Tire Age

[bruceb58]

Re: Tire Age

Keeping tires off dirt, concrete and grass is an old wives tale. On the other hand, if that concrete/dirt is contaminated with oil or other petroleum products, then that is another matter.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Tire Age

I have a set of Kenda Load Star bias tires that are going on 8 years old and look great, but I may replace em this summer. No cracks, checking etc but you never know. I'd say that trailer tires fail because for one they are a low buck product, but also they sit in one spot for a long time. Not sure if that's the real reason, but think of it none of use usually has the same tires on a vehicle for 8-10 years unless you have a classic car that doesn't get driven much.

 

[bnurczyk]

Re: Tire Age

Large bulge formed on 3 of the 4 tires so both sides of the trailer were affected. Once the bulge formed you could see tread seperation start to occur. Tires were inflated to spec on side of tire. Load on tire is less than 70% of maximum rated load. Speed was typically 55MPH throughtout the trip occasionally hitting a whopping 60 MPH when I wasn't paying attention. I inspected tires carefully before the trip of 1000 miles. Was during the summer with temps between 90 and 100 degrees.

Looks like what Robert was describing above.

And I am curious Mark, why you are so serious about this? Was this enough info for you? Sorry but I don't have any of the "before" pictures of the tires for you.

What brand of tire failed on you and where were they made? I’m really curious, your situation is very familiar!!

One of my buddies at work went on a last minute fishing trip (we have a use it or lose it vacation policy). While getting ready for the long trip ahead (bearing re-pack) he noticed a little dry rot cracking on the surface of his tires. Being in a hurry he ran up to the bog-box outdoor store on bought a pair of pre-mounted wheels/tires. About four hours into the trip he had a tire failure, an hour later the other side went! The only fortunate thing is he put the old tires in the back of the pickup so he had three spares.

And yes they were brand new properly inflated tires, correct size and rating.

The guys at the store did not want to give his money back saying any “road hazard could have caused this”. I don’t know what brand they were but he did go on a rant saying never again will he use ties from China!
His old dry rotted tires got him to the resort and back home again with no further issues.
I learned from his mistake and went to a trailer specialty place and had tires mounted, and I made sure they were made in the good old USA.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Tire Age

What brand of tire failed on you and where were they made?

Made in China of course! Tought to find US made trailer tires these days. When I called up the dealer I work with I was assured these were going to be made in the US before they were ordered. When I got there, I found they weren't but had no choice but to take them. Brand was Hercules which I had researched as having minimal problems.

Even the Tow Masters that I have bought in the past that were made in the US are now made in China.

 

[bnurczyk]

Re: Tire Age

Made in China of course! Tought to find US made trailer tires these days. When I called up the dealer I work with I was assured these were going to be made in the US before they were ordered. When I got there, I found they weren't but had no choice but to take them. Brand was Hercules which I had researched as having minimal problems.

Even the Tow Masters that I have bought in the past that were made in the US are now made in China.

All I can say is shop around and be stubborn, there is a place close to me in northern ILL that does nothing but trailer work. They sell heavy duty trailers for landscape and construction use.
I went with the Towmax STR tires and new DexStar rims, both made in the US.
Do a Google search “trailer tire blowout made in china” you will be amazed at the issues; I can’t believe the D.O.T. isn’t doing more about it.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Tire Age

I've replaced tires on vehicles for age/condition more than I've replaced for tread wear.

This is what it looks like when you rely on tread depth for the primary indication of tire health.

This is what the SeaRay's trailer tires (worse on the front two) looked like one time after returning home from the first run of the year.

I had been on the highway ten minutes earlier.

 

[LilRedNeckGirl]

Re: Tire Age

we just had new rubber put on the trailer, @ twin axle 7500 lb rated. i asked this same question on tire life.
factor in, distance and speed you trailer your boat, factor in are you doing a yearly alignment, factor in the road conditions, factor in the weight vs the weight rateing. ideal is 5 years, @ slow road speed on smooth pavement with a light weight boat, going just a few miles each way a few times a year.
if you travel highway speeds, hit bumpy roads in hot summer conditions, tow a heavy boat 200 miles round trip a few times a year, and didnt align your trailer last year, its adviseable to replace every 2 years .
Trailer tires typicaly fail and before you notice, run down on the rim distroying both tire and rim. On bigger sizes, that gets expensive. Also blow outs at high speed can easily put you in a bad position. i will use the rule of thumb, givin the possiable scenerios, what would I pay to advoid the worst case. so I replace every two years from now on. $400 ~ $500 every two years to be safe is a bargin. We tow each way over 150 miles on 70 mph highways where you have to maintain 60 mph. We go through downtown Richmond Va on I95 where rough roads are an understatment. We take a few 90 mile each way trips, mid summer into Virginia Beach, when you can fry an egg on the road surface. It just makes sence for us to change tires more frequently then 4 or 5 years.