Trailer Tires??
 

Looks like my Carlisles are starting to grow steel hair on the edges and bulges. They are 225/75R15. load range D. I did a search on the net and found some problems with all radial trailer tires. Mine are about 4yrs old and not many miles on them. To Loto once, and short trips all other times.
Is any one having any luck with trailer tires? What brand shall I go for??

Thanks
Dick

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

no matter what you put on trailer tires wear funny. just the nature of the beast. to be honest four yrs is plenty for a tire. its silly to cut corners with tires when you have so much invested in the boat that you are trailering. in my eyes good tires are a must, and checking your tire preasure before each trip will save you a lot of wear problems and give you better life. i go with mich and good year. thats just me.... stecz

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Been using Goodyear Marathons for years(and many miles) on both car and boat trailers and never a problem :cool: .

Worst part of trailer tires is trailer axle alignment...none to speak of :(
I also followed a friend down the road and watched his axle flex when he hit bumps. His would always wear the edges , both inside and outside.

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

I always run the max psi.. check them all the time. just havent run that far on them and one decides to break a belt. I was hoping for longer life.. If they have to be changed every two years no matter how many miles.. well.
I have to decide, do I buy 4 or just replace the one.??

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Goodyear Marathons here .. But my trailer goes 2 miles a year :drink:

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

I blew a Carlisle last week going to LOTO and called the company to see what they would do about it, I gave the lady all the info on the tire and she said I would have to call Goodyear because they made those tires for them. I have also foung out that Carlise has now been making Goodyear Marathons for about a year and a half. I'm going to go with Heritage I think.

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Believe it or not but ultra-violet rays (Dry rot) also deteriorate trailer tires. When you wash your boat, wash the trailer too.

Oh yeah, trailers that sit for a long period will cause axle berings to "flat side" so move that trailer a foot or two now and then.

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

All good advice, thanks. I found an RV site that talked about the Carlisle's and Goodyear Marathons. The main contention was that both will peel the tread off early in life. One guy posted entries from a gov study or some place where people sent in their complaints. Lots of problems with trailer tires from these two companies. Now if both are made by the same company.. well. I can see what is going on. They have a problem and wont admit it.

I have very little wear on these tires, because I dont have that many miles on them. I always watch tire psi with a dial type gauge and all that. I have seen the flex in the axels and try not to make sharp turns to avoid peeling the tires off the rims, but.
This boat/trailer combination is a dual axle, 28' Checkmate. I would guess with full tank on the trailer I am at about 8500 lbs. The tires are rated at 9800. So that leaves room for plenty of beer and ice. But I make sure I pick that up on the way, to avoid any overloading for long hauls. Its a good 35 miles to where I launch. With all that in mind. I woke up this morning thinking of my old boat.
25' Check, combination could have weighted around 6000. I bought the boat two years old and it had car tires on it!!! Radials!! I was told they would let go at any moment. Well not being a wealthy man.. I didnt change them out until I was ready to order my new boat and sell the old one. The tread was worn pretty good and cracking and all, I figured it was time. I figure the tires were at least 10 yrs old. Talk about living on the edge in today's trailer tire standards. I replaced them with a bias belted tire because I knew the new boat was on it's way. My son had the boat for a few years and sold it.
My point is.. why, with the lastest technology, cant tire manufactures build something that lasts any more. I could see it if I ran a lot of miles, didnt check psi, wasn't careful turning, was close to or over the rated load, etc. My Carlisle tire and the ones on that RV forum failed due to belts letting go and then the tread peels off. And of course the company cant stand behind it because their bottom line would go down and the stock holders would complain and they would have to hire a new CEO for millions, etc..

Sorry got carried away.
I will look into the Heritage brand and any other to find out who has had the best luck in most situations. I know the Tire Rack has opinon polls on what they sell and epinions has some too. Looks like I am done for the season, more cam problems, so I have time to research. Maybe i should wait until the begining of next season so I can get a few more months out of the new ones.

Thanks.. keep the info coming.

Dick

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Hey Dick,

My Myco came with "Goodyear Marathons". I think that says a lot, we know what kind of trailer they build.

Personally I have had great luck with Goodyear on everything I drive over the years and they are my brand of choice.

My trailer has been on the road three seasons now and the only problem I have had was a leaking valve stem when it was first delivered.

