Race trailer tires, I HATE them!

I took my 1969 Dart GTS H code 4 speed car to Woodburn Sunday morning along with a lot of other parts to try selling them at the annual Mopar car show, race and swap meet, it didn't sell
On the way back late yesterday afternoon I got stopped by a Oregon State trooper who informed me that they had receive several calls on my trailer having a blown tire on the right side
I do pass slower cars going or coming back from the race
The right front Tow King brand E rated tire was indeed shredded
The right rear E rated Tow Master brand tire had thrown the tread but was still holding air, THANKS to GOD
I had felt some bumping for short while, maybe three or four minutes, back about twelve miles before being stopped so I'm really lucky it didn't cause more damage to me or the truck and trailer coming over the Cascade Mountains over on Santiam pass
I've had more trailer tire trouble than I can remember on all three race trailers I've own in the last 20 yrs. I've also had some tires blow out on one of my 1 ton car hauler years ago also so I don't know the answer to tire problems on race trailers or car hauler trucks that sit a lot and don't get used a lot
I bought four new Maxis Brand ten ply rated trailer tires (made in India, not the U.S. ) for the trailer several months ago, I had two of them mounted up as spares ready to run in the trailer so I put one of them on the back axle because I couldn't break the lug nuts loose on the front rim with the hand tools I carry it the trailer tool box
I think all of the tires on the trailer are around 4 yrs old or a maybe a little over that
I was less than 6 miles from home so I limped it home to finish changing the other three of the old tires on the trailer to the new ones now
I had thought about changing both of the left side tires on Saturday in case I had troubles with them, but I didn't
Most of the road from Bend to Salem is two lane highway with wide shoulders but it is not real safe to be changing tires on the side of the road, especially on the driver sides of any vehicle
Be safe, when in doubt, change them out Just like race parts

Cab: if they are 16 inch rims look at Bridgestone Duravis tires. I worked on a fleet of pickups with trailers. These ended our tire problem and are very competetively priced. Also get rid of the rubber valve stems and use bolt in ones. Birdtracker

Yea, I can't remember the last time I actually wore out a 16" trailer tire. FWIW, 15" are worse.

If I can ever afford another trailer, it will be a 3 axle 6,000+ lbs ea. If one blows, the 2 remaining should do a good job of supporting that side instead of one bearing all the weight and probably getting damaged. It will also give me time find a safe place to pull over to change the flat.

My trailer has 15 inch rims, I should have bought six lug 16 inch rims and tires years ago, huh
My next trailer, if that happens, will have 16 inch rims and tires for sure

one of the best ways to extend the life of your trailer and tow vehicle tires is to keep them covered and out of the weather while not in use, and remove them or cover them in the winter months, also if the for winter storage park the trailer on wooden planks and not on the dirt or gravel driveway, I jack mine up to take most or all of the weight off the tires and cover them for the winter this go's for the motorhome also.

A friend of mine found that the solution to his trailer tire problems was to replace two of them at the start of each season. No tire stays on the trailer longer than three years (three axle trailer).
Buys his tires at "home", on his terms, not from "whoever-I-can-find-open-at-whatever-the-price-is, kinda tire store.
Fixed his beside the road tire problems and tire budget is under control.

Brian

42 years of towing and I’ve had tire issues 3 times with lots of towing in pa and Ohio. 15 inch tires and buy new ones every 4-5 years. Never taken off during the winter and parked on gravel but I do inflate them 10 pounds over the poundage listed on the tire. My new trailer I bought last year has been updated to 16 inch tires.

Definitely over inflate them by a little bit by 10#s or so.

In 45 years of towing trailers, nether I nor my buddy's have ever had a blow out. (Knock on wood) the enclosed trailer I have now is the only one with a "trailer" tire on it. The first set just fell apart sitting in the yard after three years of not using. Second set now has me afraid they're going to do the same thing, possibly at speed. One dude told me to use LT tires, he had switched and had no more problems. He said if he gets pulled over a gets a ticket it's still cheaper than exploding tires and tearing up the trailer. Something about side loading of trailer tires don't work where as LT tires are made to handle that.
By the way, we only used truck tires on our early trailers too.

