I need a good trailer tire...

What's good? A passenger car tire doesn't have a high enough load rating. Are there any good trailer specific tires out there? Or should I just round up some name brand LT tires in the size I need and use that?

Power King makes a real good trailer the Lt tires will also work but the sidewalls will.more than likely give up before you wear the tire out.

What type of trailer, what type of hauling, how many miles a year.

Many trailer tires are still available as ST (speacial trailer) in bias ply tires.

The life limitation on steel belted is the steel belting. Should there be any puncture or permiation of moisture to the steel belting, it will rust, and cause carcass failure.

Bias ply materials wont have that problem.

Steel belted tires should be replaced between 5 and 10 years service no-mater tread life or miles driven. Anything more than 10 years old is asking for catostrophic failure of tire.

Bias ply tires can last adnausium, so long as the rubber material is not damaged.

Prolonged direct exposure to sunlight is as damaging to rubber as it is to your skin, if tires are inside, or shielded when not used, bias ply tires are going to be the best bet on a limited miles use trailer.

At no time EVER should a P rated or passenger car tire be used on tandum or tri-axle trailers. The sidewalls do not have the reinforcement neccessary for the lateral load of the tire when the trailer pivots. P or passanger rated tires will fail with little to no warning from excess sidewall loads.

LT tires, so long as the tire rating is E load range or better will suffice on tandum axle trailers, as the tires have a 4 ply sidewall. LT tires rated less than load range E should not be used. (There are D and C load range for LT rated tires, both have a standard 2 ply sidewall, with 6 and 8 ply respectively in the tread area.)

Don't buy a GoodYear

maxxis 10 ply load range E

This is for my 18ft open trailer. Are any of these tires made in the US?

bbf-falcon wrote:Don't buy a GoodYear

I've had good luck with the Goodyear Marathon line in the past, is the quality suffering on these now?

richter69 wrote:maxxis 10 ply load range E

this

schmitty wrote:

bbf-falcon wrote:Don't buy a GoodYear

I've had good luck with the Goodyear Marathon line in the past, is the quality suffering on these now?

YES Rob the Good Year was one of the best out there back a few years ago but have gone to the dogs the Power King is the best I have seen lately

Good to know Jim, the hay trailer I just got has the Power Kings on it, and I was a little sceptical, because I'd never heard of them before. Good to know they are good tires.

Rob,the problems I have had and observed from other customers w/Goodyear load range E, is the tread is coming loose and just rolling off the tire. When they start coming loose,a big bulge will appear and start thumping.After that its all down hill.

bbf-falcon wrote:Rob,the problems I have had and observed from other customers w/Goodyear load range E, is the tread is coming loose and just rolling off the tire. When they start coming loose,a big bulge will appear and start thumping.After that its all down hill.

X2 that what we was seeing at Pace American plus when the tread started coming off it would take out the fender we went to maxxis they are also good trailer tire dry rote quick only get about 2 years out of them. Plus we was having problem get the volume we needed so they switch to power king used them until they shut down and sold out to Look Trailers.I never seen a Power King come apart like that we used Power King the last 4 years we was open before the sale.My Power King tires still look great after 3 years I don't pull my trailer alot as I didn't have time to go to the track much last year.

Have a 28 foot Wells Cargo tandem trailer that came with the Goodyears. I keep the tires properly inflated and the trailer is stored inside, heated and cooled environment. One of the Goodyears just splt all around the tread, fortunately lost air before the tread came off and damaged the trailer. Changed over to the Carlisle's as I had these on a previous trailer with no problems for years. I'm sure there are other good brands but I completely agree with the other posts, stay away from the Goodyears. Maybe they were OK in the past, but something is definitley wrong with the new batches.

I've got a 28' Vintage, loaded up with loaded cabinets, generator, car, scooter, 55 gal on fuel etc. Pretty heavy.

I've got a set of the Power King TowMax. They are 15" Load range E, 10 ply rated. One season so far and no complaints. Work well.
If you stay with a 15" wheel, these or the Maxxis is the way to go. With an open trailer you may be maxxed out with a 15" due to fender clearance. For an enclosed with the room, step up to a 16" wheel with a E range LT. I wanted to last year, but the racing account was a little low.

Before this set I got 5 years out of the same spec tire made by Denman. Denman went bankrupt last year and I think they were the last US made source for E rated 15" trailer tires.

Its a shame that Denman went belly up,I bought 6 new leftovers for mine and I lovem.

dfree383 wrote:what David Said.... I don't think their are any more USA produced trailer tires.

Trust me, there isn't. I've looked everywhere from south Ms to freaking Ohio and everyone says they are all made in China. The Goodyears mentioned are made in China as well and cost about $180 each vs $100-$125 for the others. The story is Goodyear sold their molds to a Chinese company a few years ago and there is one chinese tire that looks identical to the Goodyear tire now. I've bought 3 tires in 3 years for my trailer since I bought it. All blow outs. I check pressures everytime I leave so I don't think that is the issue and I haul a 1800# car in a 15000# rated trailer. Everyone I have talked to has said 4 years max on a set of tires now. I finally replaced all 6 with a "better" Chinese brand (so the tire guy says..lol) but I can't remember the name. I can ask one of the girls to check the name tomorrow if you want. If you are buying fresh I would buy 16 or 17" rims and buy 8/10 Michelin LT tires. That is what everyone says to do that I talked to. I would have done that but I would have had to buy new rims and that added to new tires on a triple axle gets expensive real fast. They are rated slightly less but you will have a quality tire that will last.

I ended up buying some bias plys on it. Made in China, like all else. The trailer supply place sells the shit out of them. We'll see how they hold up. If they blow I'll find a set of LT radials to stick on there. I think these will suffice for the minimal use it gets.