Trailer Tires

[FreeBeeTony]

Bought the tire posted above from Amazon, they should arrive today. I only put ~25mi/year on the tires.....think they should be fine.
I will update when I get them.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Getting tire covers is really a good idea. For infrequently used tires, UV protection will make them last much longer.

 

[JimS123]

Bought the tire posted above from Amazon, they should arrive today. I only put ~25mi/year on the tires.....think they should be fine.
I will update when I get them.

If all you do is 25 mi/year at city speeds then you should have no problem.

If at some time during those 25 miles you attain highway speeds, then you need tires of reasonable quality.

Either way, the tires shown in your pictures needed to be replace many years ago, regardless of your speed or mileage.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Received tires yesterday, appear to be good quality tires, Trans Eagle Brand.
Only problem is I only got 3!!! Waiting to hear from Amazon/FedEx!!!

 

[Lou C]

Sounds like you’re getting there....
One other thing radials vs bias ply, the sidewall of a bias tire is the full thickness of the tread vs the thinner more flexible sidewalls of a radial tire. So if you have bad beat up ramps like my local one the bias tire will be more durable. The same construction techniques that make radials ride better and grip the road better also make them less durable in certain environments. I know my view goes counter to the prevailing wisdom but then again I have been able to make drum brakes in salt water which all the experts say can’t be done....

 

[H20Rat]

I switched to radials a few years back. What a difference from biased. The boat immediately felt like it was riding on cushions with the radials.
Less bouncing, smoother ride, very noticeable.
I'd never go back to biased.
18 foot bow rider.

Same here. Bias ply tires are ancient technology. Once you run radials on a trailer you won't go back. One thing you didn't mention is the radials has substantially lower rolling resistance also.

 

[matt167]

Modern bias tires as well, have the same thin sidewall as a radial

 

[JimS123]

Same here. Bias ply tires are ancient technology. Once you run radials on a trailer you won't go back. One thing you didn't mention is the radials has substantially lower rolling resistance also.

I guess we all have different requirements. Once I ran radials I was anxious to go back to bias. Now the only time I buy a radial is when bias is not available in that size.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

All I know is I only got 3 tires!!!

 

[bruceb58]

I only buy radial trailer tires. Only way I could imagine buying bias tires if I only drove 100 miles total a year.

 

[starcraftkid]

All of my boats are aluminum, so there's not a lot of weight.
I tried Kenda Load Stars but was getting bad dry rot after only a couple seasons. I didn't have any blow out but a few looked pretty bad. I gave up and started buying LT or just car radials where I could The last pair of 13" Radials I bought 10 years ago still looks fine. I only drive 10 miles to the ramp four or five times a year, it didn't make sense to spend hundreds of dollars every couple years just to throw away tires that still had nipples on the tread because they dry rotted on the rim. I tried covering the tires, putting the trailer on jack stands and storing the tires in the garage, nothing stopped the ST tires from rotting. Under a boat that weighs under 1000 lbs, I can't tell the difference in the car tires vs. the trailer tires other than I don't have to ad air as often.

On my 12" tire trailers, I just started running inner tubes, I'll replace the tires when they pop. I'm not buying new tires every two years to put maybe 50 miles on them before they start cracking.

 

[matt167]

All of my boats are aluminum, so there's not a lot of weight.
I tried Kenda Load Stars but was getting bad dry rot after only a couple seasons. I didn't have any blow out but a few looked pretty bad. I gave up and started buying LT or just car radials where I could The last pair of 13" Radials I bought 10 years ago still looks fine. I only drive 10 miles to the ramp four or five times a year, it didn't make sense to spend hundreds of dollars every couple years just to throw away tires that still had nipples on the tread because they dry rotted on the rim. I tried covering the tires, putting the trailer on jack stands and storing the tires in the garage, nothing stopped the ST tires from rotting. Under a boat that weighs under 1000 lbs, I can't tell the difference in the car tires vs. the trailer tires other than I don't have to ad air as often.

On my 12" tire trailers, I just started running inner tubes, I'll replace the tires when they pop. I'm not buying new tires every two years to put maybe 50 miles on them before they start cracking.

