So last weekend I was talking to Whitney and he was making fun of my trailer tire, which committed suicide all by itself in the storage facility. He said he uses passenger car tires on his trailer.

What do you all use? I'd been led to believe pass. car tires on a trailer is A Bad Idea, but perhaps I've been misled?

 

I'm 90% sure mine are standard, cheapo, radial light truck tires. Just like the ones on my GMC, but way cheaper.

 

you could call Hillwood trailer sales, and they could probably tell ya:
800-754-4202.

 

Not sure whta mine are, I just know that tey are uniroyal radials. One of them is riding in the back of my truck right now due to a nail. I'm thinking that the "nail guard" variety might be a good investment, or some air pressure monitors.

Think about it, a tire goes down in your truck and you sure will know it. If one goes down on the trailer, you might go 500 miles before you notice, by that time the damage is done...

Scott

 

uniroyals cheap at tirerack

 

Well, you're "supposed" top run trailer tires with the appropriate load rating. I think mine are D rated. However, I see many guys using any ghetto tire they can get. It really has to do with load capacity. Ugly things can happen if you overload the tire.

 

use trailer tires.!!!!.....at least a C rating. they start with a ST instead of a P. ST means SPECIAL TRAILER.......

 

"Falken Azenis"

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mike P. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"Falken Azenis" </TD></TR></TABLE>

I actually used old Toyo RA-1's at one point in my poorer days. True trailer tires are the way to go.

 

Goodyear Marathon trailer tires.

 

http://www.championtrailers.com/tire_art.html

 

Ya know, the minute I saw that, I shuddered with fear at the price I thought the word "Goodyear" would bring with it. Imagine my surprise when I see on tire rack that they're 62 bucks a piece. I think we have a winner, thanks Gary!

 

Run real ST trailer tires unless you are desperate on cash in the short run and need to use car tires in the short term until you can get the right tires. The big diff is load rating and carcass structure. Street tires have a much softer sidewall to give a nice right but are generally weeker all around.

When I bought my new open trailer, I specced new ST tires but it arrived on new street tires. They had a much lower air pressure max and max load range. In some states I have heard that it is technically illegal to use tires that at max capacity are below the rated trailer capacity, it is to sell it anyway. A cop has got to be a real dick to get you on that but I have heard reference to it if someone is trying to prove a point. I used that and an unhappy tone of voice a few times until the trailer manufacturer relented and got me the right tires which took it from a 6100 lbs max load on 4 car tires on a 7000 lbs rated trailer to over 10,000 lbs max tire rating. The trailer will never carry that heavy but better to have better tires and not push their specs.

They do cost quite a bit more so get them as a cheap option on a new trailer or shop around a lot if buying them seperate.

 

MY new R&R trailer was shipped with trailer rated LoadStar tires. This brand is made specifically for trailer use. It is very important that you use the correct rating and type because of the load that is put on them. The inflation pressure is alos critical to how the trailer will act behind your tow vehicle. Need the details-I can point you via e-mail.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davidnyc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.championtrailers.com/tire_art.html</TD></TR></TABLE>

Excellent link. Actually that whole website is pretty good.

Very helpful information from anyone, and all with nobody calling anyone names! I'm impressed (see elsewhere for why)

 

Some Goodyear Marathon tires are B load, which is your standard 4 ply tire. Alot of people tend to use passenger tires for trailers which is fine, but there are good possibilities that the trailier will sway (if it has one axle) and bounce.

It really boils down to how much of a load you are carrying and how many axles the trailier has.

 

I have always used either ST or LT. I also prefer bias ply for trailers, since you want the stiff sidewall, not swirm.

I checked the last 3 trailer tires I bought, and they are ST, load range D.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kedwards &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have always used either ST or LT. I also prefer bias ply for trailers, since you want the stiff sidewall, not swirm.

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Back when I was selling tires in the late '80s, they always explained that you wanted bias plys on trailers as they have more inherent rolling resistance than do radials so although they will take a little more energy to pull behind you, the trailer is more likely to stay in line behind you and behave. Radials are more efficient and roll straight easier and could contribute to a bit more trailer motion, sway and wander especially under braking.

 

but, if you have a problem with sway you should be using sway bars on your trailer. The design of the new present day radial, i.e. radial trailer tires, reduces the sway that haunted them in the earlier years. Radial tires run cooler, in turn they last longer and are stronger because of the radial ply design. No warming up like bias ply need.....bump bump bump...

 

Maxx is right to a degree. If you overload the tire, regardless of the new "integrity" of the tire, it WILL sway.