Trailer tires

[dfv87]

OK I have a seasonal so my boat stays put most of the summer and I only trailer my boat only 2-3 times per year (if that) over 10-20 miles. How long should my tires last? I do regular hub maintenance (Checking every spring) but the tires look brand new but I know they are not... at what point do I need to think replacements? I don't want to blow them up when we make a trolling run this fall coming home at 3AM...

Edited August 28, 2015 by dfv87

[delcecchi]

Judging by the ones on my trailer and on my Wife's car, you ought to get 15 years, unless the rig is outside all the time.  Look for cracks in the sidewall.

Edited August 29, 2015 by delcecchi

[BoxMN]

If Carlisle's, get new ones now, and don't get them again. Seriously. They suck.

From research on other threads, tires start to get bad at sevens years from manufacture date stamped on them. I have had tires start to break apart right about that time, one taking a fender. I know many others will say they last longer, and I m sure many will. But seven years is what the manufactures have said, I believe.

My snowmobile trailer tires are older than that, and one boat has trailer with older tires, but I would not trust them too far. We have commodores on our main trailer now and they are quality tires that I would push over the 7 year mark with.

Carlisles, they will get about 3 years

[Jim Almquist]

BoxMN is 100% correct on the Carlisle's. I would shred  them about every 3 years it seemed. I would look back and see that I was riding on the belts...again!!!

I went in to my tire dealer ( Duluth Tire) and explained what was going on and he recommended a radial in about the same size but a better load rating and they have been going strong now for around 6 years with some fairly long trips. The cost was not that much more then what I had been paying for the junk Carlisle's.

[hitthebricks]

Carlisle's are junk, tried them once on a work trailer.  My 2001 Shorelander trailer with tandom axels came with Goodyear Marathons.   I replaced them this year only because they were 14 years old and I run up to Rainy Lake from the twin Cities 3-6 times a year and don't want to invite problems.

I need new tires on my work trailer but not sure what to get.  Any suggestions for that?

 

HTB

 

 

[Jeremy airjer W]

If you look at the DOT stamp on the tire the last 4 digits are the build date. The first two numbers are the week built and the last two are the year built. 3510 for example would have been built on the 35th week of 2010.

@hitthebricks Marathons come in many sizes and are ideal on any trailer. Just mounted four an a tandem axle enclosed landscaping trailer the other day. Just make sure you get the right load rated tire for the trailer....

[hitthebricks]

Air Jer, I finally replaced the trailer tires with Tow Max.  I checked out the Marathons but found they don't make a tire with a 10 ply rating

[Jeremy airjer W]

Air Jer, I finally replaced the trailer tires with Tow Max.  I checked out the Marathons but found they don't make a tire with a 10 ply rating

what size did you need?

[Tom7227]

I would bet that those with problems after only a few years have some sort of alignment problem with the trailer or have tires that aren't rate for the load or run under inflated.   I just replaced some 20 year old Carlisle tires but it's on a rig that gets towed about 10 miles every 5 years.  The rig sits outside so weathering is an issue but wasn't fatal to these tires.

[propster]

My old ('95) single axle Ranger Trailer uses ST215/75R14 tires. The heaviest duty tire I can find is still only a C rated tire.  I believe my load is borderline weight-wise for a single axle - I've seen other nearly identical rigs (690) in same or one year newer running double axle trailers.  Bottom line i'd like to get D or E rated tires but nobody seems to offer them in this size.  I've been running Tow Masters (previously Marathons, but same problem) and they just don't hold up more than 2 years it seems.  We even quit towing the boat back and forth from home and left it with my son in Bemidji the last several years - doing 3-4 trips a year to LOTW and a few others to Leech, Miltona, etc from Bemidji, but certainly not a ton of miles.  We made sure they were properly inflated all season, and stored inside in the winter, and even in a garage this last summer, and I still had both of them go this summer. Had the axle checked and they said it's good. New bearings every other year and repacked every year.  Any suggestions?

