tires (http://www.denmantire.com/catalog/Trailer.pdf).
DenmanTire.com (http://www.denmantire.com/catalog.php)

[Last Tango]

We have a thread going about this from just last week. I'm afraid to post anything here on this topic since it has already gone out-of-bounds in my opinion by suggesting truck tires. Sounds like your axle(s) are out of alignment.
My experience:
1. Keep your tire pressures at absolutely the correct pressure before any tow, long or short.
2. If you have gone over pot holes and curbs, and rough pavement you have weakend the structure of the tire and/or may have an axel out of alignment.
3. Buy only the best radials and don't overload them or run them faster than the manufacturer speed rating.
4. Tires rot quickly in the sun, and even when simply sitting still, in the yard, or even in the garage. EXPECT to replace them far more often than for your car.
5. NO TRAILER TIRE IS SPEED RATED FOR FULL LOAD AT A CONSTANT 80MPH.

[BUIZILLA]

truck tires are light years superior to trailer tires.

there is a reason they are marked TRAILER SERVICE ONLY, they are worthless for anything else..

[MOP]

So far I have stuck with radials but have thought about truck tires but was advised against them, several of my friends swear by truck tires I found few articles that may be of interest.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos;jsessionid=FvxW3ZBHVFRY7B VpLC69PQNK7d52L91WWghQK30FM0Hj9ZzN
http://www.championtrailers.com/tire_art.html
http://www.title-3.com/Tires.htm
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:lFzwbvtYHxQJ:www.taskmasterproducts .com/acatalog/whybuytrailertires.pdf+trailer+tire+%22vs%22+truck +tire&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a

[Team Jefe]

We have a thread going about this from just last week. I'm afraid to post anything here on this topic since it has already gone out-of-bounds in my opinion by suggesting truck tires. Sounds like your axle(s) are out of alignment.

5. NO TRAILER TIRE IS SPEED RATED FOR FULL LOAD AT A CONSTANT 80MPH.
[QUOTE=MOP;414784]So far I have stuck with radials but have thought about truck tires but was advised against them, several of my friends swear by truck tires QUOTE]

Mark - I too thought about alignment and had the trailer checked. There was a slight mis-angle on one spindle, and loadmaster repalced the whole axle. Still, that one spindle was not the only tire blowing out and I blew out tires after the fix as well As you say, and Phil's links back up, these tires are meant to travel at 65MPH MAX.

65 ain't gonna to happen with me towing, so I had to find a way to make the machinery work for how I do things.

Also, in Phil's links they talk about side wall strength and I fully agree, thus the load range E's, they have the side wall strength needed for heavy loads. I am constantly watching the tires on trips and these 285 16's have far less flex than the 15" ST's did.

All I really have is my expereince to show for it. 18 months I went blew out at least 8 ST's. In the 3 1/2 years since, I have had two set of 285 16's and ZERO blow outs, Zero wear issues and not one problem.

Say what you will, as is everyone's right. But for me, Load range E Truck tires are the only tires I will have on any trailer I ever own.

[BUIZILLA]

yesterday at a rest stop in I-95 in Fla, I was parked next to a brand new canopied 5 step Skater cat, on a white trailer, with BF Goodrich Commercial TA radials on Alcoa rims.... I have never seen these tires before, but I really liked the looks of them... BFG shows these as all use / all position radials, they are well worth looking in to.

[Last Tango]

Awesome links and articles! Interesting that the first three articles do not recommend LT series tires, but the fouth article said it was OK. I will definitely go with the majority vote on ST rated tires. Load E series LT tires may be stronger than automobile tires, but they are still designed for driving and steering, not following.

If your trailer-rated tires are wearing out prematurely, you have a problem with the trailer and the balance of your boat ON that trailer. ALL of the articles stated to keep the pressure at max, check them frequently, and don't mix.
Unless you want a movie of your boat, trailer, and tow vehicle posted on YouTube under the Dumbass heading.

[BUIZILLA]

Load E series LT tires may be stronger than automobile tires, but they are still designed for driving and steering, not following. what do you think your rear vehicle tires are doing??

[Last Tango]

Well, Buiz, you may have insulted yourself here. The rear tires on your tow vehicle are DRIVING wheels. Since we do not use front-wheel-drive cars or trucks to tow anything, then unless you have one on those Chevy trucks with 4-wheel-steering, your rear tires provide the forward DRIVE and traction for going forward. Only on Front Wheel Drive vehicles do the front tires provide both steeering and DRIVE.
I suggest you read the above 4 articles more closely... and don't take it as a personal insult when others challenge your personal beliefs in the sanctity of all things truck.