We have approximately 28,000 miles on the trailer and the tires look GREAT. We have not had one problem at all out of them.

I plan to change them out next season just to be on the safe side.

ALWAYS keep the proper tire pressure in the at all times. I run 80 PSI and check them with a gauge before any long trip. I also check the tire temperature at every rest area with a laser thermometer. If you have a tire on the same side that is 10 degrees or more hotter than the others on the same side "you better pull it off", it's going to blow!

Good Luck

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Dick,

Almost forgot.

I was at Bill Martin's Tire Center (Statesville, NC) on Saturday and talked to Billy about this exact thing. I have not had the first problem out of my Goodyears. However he said they had a good customer that had nothing but problems out of the Goodyears on a large travel trailer. The guy could not make a single long trip without losing at least one tire.

Billy thought that the trailer was too heavy for the axles and tires it came with. It is a 40 Footer with just two axles. I really to not know how the guy maintains his stuff either.

Bottom line is that he changed him over to Bridgestone's that have a MUCH thicker and stiffer side wall and he says the guy is VERY happy, that it has solved most of his problems.

I did not ask about the series or model of these Bridgestones, but if you want it just give me a call.

Take care
Mark

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Hi Mark,
I will give you a call.. need to anyway. My tires are load range D.. max was 65psi I believe. So you may be in a league way above me. I will look into it in the coming weeks. I think I am done for the year anyway, with cam problems again. I wont know for sure until I get the boat into the barn and take a look.
Thanks for the info.. I will call you tomorrow..

Dick

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

I tow my enclosed race trailer over 20,000 miles a yr. Last yr, new trailer, bargain radial 225/75R D tires, lost 3 of 4 due to belt separation- all warrantied but still a headache. A good friend has owned a tire store for 5 yrs and recommended the tow masters, have had good luck with them. This yr, a better made new trailer (Continental Cargo victory lane), different off-brand tire, lost the first tire in 500 miles due to belt separation, warrantied it too. The rest are hanging in there.

My Myco for the Pantera has the same size tire and bolt pattern (5200 lb axles). This Winter I will switch the tire wheel assy's as the Myco get's very few miles and has the GY marathons which are very fresh.

That said, my buddy the tire guy tells me when it's time to buy 4 tires to get an "old school" 7.00x15, bias with an F rating. They are an inch or two taller, don't recall the weight rating, but he says tire trouble will be over. He does this for a lot of trailers and RV's with good success.

As said, I check my brg and tire temp every time I stop for fuel, air pressure before every long trip. I've seen some people towing with wrong weights/balances and they have a lot of tail wiggle- this will heat up and kill tires too.

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

I had no problem with my Carlisles towing 200 miles a weekend all summer long for 3 seasons until this spring and I blew 3 within a month....I switched to the Tow Masters and havent had any problems yet.........

on of my good friends had blown countless Carlisles a few were brand new tires with less than 50 miles on them when they blew, as a result he has spent a ton of hours buffing scratch marks out of his hull. :mad:

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

why is it that I see many trailer tires (specifically Carlisles) that wear unevenly on the inside edge?

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Flex in the axles , caused by over weight or substandard axles. The result is the top of the tire is in and the bottom is out , leaving the the tire riding on the inside edge :(
I have a new one on order right now for that reason...should have it this week. I have cheated in the past by jacking up the trailer by the center of the axle. This in turn puts a bow in the axle , straightening the tires out ;)

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Anyone towing with a Ford Power Stroke notice the trailer tire temp is higher on the right side than the left? All 3 of my right tires run 10 - 20 degrees warmer than the left side. I always thought it was the sun until a recent trip were the sun was on the other side. Could it be the exhaust? Everything else like bearings, brakes, axles and pressures look okay.

No tire problems this year after switching to Tow Masters from Carlisles.

Re: Trailer Tires??
 

Mr G
I had Carlisles and the tread peeled off. I called them, knowing I got some of the bad batch and they didn't do squat. I bought Del-Nats and they are wearing much much better (recommended by a local place that puts a lot on horse trailers and have worked well). My dad had Good Years on his car hauler. They did stand behind them. So, they did have a bad batch and they took care of it and replaced them. That is a huge factor in my opp.

My only advice. Don't buy Carlisle.