LT tires flex so you have a good ride. Take 11% off your load rating when running those instead of the stuff wall ST tires. LTs will run hotter with the flexing.

I run LT235/75/15 Toyo Open Country tire on my trailer. They have a C load range and max inflation of 50psi. Even hauling my tractor around they don't squat or run hot. Have had them for 7 or 8 years and have never lost one. Can't say that about the trailer tires that came on it.

When it comes to 15" trailer tires, I've yet to see any that aren't junk.

Sorry to hear about this Cab. My brother and me were the guys with the booth next to yours (hemi parts under the canopy). Enjoyed talking with you throughout the day.

- EM

I’m not going to “over inflate” my trailer tires.... especially if I’m leaving town this time of year where ambient temps are 110+ and the road temps reach 150. That and along with the dry climate is trailer tire he77 my friends.

I usually run 80-85 (95 max) on my current set of Load Star (Kenda) 16” ST tires. The 2 spares I now have are G (110 max). The tires alone are over 50lb. I’ll buy two more next year and rotate them on to the trailer and keep 2 of the old tires for spares. Those tires actually rate higher than the wheels they’re on.

I still find it difficult to keep tires more than 3 years down here. I keep them covered with those white lined covers that stretch over the tires. When I had 15” tires, I was lucky to get 2.

My biggest prob is that I had one tire that used to run 10-12 degrees warmer than the rest. “IF”....well, when I’d lose a tire it would be that one. Of course the next one would be the poor single tire that took the brunt of the load while the other one was dying. I ended up finding a trailer repair place and had the measuring points from cargo mate in hand. We ended up replacing one axle and upgraded the leaf springs hardware to a newer Dexter design that is fully greasable. So far 2400 miles and perfect tire wear and dead even tire temps.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Suspension/Dexter-Axle/K71-653-00.html

dont ever run trailer tires,run lt tires

If guys are having trouble with 15 inch tires on an open trailer you better look for other issues. Shouldn’t happen. Heck my first trailer had mobile home tires on it that I paid 20.00 for mounted and they even lasted on an open trailer and they were made for a one way trip to set the mobile home.

10lbs makes a world of difference!

I was told by a commercial Cooper tire dealer to always inflate any tire to 5 lbs. above the sidewall rating, he was in Victorville, CA in the Mojave desert near J
I do that on all my trailer and truck tires, works fine for me except them dang trailer tires coming apart
I looked last night for E or G rated LT 15 inch tires on Summit, I didn't find any and there is no way I'm putting C or D load rated tires on my trailer
I have weighed the trailer multiple times loaded and unloaded, max weight has been 8640 Lbs. on the axles and adding 700 Lbs. on the rear truck axle while removing 300 Lbs. off the front truck axle with my old Duster

That E or G rated tire won't help you. I have been down that road with 10 ply, load range E and it didn't help. Like most of the reply's have said,you have to go to a 16" tires. My problems stopped as soon as I put them. I think i paid less than a $1000 to get 5 16"tires and wheels.

The 16 inch tires will have the same problems. I bought a featherlite with 16 inch tires 3 years and 2 months till the first blow out then on the same trip another blew out. I replaced them and 2 years almost to the day had 1 blow out. I was super anal about pressure I checked it before each trip. I raced NMCA for 5 years and put 40,000 miles on the trailer. The 3rd set of tires were on trailer when I sold it. Trailer tires suck I'm going to try LT 16 inch tires.

I'm trying the new Goodyear Endurance - Size: ST225/75R15 will see if they hold up.

some of the big power boat races run a LT tire with good results.

I blew 2 of the oem Featherlite LT235/85R16 Kumhos, but they were 10 years old. Jock Nicholson tipped me to only use LT tires, that have a complete UTG. It seems very few do.

My new USA made Goodyears have been doing fine for the last 20 months so far. Since we are in the desert we will see how they hold up from this point forward. It has not been unusual for me to start having problems about now. Even vehicle tires do not last near as long out here in the desert SW. When I was on my way home from the dyno Monday it was 121 coming across the desert, I saw my truck tire pressures rise 8lbs..

The lot at work yesterday was 168-180 on the blacktop..... brutal!