[BUIZILLA]

Mark, we're just going to have to seriously disagree on this topic. Even the 4 topics above don't agree with each other. Drive tires FOLLOW behind steering tires right?? or do people drive their trucks backwards like forklift steering?? I've been in drag race pit's for over 30 years, with as many as 800 rigs in the lot, I know what knowledgeable people use, and what works for them, and i've personally traveled as many as 45 weekends in a given year racing. I'm on my 5th enclosed trailer since 1987. Over 1/4 million miles towed. Every single set of Marathon's I have had have had failures on one or more. I hate them with a passion. In fact, watch the show car circuits and see who uses them on their rigs, virtually NOBODY. I'm going with Jefe' on this one, he's dead right... No hard feelings. :wink:

www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf

www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/marathon_gen_info_032806.pdf

[smoothie]

truck tires are light years superior to trailer tires.
there is a reason they are marked TRAILER SERVICE ONLY, they are worthless for anything else..

Do you see any truck tires in the pits or just "TRAILER TIRES" ??? I had a set of truck tires on my trailer when I bought it...single axle..Couldnt find the small leak in one tire,Decided to put new tires on it,The tire guy called me and asked what to do with the cracked rims that I had from running truck tires, Mop hit the nail on the head....read the articles.

[BUIZILLA]

you OBVIOUSLY don't race, don't tow, or own anything that valuable.... yes, the vast majority are HD tires or truck tires in the pit's, get off your ass and go look for yourself. if you need me for any further topics I'll be on Donzi.ORG from now on.

Cyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[smoothie]

Wow!!! LOL! I will check it out this weekend at Norwalk raceway...

[BigGrizzly]

Just for information Ford auto rims fit trailers with 5 lugs so that ends the rim problem. As for trailer tires and truck tires what about an 18 wheeler are the trailer tires different than the tractor tires -- go look. Asw for trailers beaing different than car tires. soft sidewalls cause sway both in cars and trailers. the important thing is load caring capacity! The auto is harder on tires than a trailer. they make trailer tires cheaper. Check the load rating of a trailer tire than price a comparable auto tire . I use trailer tires on my trailers and have not had a problem. I inflate to maximum and not any less I always check them. Do I think truck tires will work fine YES I do. The other thing I do is tighten trqailer bearings like car wheel bearings and not any looser. I also rub breaks on every axle. I put Kodiak stainless breaks on the criterion trailer just before lake George and I love them, What a difference from the single axle breaks.

[Team Jefe]

Looks like we have discovered yet another polarizing issue in the Donzi World (maybe re-discovered would be more appropriate).

Like Jim....and many others, I put lots of miles on my trailer every year, and as I said, I only have my expereince to share. It is my opinion, use or tosh it as you will.

I think if you have an 18 or 22, with a tandem axle trailer that has a good amount of extra load capacity and you travel less than 65MPH, ST trailer tires will serve you very well.

I don't, the Revenge is right at 10K curb weight which is very close to a tandem ST load capacity, and I travel well above 65 MPH for hours at a time.

One thing is for sure, I will NOT adjust my my style to meet the equipment. The Equipment WILL have to adjust to meet my style.

Interesting note from Smoothie. I have had no issues with the wheels, but I did replace them as well when I went to 16" tires. I don't really understand the issue there, but it is woth investigating.

[smoothie]

Jefe,
The truck tire sidewalls flexed outward so much that it started to split the rims in the center where they were welded together,they werent radials, 6 lug 15" rims and I have a single axle with about 4000 lbs sitting on em.

[BigGrizzly]

I f good rich and he laughes at the rim stories. he said the only difference in rims is the offset non some cars the only problem was years ago they gad bias ply rim beads vs radial beads now they are all the same. in other words there is no such thing as a different rim for trailers except in strength and fed spech. even Marithon tire says on it " Use only on rims For radial tires only.

[gcarter]

Jefe,
The truck tire sidewalls flexed outward so much that it started to split the rims in the center where they were welded together,they werent radials, 6 lug 15" rims and I have a single axle with about 4000 lbs sitting on em.
Could this be an overload issue???:confused:

[Jerry Eisele]

Amen Jim!!!

[RedDog]

as they say - timing is everything. I have a new set of GY Marathons and so now I learn that truck tires is the way I should have gone.

Oh well - at least they are better than the ancient ones I had on the trailer (I hope)

[Team Jefe]

. We also do not load them to the max, which IMO was Jefe's problem.. That trailer never should have been spec'd with those tires, as evidenced by the improvement in trailer life after the change.. .
I am installing nitro-fill shortly, we'll see if that helps..
Pure and simple: Don't overload, be meticulous about pressure and bearings, and they will last you much longer than if you don't...

Oh, Absolutley. I wanted a Tandem Trailer instead of triple axle, The 15" ST's were...techincally within the load range for the tandem. But I guess they never thought about my driving style...and I didn't know any better:bonk:

One thing to note. For me it was a delamination issue mostly. The majority of the blow outs were the tread coming loose from the tire body. One even came loose and bulged out, but did not blow.

