Trailer Tires - Single Axle

[oldjeep]

should be a sticker somewhere on trailer that shows what the trailer is rated for.

[sunvalleylaw]

On 8/4/2017 at 10:32 AM, RyanB said:

My 14 23LSV came with some POS off brand tires.  I switched to Endurance earlier this year.  The difference in towing manners is significant.

I have two tow vehicles - a 2012 RAM 3500 DRW CC diesel.  Never noticed any issues towing the boat with the truck.  My 2nd vehicle is a 2011 Yukon Denali XL.  With my old tires, I got tons of trailer sway.  Chased the issue all last year.  I wasn't comfortable towing above 65 MPH - which might be ok (it really isn't on long drives in the west).  But the sway got really bad as you would speed up.  Think about passing a slower moving truck on a two lane road.  I'd try to get to around that truck, and when I went back into my lane, the trailer was all over the place.  It was bad enough that my wife gave up towing the boat, and never wanted to take the Yukon.

New tires have made almost all of those issues go away.  I can now tow comfortably with very little trailer sway at 75 MPH, and the tires are speed rated to 87 MPH, so there is some margin of safety there.  In addition, they have a couple hundred pounds more weight capacity than the standard 14" tires that came with my boat.

I would estimate I now have around 5000 miles or so on them this year.  They were more expensive, but I would buy them again in a heart beat.

Are yours E rated (10 ply) or D rated (8 ply)?  the Endurances in my size are D rated.  

@oldjeep

Also, Les Schwab had nothing not C rated in 14 inch.  And to use them, I would have to buy wheels and get 8 plys made by some company called Freestar.  Doesn't seem to make sense to get 15 inch 5 bolt wheels to get D rated tires.  And the guy said to get E rated, we would need to size up to 225's and it is clear there is not enough room under the fenders for that.  the 15 inch D rated would be a half inch different and would fit.  

But, I can order the Endurances in 14 from Tirerack as I noted above, and they ship to a mount and balance place in town.  Not a chain with a big warranty, but our boat trailering doesn't take us to those areas anyway.  It is either Scwhab or indy.  Seems like sticking with my current 14 inch wheels and getting the Endurances is the best compromise, unless I was going to go all in and replace the axle.  And then, I would still have clearance issues.  Pretty much getting into a new trailer by then.  

 

On the plus side, risked it, and headed down to Magic Res, only about a 20 min. drive, and found some decent water along a course that someone put in there.  Kids and I had fun!  My daughter dropped one, and pretty much had it twice before falling, and will get it next time.

Edited August 5, 2017 by sunvalleylaw

[sunvalleylaw]

Well, in any case, I pulled the trigger on the D rated endurances, which I doublechecked and are rated for 2040 lbs each, and 87 MPH.  So, should be good.  Trailer plaque says it is rated for 3500 lbs, and calls for the 215/75R14 C tires, so hopefully going up a set of ply and rate will help.  My boat is listed at 2,450 lbs before gas and skis, etc.  So, should be well within capacity.  

[oldjeep]

sounds like a plan.  Fail to see why warranty is such an issue on $120 tires.  Buy tires and a spare, if one blows out put on spare and buy another tire.

[sunvalleylaw]

2 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

sounds like a plan.  Fail to see why warranty is such an issue on $120 tires.  Buy tires and a spare, if one blows out put on spare and buy another tire.

Yeah, I started thinking that about the warranty too.  With a grand worth of rubber on the suburban, and long road trips, it and the extra service has come in handy for us.  But we don't trailer near those places anyway normally.  So not that big a deal.  

 

I may go ahead and move the spare up from under the trailer, as it is currently positioned to up on the par that holds the hand winch, just to get it up out of the dirt and etc. and so we don't have to crawl underneath to get the wheel and tire down.

Edited August 5, 2017 by sunvalleylaw

[RyanB]

@sunvalleylaw, my tires are also D rated.

And I like the warranty.  I usually run tires about 4-5 years, then replace.  But I have had many that don't even make it that long.  That is when the warranty is nice.  If I had the Discount warranty on my OEM tires, they would have replaced 3 for free - all with uneven tread ware that looked like a belt was slipping.  Caught before they blew.  That would have saved me probably around $450 (I think I was about $150/tire all in).  That isn't chump change.

[dalt1]

15 hours ago, RyanB said:

@sunvalleylaw, my tires are also D rated.

And I like the warranty.  I usually run tires about 4-5 years, then replace.  But I have had many that don't even make it that long.  That is when the warranty is nice.  If I had the Discount warranty on my OEM tires, they would have replaced 3 for free - all with uneven tread ware that looked like a belt was slipping.  Caught before they blew.  That would have saved me probably around $450 (I think I was about $150/tire all in).  That isn't chump change.