The only other options I've heard of is 1) some guys say go with a Kumho 857 - they say the 205R14LR D will fit my wheels and are a much tougher D rated tire. 2)  I've also heard some guys suggest a light truck radial may be available in a heavier rated tire.  Are there cons to using a LT tire on a boat trailer vs an ST?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Jeremy airjer W]

My old ('95) single axle Ranger Trailer uses ST215/75R14 tires. The heaviest duty tire I can find is still only a C rated tire.  I believe my load is borderline weight-wise for a single axle - I've seen other nearly identical rigs (690) in same or one year newer running double axle trailers.  Bottom line i'd like to get D or E rated tires but nobody seems to offer them in this size.  I've been running Tow Masters (previously Marathons, but same problem) and they just don't hold up more than 2 years it seems.  We even quit towing the boat back and forth from home and left it with my son in Bemidji the last several years - doing 3-4 trips a year to LOTW and a few others to Leech, Miltona, etc from Bemidji, but certainly not a ton of miles.  We made sure they were properly inflated all season, and stored inside in the winter, and even in a garage this last summer, and I still had both of them go this summer. Had the axle checked and they said it's good. New bearings every other year and repacked every year.  Any suggestions?

The only other options I've heard of is 1) some guys say go with a Kumho 857 - they say the 205R14LR D will fit my wheels and are a much tougher D rated tire. 2)  I've also heard some guys suggest a light truck radial may be available in a heavier rated tire.  Are there cons to using a LT tire on a boat trailer vs an ST?

Any help would be appreciated.

The other option is to bump up to a 15" wheel. There are load range D and E options in a 225/27R15 marathon

If i remember right a lot of bigger horse trailers come with Goodyear Wrangler HP tires. They seem to do just fine.

[delcecchi]

Have you tried to call Ranger and see what they suggest?  It is a Ranger boat on a Ranger trailer, right? 

[propster]

Jeremy, I'd then have to cut off the fenders to fit a larger tire. Del, I have not contacted Ranger for awhile now, other than a couple years ago when they confirmed that single axle should be ok with theat rig and they're not sure why I'm having trouble with tires lasting.

[delcecchi]

OK, I googled your tire size and got to etrailer.com

They have a load range D radial trailer tire in that size. 2200 pounds rating. 

Taskmaster is the brand. 

They sell with or without wheels. 

What does your rig weigh?  Could it be an alignment/bent axle type issue?

[Surface Tension]

Load range C would be around 1800 lbs.  On a single axle trailer you share that 1800 lbs with 2 tires.   If your at the upper limits of that load range the tires would need to be inflated to the max lbs stated on the tire.   Under inflated and overloaded tires heat up.

 When you add the weight of trailer and boat and consider then distance you travel, IMO a tire that barely meets the load rating is not going to last.  In those cases its not the tire manufacturer at fault.

 Why then do boat manufactures do this? To keep the prices down.  Its not the tire manufacturer that put the undersized tire on the trailer.

  They make a 14" tire with load range D and E.
 

[delcecchi]

When they say "1800 pounds" is that per each tire?  So that would be 3600 total for two tires?    And for load range D more like 4400 pounds? 

If the tires won't have a useful life at max load, how did they decide on max load rating?

[Jeremy airjer W]

They make a 14" tire with load range D and E.

But are the "GOOD" tires?

[Surface Tension]

When they say "1800 pounds" is that per each tire?  So that would be 3600 total for two tires?    And for load range D more like 4400 pounds? 

If the tires won't have a useful life at max load, how did they decide on max load rating?

  Correct and I edited my reply to simplify that.     If you look a the tire it'll say something like load range c max load 1800 @ 50 psi max.    I'd be willing to bet a good number of people are putting 32 psi in their trailer tires because that is what the car takes.   Then there are those tires that are run darn near flat.

   Next is improper ball height. This is more to do with tandem axles.  In a nutshell an axle is over loaded and the other under loaded.  How is under loading an axle a bad thing you ask.  The camber of the axle is matched to the GVWR of the trailer.    Then we go onto bent axles or spindles.  When you put new tires on your truck you usually have the fount end aligned but we never do that with a trailer.  If your old trailer tire has uneven wear then the new tire you put on will have uneven wear.   My point is its not always the tire fault.

[propster]

What Del and Frank are pointing out is exactly why I'd like to move up to a D or E tire.  If i recall I'm at about 3500 lbs with my rig, so borderline for the C's I've been using.  I will check out the etrailer one Del.  Frank, which 14" tires are you aware of that are D and E?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Good point about checking the tire pressure rating for the tire, Frank!