Trailer tires…what the…

[LD1]

Air Pressure is the most important as it is obvious in the photo that the left one has been run with lower pressure.

I see nothing at all in the pics given that would quantify this statement??

 

[Gord Baker]

Incorrect Air Pressure, overloading and long exposure to direct Sun along with age are the biggest enemies of tires. Beware of off-shore brands when buying large lug tractor tires. Cheaper ones have fewer lugs and can cause road rumble. Count them. In Ontario Trailer tires must have For Trailer Use Only on the Sidewall by m'f'g'r. Distorted tread is from broken inner belt usually.

 

[Gord Baker]

I see nothing at all in the pics given that would quantify this statement??

The outer tread on the left tire in the pic appears to have more wear. Perhaps not.

 

[charles todd]

Could be age. I change my trailer tires every 4 years, 5 max.

I do the same. None of my tires are over 5 years old, ever. Many see it as waste. I haven't changed a tire on the side of road in 2 decades.

CT

 

[ultrarunner]

I'd be broke changing tires on 50 vehicles every 5 years...

The only on road tire change in 40 years was coming home from the tire shop with 4 new Michelin LTX tires... shrapnel on the freeway from what remained of a ladder... got my sidewall.

 

[bigtiller]

The last road flat I had was in '73. I fixed it all by my self, no one stopped to help.

But 2 weeks earlier in the same spot, three 20-something girls in bikinis had a flat. There were 4 cars of old men that had stopped to "help" and by the time the show disappeared in my rear view mirror, 2 more cars had stopped.

 

[Tony H]

Only thought would be south facing tires that the Sun beat up but you say no direct sunlight. Maybe tires face west and they get windblown. That'll dry out tires too

 

[JBF43]

So I’ve never seen this before but pulled the trailer out yesterday to tow the small tractor to a job. Tires on one side perfect, tires on the other side both cracked really bad, not like dry rot, there was a line where I could see slight tread separation. I had already committed to the job so decided I’d take her as far as she’d go then road the tractor from there if I had too. Also all backcountry dirt roads so slow traveling and no traffic….still hated to be “that guy”. Long story short it made it there and back but I lost half the tread on one and a couple chunks out of the other. Anyone have any ideas what would cause one side to do that? Stored out of direct light mostly shaded so not like one side gets more exposure there. Checked pressures and everything was normal so not over pressured somehow. I use this trailer several times a month and didn’t see anything on my last walk around so was shocked last night.

Question part two, what’s everyone’s go to trailer tire? Bonus points for a recommendation made in USA. 225/75R15 load range D.

It's funny you should mention that. I was just looking at mine this week and noticed the same thing you mentioned. My trailer sits in the sun so I expect sunlight dry rot to an extent. The tires on the sunny side of the trailer are in better condition than the ones away from the sun. The odd thing I saw, not when the trailer was parked, but during the week it sat there unused, were chunks of tread coming off the tire on the 'unsunny' side, and it didn't look like that when I parked it. These tires are about 5 years old now probably, and surely do not have 500 miles on them yet. These ran approx $75/tire when purchased from a local tire store. Not sure what happened to this one over the course of this last week. When looking at it this close up it almost looks like there are belts breaking inside and it's just starting to come apart. Bet I don't get 100,000 miles out of this one.

 

[ddgood]

Goodyear Endurance is probably the best ST radial tire going in the 225 size. The are MiUSA and have been getting very favorable reviews on the RV forums.

I have a set of them on my travel trailer and a set of 205s on my boat. If I had a trailer that took 235s I would by for it too but there are some other tires that are good in the 235/16 size.

 

[charles todd]

It's funny you should mention that. I was just looking at mine this week and noticed the same thing you mentioned. My trailer sits in the sun so I expect sunlight dry rot to an extent. The tires on the sunny side of the trailer are in better condition than the ones away from the sun. The odd thing I saw, not when the trailer was parked, but during the week it sat there unused, were chunks of tread coming off the tire on the 'unsunny' side, and it didn't look like that when I parked it. These tires are about 5 years old now probably, and surely do not have 500 miles on them yet. These ran approx $75/tire when purchased from a local tire store. Not sure what happened to this one over the course of this last week. When looking at it this close up it almost looks like there are belts breaking inside and it's just starting to come apart. Bet I don't get 100,000 miles out of this one.View attachment 739965

I have had some that look like that just blow the belt out sitting.

I run radials on my RV travel trailer. Bias ply on all other trailers (4 of them).

CT