Trailer tires

[grimsbylander]

I have to replace 4 tires on my boat trailer after I had one separate down to the belts on Sunday. Any tips on where to buy and brand? I've read too many times about the poor quality of the Goodyear Marathons now. Ideas?

[Skipper D]

get Carlisle's , you'll be glad you did , i have them on all of my seven trailers ........

[grimsbylander]

Interesting Skipper. I read a few negative comments about Carlisle but you never know how people treat their stuff. Are you using commercial tires? I'm looking for ST215/75-14. Thanks!

Oh and btw, the Carlisle's are about $125 vs Hercules at $105.

Edited August 1, 2012 by grimsbylander

[Skipper D]

Interesting Skipper. I read a few negative comments about Carlisle but you never know how people treat their stuff. Are you using commercial tires? I'm looking for ST215/75-14. Thanks!

Oh and btw, the Carlisle's are about $125 vs Hercules at $105.

 

 

Theres good and bad in all things i guess , i've had good luck so far with the Carlisles , my trailers are always working when they go out of the yard , genrealy carrying a fair amount of weight , probably more then most , i've tryed others over the years but they wear realy well over the others i find , the real test for me with them is on our damdem axle trailers which drag lots when your turning with weight , for the weight i like their harder compond . As for the Hercules Tires , i put my first pair of LT's on the wifes jeep liberty a year ago and i would have to say for the money i am liking them , they seem to be standing up to the wear .

[largemouthtrout]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth on the tire issue . Note ... This is just my experience .

 

Years back i had a small travel trailer ( roughly 1000 lbs ) , the tires were old , one went flat so I decided to get some new tires .

 

I went to an RV dealership in between Kitchener and Cambridge to get a set of tires .

 

The person working there was very helpfull in explaining to me , the reasons why you have to get bias ply tires for a trailer .

After a lot of " humming and hawwing " i decided to go with the " middle of the road priced tires " priced at $120 a piece .

 

Not too bad for a 2 ply bias tire , EH !

 

So ... Another customer calls him over to ask a question . While I,m waiting , i see his tire list sitting on the counter and i grab it to look at what other tires are available . My eyes open quite wide .

He runs over and yanks the list out of my hand and says , " thats not for you to look at " .

OH ... ITS NOT FOR ME TO LOOK AT ? ( add swearing here ) .. ( add name calling here ) , you just tried to sell me $40

( add swearing here ) tires for $120 a piece , you ( add name calling here ) .

 

After a very heated one sided conversation on my part and a few of his customers leaving , I too walked out .

 

Then I ended up at a tire store . I bought a new pair of all season , steel belted radials , $60 each , installed and balanced on the rims i had brought with me . He assured me that they would work fine on a trailer , and if i had any problem at all . to just come back no charge .

The tires worked fine .. in fact they were better than the original bias ply tires that i originally had on the trailer . I found my trailer didn,t sway as much . I never had a problem with them at all .

I.m not recomending using passenger tires on your trailer ... just telling you that they worked fine for me .

 

Just food for thought .

 

PS : check princess auto , if you have one near you . they have all kinds of trailer tires .. with or without rims , for a decent price .

[Billy Bob]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth on the tire issue . Note ... This is just my experience .

 

Years back i had a small travel trailer ( roughly 1000 lbs ) , the tires were old , one went flat so I decided to get some new tires .

 

I went to an RV dealership in between Kitchener and Cambridge to get a set of tires .

 

The person working there was very helpfull in explaining to me , the reasons why you have to get bias ply tires for a trailer .

After a lot of " humming and hawwing " i decided to go with the " middle of the road priced tires " priced at $120 a piece .

 

Not too bad for a 2 ply bias tire , EH !

 

So ... Another customer calls him over to ask a question . While I,m waiting , i see his tire list sitting on the counter and i grab it to look at what other tires are available . My eyes open quite wide .

He runs over and yanks the list out of my hand and says , " thats not for you to look at " .

OH ... ITS NOT FOR ME TO LOOK AT ? ( add swearing here ) .. ( add name calling here ) , you just tried to sell me $40

( add swearing here ) tires for $120 a piece , you ( add name calling here ) .

 

After a very heated one sided conversation on my part and a few of his customers leaving , I too walked out .

 

Then I ended up at a tire store . I bought a new pair of all season , steel belted radials , $60 each , installed and balanced on the rims i had brought with me . He assured me that they would work fine on a trailer , and if i had any problem at all . to just come back no charge .