Excellent tire. I would bet I put more miles than most here on my trailer and I went with those last year. Wearing great....even the steer tires show no inside wear. I would recommend them highly. Not cheap but well worth the extra dollars.

Is this just the trailer axle weight or total gross truck and trailer?

8600 is a lot of weight on what I'm assuming is a 235/75/15 x 4. If it was a 1/2 ton pickup you would have to have 3500 lbs in the box to weigh that and you'd be surprised to get out of the driveway.

In any case I'd be running the highest load rated LT tire I could get for that size that had a highway speed rating of at least 75 mph.

Trailer tires are for utility trailers that never leave the farm.

Kevin

Buy 4 tire covers AND USE THEM.. I have blown
out 1 tire in all the years of hauling a 43'
enclosed trailer.. mine are 16" (4 tires only)
but are covered... I had 1 cover blow off while
it was parked.. thats been the ONLY tire to blow
but I also buy the best tires(brand names).. sun
light KILLS TIRES

I always carry a spare but have not had to use it. Better luck I guess. Running far and fast, I like to keep tire load to maximum 75% of rating. If I can't get make that goal, I get a higher rated tire... either higher ply rating or bigger. I inflate to rated pressure + 5 psi. I have mostly run trailer tires on my trailers but would not hesitate to run LT.

As general comment, trailer tires are rated at a certain speed and temperature (?? 65 MPH and ?? degrees F). Running hotter or faster de-rates the tires thus the need to have extra capacity.

I checked mine again tonight as I like to keep them at 90 pounds. All ready for another race weekend.

Is this just the trailer axle weight or total gross truck and trailer?

8600 is a lot of weight on what I'm assuming is a 235/75/15 x 4. If it was a 1/2 ton pickup you would have to have 3500 lbs. in the box to weigh that and you'd be surprised to get out of the driveway.

In any case I'd be running the highest load rated LT tire I could get for that size that had a highway speed rating of at least 75 mph.

Trailer tires are for utility trailers that never leave the farm.

Kevin [/quote]The tires are 225x75x15 ST E rated for 2830 lbs. per tire, the axle weights is what I posted so it has 11320 Lbs. load carrying abilty on all four tires and 8490 lbs. on three tires
the truck weighs a tad over 7600 Lbs with me in it with a half of tank of diesel and the trailer hooked up going down the road to the races with the old duster in it. My current S/P car weighs right at 1000 Lbs. less than the Duster did
I am going to reweigh it again empty and then with the new race car in it so I have current weight on the trailer going down the road.
I dug through my tire receipts for the truck and trailer and the tires that blew out may have been over ten years old
I will buy the covers and use them from now on
Hopefully this post will help someone else from repeating my mistake, I honestly thought that the tires on the passenger where less than three years old
Thanks to all for your help and comments

The tires are 225x75x15 ST E rated for 2830 lbs. per tire, the axle weights is what I posted so it has 11320 Lbs. load carrying abilty on all four tires and 8490 lbs. on three tires
the truck weighs a tad over 7600 Lbs with me in it with a half of tank of diesel and the trailer hooked up going down the road to the races with the old duster in it. My current S/P car weighs right at 1000 Lbs. less than the Duster did
I am going to reweigh it again empty and then with the new race car in it so I have current weight on the trailer going down the road.
I dug through my tire receipts for the truck and trailer and the tires that blew out may have been over ten years old
I will buy the covers and use them from now on
Hopefully this post will help someone else from repeating my mistake, I honestly thought that the tires on the passenger where less than three years old
Thanks to all for your help and comments [/quote]

My 2 axle trailer with living quarters is close to 10k lbs. loaded. As Cab stated, my ST225/75 15, E rated tires have a total weight rating of 11,320 lbs. I just put 4 USA made Goodyear Endurance tires on a couple of weeks ago because I didn't trust the Chinese made tires that were on it any longer. The Endurance trailer tires are highly recommended by many people and I'm happy with them after just coming back from an 850 mile round trip.

For an extreme case you may want to check out 19.5" conversions. It is fairly common for trucks with heavy campers to swap out 16" to 19.5". Much heavier load capacity than any 16". Just a thought.