[BigGrizzly]

We nitro fill race bike tires for the same issues. race teams do things that normally are overlooked by the public. This changed the over heat problems at the short tracks like Loudon. Tread separation is definitely an over heat/ overload condition.I had forgotten, that years ago my dad had 15 inch truck tires on our 16 trailer. My sister drives faster than I do and never had a problem, now remember this was the 1960s when this took place. Like poodle I to inflate and do the wheel bearing trick. BTW I put Kodiak. SS breaks on all four wheels of the Criterion trailer. As I traveled to LG my heat gun told me the breaks and tires were running cooler then before and I didn't blow any seals from the hubs or have water intrusion like we did from Cumberland and Eufala last year. Stopping was so much better too. You see single axle breaks on 5 lug wheels are good to 3500lbs, so I overloaded the breaks too. Just food for thought .

[smoothie]

Could this be an overload issue???:confused:

George...could of been with the tires...the trailer is good to 5K,with the right class new tires the trailer rides a lot better now.

[DONZI]

Chalk up another Goodyear Marathon to the list.
Pic from today. Properly inflated & wheel brgs. correct.70 deg. day also.

[gcarter]

I think I agree w/Griz in post #26. Trailer tires are cheaper. I would guess that a tire engineer developing a trailer tire would start w/a truck tire of the same loading and start deleting things that aren't needed, like turning, driving, etc.
Take for example a mobile home tire, it's a one event tire as they usually never move again. They probably move more mobile homes here in Florida than anywhere. You see them all the time w/ one of them coming all apart.

[BigGrizzly]

Remember a Marathon gets 50psi cold. But stuff happens. Not saying Marathons are better or worse just a point I use inexpensive tires with 6 ply rating. I have seen almost every brand blow out so for one reason or other.

[DONZI]

How old was that tire???
Trailer just turned 4. So, i'll go with 4.
No dry rot,cracks. Off the ground & no sun 8 mos. out of a yr..

I think it's probably the twisting & turning killing trailer tires more than anything else.

[DONZI]

Remember a Marathon gets 50psi cold. But stuff happens. Not saying Marathons are better or worse just a point I use inexpensive tires with 6 ply rating. I have seen almost every brand blow out so for one reason or other.

Interesting Bulletin

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/goodyear/Marathon_Special_Trailer_Applications.pdf
I wonder if we should go to 60 psi on them. Even for 65 mph.:confused:

[BigGrizzly]

One of the sites said we could. Just talked to my tireengineere friend and he sait truck tires are fine and the sway mentione usually happens when you have truck on the car and radials on the trailer not the other way around

[smoothie]

Trailer just turned 4. So, i'll go with 4.
No dry rot,cracks. Off the ground & no sun 8 mos. out of a yr..
I think it's probably the twisting & turning killing trailer tires more than anything else.

You could be on to something here with the twisting...I watched a guy jackknife his trailer at the boat launch with a tandem axle and the tires were really twisted and screaming for mercy...maybe this is separating the steel belts from the rubber? but dont see this happening with a single axle.

[gero1]

this tire deal comes up every year, and it seems its only the g.y's?. i have lost 2 g.y marathons in the last 3 years. i deliver alot of tire here in nasville and have been talking to alot g.y dealers. they all say these tires ARE very prone to blowing out with low air pres....running them with just 40 psi is LOW!!! the first 4 i bought were made in new zealand and the 2 replacements were made in china, all g.y marathons. the valve stems on my rims were 2" and they started slowly leaking and i think thats what caused the first 2 to go. the boat has been sitting for about 3 weeks and every time i went to move it the front 2 tires were low, two days ago one was flat. i filled it up and two days later it was flat and the outhe was low again. took em to the shop and both the valve stemms were leaking around the rim. had short ones put in and no problem yet. we wash these boats more than any thing else, before we go to the lake, on the way if we go thru a strom, after the lake, valve stems take a beating. i will replace mine every year from now on. TWISTING. driving a big truck for years we have always been told not jack knife the trailer if all posiable as it will break the belts, worse if loaded heavey. our steer tires are different on our city trucks than on our over the road trucks just because they take alot more abuse sitting in one spot and turning the wheel to get in a tight spot. we never hear about other brands of trailer tires on here... well except for poodle which was great to see. its all air presser. check'em b4 you leave the house and b4 you leave the lake and use the shortest valve stems you can get......can i have a drink now? please

[BigGrizzly]

Gero1, I'm with you. Funny you mention the Jack knife thing. The first good years from NZ were only 32 psi tires and not 50 like the new ones. they were rated at a lower gvw. 1500 I think. the other reason the marathon is an issur is because there are more of them and have a big name that people remember. Who can remember Nanchine. The next big one is Carlyle than trail master. Tire pressureCold is the key.

[gero1]

2 gy from n.z and 2 gy from china, all 1760lbs at 50 psi. i really think most of the problems come from a slow leak around the valve stem from repeated hitting during washing and drying....when was last time any of us pulled a dirty boat??? it's only 100 miles to trips from here and if i run through a rainstorm i stop and spray it off and re dry it. the valve stems have never leaked through the core, just around the rim. every time you hit one no matter how soft, you tear the rubber a little bit. after a gazillion washs, waxs, and drying's a year....slow leak!! i have to wash my boat