A car tire can work in some instances, but it is an inferior tire for a trailer. Sidewall's are softer, and in a tandem arrangement it could be very bad. LT tires can be ran without any issue due to their similar sidewall construction, as well as cargo van tires given they are the same type

 

[JimS123]

A car tire can work in some instances, but it is an inferior tire for a trailer. Sidewall's are softer, and in a tandem arrangement it could be very bad. LT tires can be ran without any issue due to their similar sidewall construction, as well as cargo van tires given they are the same type

Personally, I think this sidewall story, ST tires, can't use car tires, yada yada is simply the tire manufacturer's BS to sell more tires.

The last TeeNee trailer I bought (a tandem, btw) came from the factory with bias ply CAR tires. What could TeeNee have been thinking? I ran those tires for 25 years and never had a failure or saw sidewall cracks. The boat was garage kept so it only saw sun when parked at the launch ramp. Yeah, that was stupid to keep them that long, but in my defense the launch ramp is only 1 mile away on a 30 mph street.

The ONLY tires I ever had a failure with were Goodyear radial STs that were chinamade. At the time there were no good USA trailer tires. I replaced them with LT tires and had no further problems.

Never had a problem with a USA made bias ply tire, even if it was chinamade.

Just my opinion based on personal experience, governed by my specific set of circumstances.

(PS - the sidewall on an ST tire says not for use on vehicles with passengers. If its not safe for people, what good is it? My baby boat is certainly worth more than a few of the people I've run across.....LOL)

 

[Lou C]

Modern bias tires as well, have the same thin sidewall as a radial

Where did you get this from? Just curious because based on bias ply construction it seems unlikely

 

[matt167]

Where did you get this from? Just curious because based on bias ply construction it seems unlikely

I work at a good tire shop. Sidewall 2 ply usually

 

[matt167]

Personally, I think this sidewall story, ST tires, can't use car tires, yada yada is simply the tire manufacturer's BS to sell more tires.

The last TeeNee trailer I bought (a tandem, btw) came from the factory with bias ply CAR tires. What could TeeNee have been thinking? I ran those tires for 25 years and never had a failure or saw sidewall cracks. The boat was garage kept so it only saw sun when parked at the launch ramp. Yeah, that was stupid to keep them that long, but in my defense the launch ramp is only 1 mile away on a 30 mph street.

The ONLY tires I ever had a failure with were Goodyear radial STs that were chinamade. At the time there were no good USA trailer tires. I replaced them with LT tires and had no further problems.

Never had a problem with a USA made bias ply tire, even if it was chinamade.

Just my opinion based on personal experience, governed by my specific set of circumstances.

(PS - the sidewall on an ST tire says not for use on vehicles with passengers. If its not safe for people, what good is it? My baby boat is certainly worth more than a few of the people I've run across.....LOL)

They have different sidewall flexes making them not suitable for a car.. like I said an LT tire can be used. 50 years ago things were different. My opinion is from a professional standpoint with industry standards

 

[bruceb58]

You can use a P rated tire on a trailer. You just need to derate it 10%. 90% of the time, once you derate it, it won't have the capacity for the load you are trying to tow.

My travel trailer uses 14" tires. There is no way in hell I could find a passenger tire in 14" to support the weight of the trailer even without the 10% derating.

Some people use LT tires in 15" but even then its hard to find 15" LT tires that have a high enough capacity. Sometimes you are just stuck with ST tires.

 

[matt167]

You can use a P rated tire on a trailer. You just need to derate it 10%. 90% of the time, once you derate it, it won't have the capacity for the load you are trying to tow.

My travel trailer uses 14" tires. There is no way in hell I could find a passenger tire in 14" to support the weight of the trailer even without the 10% derating.

Some people use LT tires in 15" but even then its hard to find 15" LT tires that have a high enough capacity. Sometimes you are just stuck with ST tires.

Right and a P rate car tire, the sidewall flex isn't right on a tandem.

Some 5th wheel campers actually require LRF or LRG tires.

 

[Lou C]

Another option is the LT used on delivery vans, these are made by European manufacturers and might be better quality than typical ST trailer tires

 

[matt167]

Cargo tires are just smaller LT E tires.