The tires worked fine .. in fact they were better than the original bias ply tires that i originally had on the trailer . I found my trailer didn,t sway as much . I never had a problem with them at all .

I.m not recomending using passenger tires on your trailer ... just telling you that they worked fine for me .

 

Just food for thought .

 

PS : check princess auto , if you have one near you . they have all kinds of trailer tires .. with or without rims , for a decent price .

 

 

X2 on using radial car tires.....HOWEVER, you must make sure they will handle the weight....ratings are printed right on the tires....so if you have 2 tires on your trailer divide the total of your boat, motor and trailer by 2 and that's what one tire will handle. For you Grim, divide by 4......

 

BTW I have been using car radials for OVER 15 years now....they last and last and last and last....well you get the idea....trailer tires for me were only good for about 3-4 years.

[bigbuck]

Trailer tires have a stiffer sidewall then passenger tires. My tire guy sells Hercules trailer tires and hasn't had one come back in the over 5yrs he has been selling them.

[UglyBug]

Kumo will be on my RangerTrail in the spring. Better load rating than most with D load as opposed to C load in most. What ever you choose make sure they use the hi pressure valve stems.

[Terry]

I once said use radial car tires

and I got told many times I was giving out very dangerous advise

however

I had a very heavy ranger boat years ago at a tourney

someone went around slashing tires

I could not get trailer tires but the guy told me radial car tires would work great

I had no choice so I got them and the trailer never ran so nice as it did with the radial car tires and gave me years of service

 

but I would never tell anyone they would be ok

[davey buoy]

I once said use radial car tires

and I got told many times I was giving out very dangerous advise

however

I had a very heavy ranger boat years ago at a tourney

someone went around slashing tires

I could not get trailer tires but the guy told me radial car tires would work great

I had no choice so I got them and the trailer never ran so nice as it did with the radial car tires and gave me years of service

 

but I would never tell anyone they would be ok

 

Terry pulling 3000lbs plus,I haven't tried bias,but the boat pulls straight and seems to be content. That's what matters to me in the drivers seat.

[misfish]

I had no choice so I got them and the trailer never ran so nice as it did with the radial car tires and gave me years of service

 

 

 

Like I said in your post Davey.

[hutch4113]

I have to replace 4 tires on my boat trailer after I had one separate down to the belts on Sunday. Any tips on where to buy and brand? I've read too many times about the poor quality of the Goodyear Marathons now. Ideas?

 

I went to Action Tire in Barrie. Bought Carlisle Radials, which will handle the weight (they will have a list of the tire size/application you need). If I remember correctly, each tire had a load rating of 1500 pounds, so totals 3000 for my application (boat only comes in at 2500).

 

I cannot stress enough the change from Bias Ply to Radial and how the trailer handles. When I pulled out, it was like it wasn't even attached....that is how much of a difference it made. The Bias Ply I replaced were pretty new as well, so it wasn't a case of bad/worn out tires to brand new ones. I noticed that both in braking and take off, the vehicle has less of a time/strain for either. I was not looking for that when I replaced - simply could not find a Bias Ply in the size I needed for a spare....hence went all radial.

 

They are a little more money, but if you have to replace all 4, now is the time to do it, as you can't (or at least should not...hahahahaha) run Radial and Bias Ply together.

[hutch4113]

I went to Action Tire in Barrie. Bought Carlisle Radials, which will handle the weight (they will have a list of the tire size/application you need). If I remember correctly, each tire had a load rating of 1500 pounds, so totals 3000 for my application (boat only comes in at 2500).

 

I cannot stress enough the change from Bias Ply to Radial and how the trailer handles. When I pulled out, it was like it wasn't even attached....that is how much of a difference it made. The Bias Ply I replaced were pretty new as well, so it wasn't a case of bad/worn out tires to brand new ones. I noticed that both in braking and take off, the vehicle has less of a time/strain for either. I was not looking for that when I replaced - simply could not find a Bias Ply in the size I needed for a spare....hence went all radial.

 

They are a little more money, but if you have to replace all 4, now is the time to do it, as you can't (or at least should not...hahahahaha) run Radial and Bias Ply together.

 

I should also advise these are Trailer Rated - Radial Tires - i.e. built for Trailer Use, not Car/Truck use.

[davey buoy]

I should also advise these are Trailer Rated - Radial Tires - i.e. built for Trailer Use, not Car/Truck use.

 

That is my question in a similar thread. I'm not so sure it matters much?.