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Trailer Tires


NCVride

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What says the crew as far as trailer tire recommendations?

'06 Vride in Boatmate trailer......14" rims. 205/75/14.

Boat stays on lift majority of the year. May tow the boat 3-5 times a year.

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I used to recommend the Kumho 857's until I had 3 die on me on the same trip to Phoenix and back a few months ago. They were only 3 years old. Belt shifted in all 3 and luckily didn't fly apart. Tires always checked before trips, at full pressure, in a covered parking spot (almost zero sun exposure) and were balanced when purchased. I am the only one who pulls the boat and the tires have never hit a curb, so not an impact caused belt shift. No dry rotting at all and they died within a hundred miles of each other. I currently have BFG AT/KOs on there. A buddy got 8 years out of his BFG's in Phoenix and was a tandem axle with a 24' Tige. His finally dry cracked and looked like they were gonna fail, but they didn't. They are LT rated tires and speed rated for 99mph. Way better than any ST trailer tire.

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I bought a boat in 2007 that had a trailer outfitted with 17" rims & Pirelli sports car tires. When I bought it, I figured that I would be replacing the rims & tires with a trailer rated tire soon enough. After getting on here & other forums & seeing the issues that other guys were having with their trailer tires, I figured I would just use them till they died & replace them as needed. After about 7 years I had a wheel bearing fail, which also wrecked the tire pretty good. So I had a choice of purchasing all 4 new rims & trailer tires, or just replacing that tire & the other one on the opposite side. I had put a lot miles on those tires without any problems. And in light of that & all the issues I'd heard about guys having with trailer tires, I chose to put a pair of sports car tires back on it.... the most reasonable of which were the Falken ZX. Two years later & no issues.

If & when I ever buy tires on a trailer, I think I'll go with LT tires rather than trailer tires.

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I'm not even considering changing my tires till I see a reason. I watch them closely, keep them (4) at max pressure, and tow often. 03 boatmate.

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I will never buy a trailer tire again. They seem to fail much more often than running a properly load rated truck tire of the same size/price range.

I run 18" Nexen's on my. Trailers a lot nicer than the 14's they replaced.

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I used to recommend the Kumho 857's until I had 3 die on me on the same trip to Phoenix and back a few months ago. They were only 3 years old. Belt shifted in all 3 and luckily didn't fly apart. Tires always checked before trips, at full pressure, in a covered parking spot (almost zero sun exposure) and were balanced when purchased. I am the only one who pulls the boat and the tires have never hit a curb, so not an impact caused belt shift. No dry rotting at all and they died within a hundred miles of each other. I currently have BFG AT/KOs on there. A buddy got 8 years out of his BFG's in Phoenix and was a tandem axle with a 24' Tige. His finally dry cracked and looked like they were gonna fail, but they didn't. They are LT rated tires and speed rated for 99mph. Way better than any ST trailer tire.

This is interesting, never heard anything bad about them. Only reason I didn't buy them was the price. Glad I didn't now.

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Reviews on that link aren't exactly stellar.

Hey Brian, just wonder if you do any low speed, sharp corners with your trailer. Like backing around a corner into your garage or storage unit? Wondered if that could be the cause of the belts shifting. Certainly doesn't make it right though.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I will never buy a trailer tire again. They seem to fail much more often than running a properly load rated truck tire of the same size/price range.

I run 18" Nexen's on my. Trailers a lot nicer than the 14's they replaced.

What width wheels and size tires are you running? I'm going to pick up my Malibu next weekend and the trailer has 14", and I want to upgrade to 18s.

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What width wheels and size tires are you running? I'm going to pick up my Malibu next weekend and the trailer has 14", and I want to upgrade to 18s.

Tires are 255/45/18

Wheels are somewhere between 8.5 and 9.5" It was printed on the back but I don't recall the size.

If you think you are just going to swap 14's for 18's with no other work, give up that dream. It will either take a fender replacement or a lot of fender modifications to get it to fit.

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Reviews on that link aren't exactly stellar.

Yep, even the Kumho's have marginal reviews. I think the vast majority of people don't bother reviewing products unless they are unhappy with them.

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Reviews on that link aren't exactly stellar.

Hey Brian, just wonder if you do any low speed, sharp corners with your trailer. Like backing around a corner into your garage or storage unit? Wondered if that could be the cause of the belts shifting. Certainly doesn't make it right though.

Nope, no tight corners. I am also a stickler about not doing tight turns with a tandem trailer. Our new house here in Havasu is on a corner lot and I back the boat in from the main road just to avoid turning around at the end of my street's cul de sac. I did a similar thing in Wenatchee at my storage unit. Drove around the storage place in big circles to avoid scrubbing the tires. People there just stared at me anytime I picked up or dropped off the boat. :lol:

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I used to recommend the Kumho 857's until I had 3 die on me on the same trip to Phoenix and back a few months ago. They were only 3 years old. Belt shifted in all 3 and luckily didn't fly apart. Tires always checked before trips, at full pressure, in a covered parking spot (almost zero sun exposure) and were balanced when purchased. I am the only one who pulls the boat and the tires have never hit a curb, so not an impact caused belt shift. No dry rotting at all and they died within a hundred miles of each other. I currently have BFG AT/KOs on there. A buddy got 8 years out of his BFG's in Phoenix and was a tandem axle with a 24' Tige. His finally dry cracked and looked like they were gonna fail, but they didn't. They are LT rated tires and speed rated for 99mph. Way better than any ST trailer tire.

could you post a photo of the BFGs on your trailer?

(going on third year on trailer tires, so your post has moved me away from calm and relaxed)

Edited by Bozboat
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Tires are 255/45/18

Wheels are somewhere between 8.5 and 9.5" It was printed on the back but I don't recall the size.

If you think you are just going to swap 14's for 18's with no other work, give up that dream. It will either take a fender replacement or a lot of fender modifications to get it to fit.

Yea, idk what all will be involved. I pick the boat up next weekend, and will do some measuring to see what fits and what doesn't. Tire selection will be key, a 255x45 is pretty tall, doubt it need to be nearly that tall. There's always a way! Thanks.

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