school me on trailer tires....

[AI#97]

So why are they more expensive? What special features do they have over a quality light truck/highway tire?

I am looking to buy two as 2nd and 3rd spares for the upcoming trip but I have only bought one trailer tire in my life and it was a carlisle as a spare for my old hauler 5 years ago. They were $65 back then...now they are 100 each. WTF?

The tires on my trailer do look great for tread, but are approaching 6 years old and don't have any cord separations showing and are in decent shape for having a guessed 10,000+ miles on them.

Read the mixed reviews on the GY Marathons, and I had great luck with the Kumho's on my old enclosed trailer. Looking for a C range or regular truck tire for what looks like a max of 4700lb trailer/car combo.

Gracias!

[ShadowBolt]

6 year old tires are a time bomb waiting to blow up. Unless they have been out of the sun I would not even consider them for a trip to Nationals.


JJ

[AI#97]

6 year old tires are a time bomb waiting to blow up. Unless they have been out of the sun I would not even consider them for a trip to Nationals.


JJ

I know, that is why I am considering $60 light truck tires in lieu of trailer tires.

Searching discount and tire rack right now. Might even swing by pepboys to see what they have on the shelf for light trucks in a buy 3 get one free deal! Nice thing is that if I buy truck tires, i can get a road hazard certificate at Discount!

[Shortcutsleeping]

What size are we talking? The typical ST225.75.15 "d" ?


Costas
cars and such...

[Adam Ginsberg]

I can tell you from direct experience that light truck/HD auto tires will not live on a car hauler for long. I went through MANY of them before dropping money on trailer tires. Sometimes, 2 tires in one trip. Loaded, a guess is my trailer weighs ~5000lbs - ~3000lb Mustang, ~1700lb trailer, ~300lbs of tools, tires, rack, fuel jugs, etc.

There's a place in Dallas, Southwest Wheel (8740 John W Carpenter Frwy Dallas, TX 75247, 1-800-866-3336). They carry good, inexpensive trailer tires. IIRC, 3 years ago, I bought 4 new tires for my trailer @ ~$50 each, and they're still going strong. We're talking a trip to the '07 Nats (~2600mi RT), TX racing trips, 4 RT's from TX to CA (3000+mi per RT), plus all the racing I've done in CA (NorCal and SoCal)...likely ~20k miles or so. Not sure what size you need, but the 15" tires (like on my trailer) are pretty cheap.

Give 'em a call.

[donovan]

Matt, I had replaced a number of those not too long before we swapped trailers... at least a couple should be in the three year range. Maybe?

I have only blown one trailer tire in 6 years... and that one looked like crap and I deserved to have it blow when I was in downtown Houston trying to exchange from I-10 to Hwy 6... :( that sucked, but it was my own fault.

I have yet to blow a rated trailer tire that was looking good.

I replaced two on the 24' before nat's last year, I went with the better brand that Discount Tire carries... 'Mission'.

Not much for schooling, but I talked to a couple tire guys way way back and they explained something about the pressures difference and the construction of the cords, blah blah blah...

DD

[AI#97]

I can tell you from direct experience that light truck/HD auto tires will not live on a car hauler for long. I went through MANY of them before dropping money on trailer tires. Sometimes, 2 tires in one trip. Loaded, a guess is my trailer weighs ~5000lbs - ~3000lb Mustang, ~1700lb trailer, ~300lbs of tools, tires, rack, fuel jugs, etc.

There's a place in Dallas, Southwest Wheel (8740 John W Carpenter Frwy Dallas, TX 75247, 1-800-866-3336). They carry good, inexpensive trailer tires. IIRC, 3 years ago, I bought 4 new tires for my trailer @ ~$50 each, and they're still going strong. We're talking a trip to the '07 Nats (~2600mi RT), TX racing trips, 4 RT's from TX to CA (3000+mi per RT), plus all the racing I've done in CA (NorCal and SoCal)...likely ~20k miles or so. Not sure what size you need, but the 15" tires (like on my trailer) are pretty cheap.

Give 'em a call.

Thanks Adam. I will check that out as my office is at 7800 JWC!!!

I would like to get the exact science as to why the trailer tires are trailer tires though. I just don't see how a light truck tire that can last 60k miles won't work.

Oh, and David...I hope you haven't jinxed yourself! ;)

[mitchntx]

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos

•Trailer tires are not designed to wear out.
•The life of a trailer tire is limited by time and duty cycles.
•The mileage expectation of a trailer tire is 5,000 to 12,000 miles.
•"ST" tires feature materials and construction to meet the higher load requirements and demands of trailering.
•The polyester cords are bigger than they would be for a comparable "P" or "LT" tire.
•The steel cords have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet the additional load requirements.
•"ST" tire rubber compounds contain more chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking.
•All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
•As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.
•The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.

[michaelmosty]

Matt, I got my recent set of trailer tires at Discount and talked them down to $80 each (205/75/15) and got the warranty with them ($15 each).
Warranty, mount, balance, and out the door was $480.

[cobra132]

I have blown about 8 in 3 years. The first 4 I figured were just old from when I bought the trailer. The rest were new D or E range tires, inflated to 80 cold on both alum and steel wheels. Maybe I drive too fast, I don't known. I am clueless. I have no idea why I am posting this. Good luck. FMR

[gt40]

I have blown about 8 in 3 years. The first 4 I figured were just old from when I bought the trailer. The rest were new D or E range tires, inflated to 80 cold on both alum and steel wheels.A couple of points to make here...

First -- if you're going to run high inflation pressures (I typically do,) be aware that your wheels may have maximum inflation pressures too. Mine are stamped "40 p.s.i. max". I don't exceed that even though my tires will go to 50, I think.

Second, for all you speedy guys towing at 70 or faster, be aware of the speed rating of the trailer tires. If they're rated to 65, you may be pushing things by towing 70 and faster for hundreds of miles. (Yes, I'm guilty of that, too.)

[donovan]

Oh, and David...I hope you haven't jinxed yourself! ;)

That is the cool thing about being me... I have no superstitions!!! :D

[AI#97]

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos

•Trailer tires are not designed to wear out.
•The life of a trailer tire is limited by time and duty cycles.
•The mileage expectation of a trailer tire is 5,000 to 12,000 miles.
•"ST" tires feature materials and construction to meet the higher load requirements and demands of trailering.
•The polyester cords are bigger than they would be for a comparable "P" or "LT" tire.
•The steel cords have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet the additional load requirements.
•"ST" tire rubber compounds contain more chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking.
•All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
•As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.
•The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.

Reading that list, I see many things I would not consider "special trailer points" in my case. My trailer, car and tires loaded is only 4600lbs...that's less than my truck so the BS about "heavier construction" means beans to me. That list makes an LT tire sound BETTER for a light weight trailer.

I can understand that list applying to a heavy or heavy duty enclosed trailer pushing the limits of it's axles and getting side loaded from tight turns all the time. Most LT tires are rated at the same amount as a C range tire which is currently on the trailer.

if someone said they were biased ply so they could tolerate long periods of stationary life which is better than a radial that might go out of round, I would buy that before the list mitch quoted from discount...

I am going to look into the place Adam mentioned and see what they have now and report back.