Trailer tires

[Stosh]

I have a brand new trailer with tires that are wearing badly. I've been on a few sites, talked to a tire dealer and the consensus is that most if not all trailer tires are now made in China, and th quality is very poor. So here's my question, what would be wrong with using LT rated truck tires on a trailer? Any one out there with experience doing this?
Thanks
Stosh

 

[bigbruce]

Let google be your friend on this question. There is a lot of stuff on this issue on various forums. From my reading of a lot of the info on this, there are two key factors to consider:
1. Truck tires are designed for trucks - as being the "lead" vehicle - and trailer tires are designed to be the follower.
2. Most tire failures are the result of improper tire care - primarily inflation related issues. Trailer tire wear problems are more often than not related to under inflation....most people just don't check the things often enough.

 

[Stosh]

New trailer tires are inflated to 50#s (max). I had my old trailer for 13 years, same boat but different tires. After going to many forums, I see the short life of the off shore tires is common. I'd rather not have to worry about trailer tires. I got almost 100,000 K'S (5yrs) out of my last set of michelins on my truck. Would be nice to get 5 yrs out of LTs on my trailer providing there are no safety concerns.
Stosh

 

[marula]

Trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls and are designed to flex less and follow a straighter line causing the trailer to sway less as the trailer is the follower.

Thats the theory anyways.

 

[bigbruce]

Again, there's a ton of stuff out there on this topic. Google it and you will find all kinds of opinion - with most of the weight of opinion in favour of using ST rated tires for trailers.

 

[vetteman]

I have a brand new trailer with tires that are wearing badly. I've been on a few sites, talked to a tire dealer and the consensus is that most if not all trailer tires are now made in China, and th quality is very poor. So here's my question, what would be wrong with using LT rated truck tires on a trailer? Any one out there with experience doing this?
Thanks
Stosh

I've been using offshore trailer tires on my boat trailer and flatdeck trailer for years. Can't tell you the mileage on them but it's substantial. The tires still look like new with minimal tread wear. The flatdeck has made numerous trips up the Alaska highway, heavily loaded, and through the Chilcotin with a lot of that time on secondary (gravel) roads and highways. I build trailers as a hobby and I've found that most excessive tire wear is a result of two things. Incorrect tire pressure ( easily remedied) and overloaded trailers causing bent axles which throws your camber off. Dragging brakes can also add to your problem but that's a problem which is also easily remedied.If your camber is off then you can kiss your tires goodbye. It's just a matter of time. The only set of tires I've lost due to incorrect camber was a set of high end high dollar Goodyear Marathon tires. Kissed $500 goodbye. Not any fault of the tires but as said, a bent axle. Ultimately that was my fault.
Remember too that it's illegal to mix tires rated for trailer service with tires rated for any other service.
Properly looked after, and on a trailer that has a good axle,the offshores will last you a lot of years.
Dave

 

[Stosh]

Dave

Thanks for the great info. My previous galvanized trailer was the biggest single axle available with leaf springs and drum breaks and never had tire (Marathons) wear issues. The new trailer is the biggest single axle aluminum I could find, but with a torsion axle, sealed bearings and disc breaks (just got sick of replacing breaks ever 4 or 5 years). I've had the trailer bunks lowered, but since the tires have already worn prematurely it will be hard to tell if lowering will fix the problem. I just blamed it on the tires. I'll keep an eye on it when I start using it on a regular basis and go back to Marathons in the future.

Again - thanks for your reply
Stosh