best 215/75/14 tire for the $

[CaptnNOOB]

my current trailer tires are Load Star K550 ST215/75D14, and i am looking to replace them with the best bang for the money ones. my nearby Discount Tire location installs trailer (including boat trailer) tires, and below is the list of all tires they tagged as "best":

- goodyear endurance ST215/75R14 $117/tire
- maxxis M8008 ST ST215/75R14 $90/tire
- carlisle radial trail HD ST215/75R14 $84/tire

there is a $33/tire difference between Carlisle and Goodyear, which totals nearly $100 for three (pair plus the spare). s it really worth it? are there other brands/models that happen to top the three i have listed? any sort of feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

 

[roscoe]

Which ones are made in the USA?

China has been supplying real crap tires to us for the last 15 years or so.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the carlisles will probable start leaking within a week...... as Roscoe stated, tires from china are crap.

 

[racerone]

Myself I am OK with tires from the --------Hooflungthedung -----company for my garden tractor.------A failure there just gets me to the wee fridge and easy chair sooner.------A failure at 60 MPH with a tire on the interstate is not fun.------I spent a couple of years working at a tire manufacturer ( quality assurance / DOT testing ) and all tires are black.------But they are not all the same,

 

[matt167]

We sell 2 models of trailer tires where I work. We will not even order anything else special..

Carlisle Radial Trail and Goodyear Endurance. That's it, nothing else. We cannot stand behind anything else.

NEVER buy a Marathon, or a Sport Trail

 

[dingbat]

One of my fishing partners owns the tire shop. He supports most of the commercial landscape and construction trailers in the area.

When I needed tires four years ago he recommend Greenball Tow Masters. I had never heard of them but he said they held up very well in commercial service.

Ended up putting them the horse trailer as well. So far so good....two trailers, eight tires and four years later.

 

[robert graham]

I wish Michelin would make a really fine quality trailer tire....wonder why they don't?.....maybe tires that don't roll down the road a lot(like cars and trucks) tend to sit parked under a boat trailer for weeks or months, tend to dry rot, seperate,fail???
About every 3 years and I'm looking to buy some fresh tires for my trailer.....blow-outs on the interstate just not worth a couple of hundred dollars for new tires...

 

[dingbat]

I wish Michelin would make a really fine quality trailer tire....wonder why they don't?.....maybe tires that don't roll down the road a lot(like cars and trucks) tend to sit parked under a boat trailer for weeks or months, tend to dry rot, seperate,fail???

It was explained to me that tires need to be used for the "sun screen" to works it way out of the rubber compound.

Always ran Michelins on the Tahoe before we retired it as our daily driver. The downgrade saw it moved out of the garage and parked out by the barn with the trailers. At that point the tires dry rotted and cracked just as quickly as the trailers, if not quicker.

HTSB lists the working life of a tire at 6 years. Just replaced the OE tires (Goodyear) on our 2015 F150 at 38K miles with side wall cracking.

 

[mike_i]

I use maxxis tire on my trailer after a friend that's into off roading told me about them. I've read too many bad things about carlisle.

 

[matt167]

Michelin does not have to make a trailer tire. Many of their LT sizes are rated for trailer use if you read fine prints.. Good tires, horrible warranty and over priced

 

[CaptnNOOB]

thanks everyone for your comments! looks like we have one vote each for Goodyear, Maxxis and Greenball Towmaster. the last one is available from Costco, but i will need to check if they install them onto a trailed that already has a boat on it, like Discount Tire.

 

[poconojoe]

I highly recommend you purchase radials. My boat's dry weight is 3,000 + pounds. It had bias ply tires on it when I bought it used. When I switched to radials, it was like it was riding on a cushion instead of bouncing all over the place. Now if you're towing a row boat or Jon boat, it might not make that much of a difference...I don't know.

 

[CaptnNOOB]

I highly recommend you purchase radials. My boat's dry weight is 3,000 + pounds. It had bias ply tires on it when I bought it used. When I switched to radials, it was like it was riding on a cushion instead of bouncing all over the place. Now if you're towing a row boat or Jon boat, it might not make that much of a difference...I don't know.

thanks for the tip, poconojoe. that was going to be my next question. all four tires mentioned in this thread are radials, so i am pretty much set on that. any opinions on the make/model? thanks again!