Discount Tire has replaced several trailer tires for me through the years. I always buy the warrantee certificates and it costs me about $10 when I have one replaced.

[sunvalleylaw]

21 minutes ago, dalt1 said:

Discount Tire has replaced several trailer tires for me through the years. I always buy the warrantee certificates and it costs me about $10 when I have one replaced.

If they were any where around, I might have tried them.  But, the closest stores are well over 2 hours away so not that helpful to me.  But if they were closer, . . . 

[oldjeep]

I guess I'm just fortunate.  In 20 years of car trailers and boat trailers i have lost 3 tires.  My secret is bump up the load rating one step over factory.  Most tandem trailers come with c rated tires that are just barely rated for the load.  Most singles come with d rated, same problem.

[sunvalleylaw]

5 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

I guess I'm just fortunate.  In 20 years of car trailers and boat trailers i have lost 3 tires.  My secret is bump up the load rating one step over factory.  Most tandem trailers come with c rated tires that are just barely rated for the load.  Most singles come with d rated, same problem.

I still wish I could bump up to E without too much trouble, but it looks like it would be some pretty serious trailer rebuilding due to clearance issues.  Mine came rated for and equipped with C, so now will be bumped up to D.  Hopefully that will do the trick.  It is not the massive miles.  I am not towing every day or anything.  But we do tow at a decent speed up in the Sawtooth Valley, and it is remote.  I did not really realize the speed limitations of the old C rated tires I have had, and have lost two in the 18 years we have lived here.  Really never lost one before when we lived in Puget Sound area and trailered less.  So I think I was lazy about watching tire condition, and getting ones rated high enough.  I am glad the Endurances are rated to 87.  Therefore, the 65-75 I hit towing through the Sawtooth valley should be ok.  

[MadMan]

9 hours ago, oldjeep said:

I guess I'm just fortunate.  In 20 years of car trailers and boat trailers i have lost 3 tires.  My secret is bump up the load rating one step over factory.  Most tandem trailers come with c rated tires that are just barely rated for the load.  Most singles come with d rated, same problem.

I think this is one of the reasons trailer tires seem to have more problems the car tires.  If you looked at the load rating on my all my car tires, they are about twice what is required to support the car.

[RyanB]

I believe there is some problem with trailer tires as they do seem to fail at a rate that is higher than a car.  But I don't know if I buy the argument that the tires are failing because they are close to load ratings.  At least not an tandem trailers.

A Marathon ST 215-75-R14 is rated at 1870 pounds each.  Four tires give you a capacity of 7480 pounds.  And that doesn't take into account the tongue weight that the trailer has.  Those numbers put the vast majority of boats in the Malibu lineup (including the LSV) well under the rated capacity.

Now if people are running lower than max PSI, always above the 65 MPH rating, or stretching the life expectancy, there may be a higher failure rate.  I know I personally check the PSI of my tires before every trip, always run max PSI, and replace at 4ish years, and still have failures.  The one rating I haven't been good about complying with was the 65 MPH rating, but even then, I usually only tow at 70 MPH.  But I still have failures.

Personally, I just think that the ST tires are built to lower standards, and they get away with it because they are not certified to carry passengers.  Could be wrong, but that is my gut feeling.

[sunvalleylaw]

34 minutes ago, RyanB said:

I believe there is some problem with trailer tires as they do seem to fail at a rate that is higher than a car.  But I don't know if I buy the argument that the tires are failing because they are close to load ratings.  At least not an tandem trailers.

A Marathon ST 215-75-R14 is rated at 1870 pounds each.  Four tires give you a capacity of 7480 pounds.  And that doesn't take into account the tongue weight that the trailer has.  Those numbers put the vast majority of boats in the Malibu lineup (including the LSV) well under the rated capacity.

Now if people are running lower than max PSI, always above the 65 MPH rating, or stretching the life expectancy, there may be a higher failure rate.  I know I personally check the PSI of my tires before every trip, always run max PSI, and replace at 4ish years, and still have failures.  The one rating I haven't been good about complying with was the 65 MPH rating, but even then, I usually only tow at 70 MPH.  But I still have failures.

Personally, I just think that the ST tires are built to lower standards, and they get away with it because they are not certified to carry passengers.  Could be wrong, but that is my gut feeling.

That is one reason I am glad the endurances are rated to 87. Both of my tire failures were along highway 75 through the sawtooth valley at around 70 or 75 or so. I am sure the first tire and I know the second tire were rated only for 65 and I have to admit I did not change the tires on my old Seaswirl trailer often enough, and I have no idea how old the tires were on my "new" Ryan.  

Now, I try to trailer at no more than 70, as my old 1500 Suburban does not need that stress either. And that speed only on the flat.