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Trailer Tires
I bought a used 14 foot tandem trailer for my CUT. I refurbished the wiring and floor boards and it looks great. Now for tires. THe ones on it are older car/truck tires (15" rims). I won't be using this trailer very much and won't be going far. Can I get by with just finding better used tires or do I need to put on trailer tires? My cut weighs 3000# with implements.
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Trailer Tires
The tire capacity should match or exceed the axle capacity. If it's a backyard special, hard telling what kind of axles are under it. If it's a professionally built trailer, I would expect at least a pair of 3500 pounders. That means each tire should be rated to carry at least 1750 pounds. Four ply sidewalls dissipate heat better too.
//greg//
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Trailer Tires
The more I study about tires, the less I like used tires.
They do, it turns out, age out and deteriorate even if they are used little and stored out of the sun.
I blew a trailer tire two years ago, hauling my 4115 home from Portland and didn't notice until stuff caught fire back there. I got the fire out before it affected my new machine.
Cheap tires. I had to leave a brand new TLB on the side of I-5 at 5 AM unattended for an hour because of cheap tires.
It could have cost a lot more. Thankfully it came out OK.
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Trailer Tires
DRankin, you paint a sobering picture! I'll be upgrading for sure! Thanks!
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Trailer Tires
Don't buy Carlisle brand! They suck!! They weather check and crack from setting around in just a couple of years.
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Trailer Tires
I have used Goodyear Marathon trailer tires and will NEVER use them again. After a few years the tires ALL started to blow up just setting on the rim not moving. They were properly inflated. I have since gone to using Task Master tires. They are the cheapest tire I could find at $28 for a 205-75R-15 and they have worked GREAT! Sometimes el cheapo is just as good if not better. These tires are not radials but I find that the trailer does much less "sqirming" or wallowing from side to side due to a much firmer side wall. DO NOT use an automotive tire for trailer use. The side walls are not nearly as rigid and the trailer will handle poorly with heavy loads. I learned this the hard way towing a boat that the previous owner installed automotive tires on.
This company was about a 2 hour drive from me so I drove and picked up a truck load of tires. Real nice folks to deal with.
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Trailer Tires
trailer tires are made different than regular passenger/lt truck tires
most trailer do not have shocks to absorb the oscilations of the load or the springs. trailer tires have heavier side walls to absorb them and to take the pounding of a unloaded trailer,
it realy does matter on the 5,6 or 8 lugs
get the heaviest load rating you can get ,at least an "e" for 5 lug rims ie 7,500 to 10,000 tandum trailer and a "G" for larger
any one I know allways over loads trailers better safe than sorry in this area!!!!! remember,trailer tires also are used for braking get rid of BALD tires ASAP.
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Trailer Tires
I switched to el cheapo tires for the trailer too, new ones, but cheap. Mine expensive ones came apart from age before I wore them out so it didn't pay. If the cheap ones wear quicker, it may be more in tune with the aging factor. They were trailer tires rated for the load.
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Trailer Tires
My cheap tires came as OEM with the cut rate trailer I bought.
They were so cheap that they gave absolutely no clue on the sidewall as to what country they came from. The rubber had a grainy, spongy appearance.
I got rid of the trailer too, it turned out to be real flimsy..... you get what you pay for.
I took a used General tire in the other day to mount as a spare for the Samurai. The tires had plenty of tread left and were OEM on the wifes Camry. One of them had a split in the sidewall that ran all the way down to the cord. They were 5 years old.
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Trailer Tires
We've had really good luck with Titon trailer tires.
The tire shop we get them from gives us a great price on them and say none of their customers have had any problems with them. They say they come from somewhere in Asia and thus have higher than normal UV & weather protection. I don't know about that, ours usually get worn down or torn up long before they can rot.
The trailer axles have all come from the factory (we build our own trailers) with Goodyear Marathons on the rims. Unlike Randy we haven't had any bad experiences with them, but then as I said already, no tire sticks around long enough to rot.
For vehicle tires we've been really happy with Coopers, I even have them on my dually and the missus' Rover, quiet, good traction, decent tread life. Well, the ones on the BACK of the dually don't last long but I don't think any tire would. Hehehehe.
Best of luck.
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