Trailer tires?

[Buoy]

I need new tires for the trailer.
Want to make this as simple as possible, but want to keep safe.
Dual axle "Float-On" aluminum I- beam trailer. No brakes (yet).
No, it's not a Myco, no fancy rims, no nothing.
Just a bunk trailer.
I'm towing it with a 2500 4x4 Avalanche now.
Brought it home from St. Louis behind my 1500 2wd pickup no problem.
It has 215/75/R14 tires on it.
Should I just get the same??
The load of the boat is probably 4000lbs. Include trailer weight, probably 5500-6000 total payload that I'm hauling with fuel.
Give me tire suggestions.
Oh, I'm trying to do this cheap.

[Chris]

Go to 15's. 14" availability is all but gone. Remember that someday you may need to buy a few while on the road somewhere- you don't need an oddball size that takes a week to ship in. Buy a good trailer tire- or at a bare minimum a stiff walled LT. E-rated- costs just a few $$ more than C's or D's.

[Tony]

Ive had great luck with Towmasters. I run them on the Cig trailer but more importantly I run the exact same tires on a medium duty tandem axle equipment trailer with a much heavier load than the boat. The trailer gets used 5 days a week 8 months a year for the past 3ish years with zero problems.

[Chris]

I've always used marathons. Mostly because of prior success, reputation and availability everywhere. But I have heard of issues in the past year. Honestly, I've written most of the criticism off to overloading and improper inflation. But I watch them even more carefully now.

If you think about it, boat trailer tires get it rough. They sit 99% of their lifespan. Usually for at least one 6-to-9 month stretch. Inflation checks are rare for many. When they do get used, it's usually at max load on hot days.

I always aim for the highest load range I can get. And I always have them balanced.

[PARADOX]

Jsut don't get "carlisle" tires.. Carlisle is the tire I blew last year and did the flip.
I would also go with the 15's.

[fund razor]

Heck Tim, an opportunity to get some nice mag wheels on there.
Oh yeah... cheap. Dam.

Still agree with the bump to 15s.

I think that this is an area that you can't skimp on. Skip extra graphics or a subwoofer. Hold off on new bezels... new lines, paint... whatever... get good trailer tires.

[smittyseng]

Jsut don't get "carlisle" tires.. Carlisle is the tire I blew last year and did the flip.
I would also go with the 15's.

I heard that carlisle and the majority of most others are now made in China,Smitty

[Scott]

Tony are the Towmasters holding up O.K. in storage


I second the Towmaster quality I'm still on my 10 year old H78-15's. I check them for proper inflation every time I use the trailer and even go as far as checking at rest areas with an IR thermometer to make sure no tire or bearing issues are about to leave me stranded.

I don't know if they make the same model but if the II's are the same or better quality it may be a good choice.

Hear is a link to a PDF that may help (or not)
http://www.rhscales.com/tiresandwheels.pdf

[Tony]

Tony are the Towmasters holding up O.K. in storage


I second the Towmaster quality I'm still on my 10 year old H78-15's. I check them for proper inflation every time I use the trailer and even go as far as checking at rest areas with an IR thermometer to make sure no tire or bearing issues are about to leave me stranded.

I don't know if they make the same model but if the II's are the same or better quality it may be a good choice.

Hear is a link to a PDF that may help (or not)
http://www.rhscales.com/tiresandwheels.pdf

Yes, they have been fine for the past 2 years that the boat has been sitting, can you belive no flat spots, ASS!

I just put some new ones on the Whaler trailer over the weekend.

[Tom A.]

Call these guys up, they have some great deals.

http://www.sporttruckspecialty.com/

15" split 5 star rims for $125 per pair, stainless center caps are $5, and stainless lugnuts are $1 each.

I bought 6 rims with tires mounted, center caps, and lugnuts from them for under $800. This included shipping to my door and the rims came prebalanced and ready to bolt on!

[Bad Idea Baja]

Maxxis makes a 10 ply 15" tire. I am going to those over the winter. Discount tire can get them & IF they fail, DT will warranty them.
I've bought 6 new Marathons over the last year & 1/2 & I've lost 2 due to tread separation. The tire will hold air without tread! They are not what they used to be npw that they are made in China.

[Never Enuff]

Maxxis is the way to go. Make sure you get rims for a trailer. Trailer rims are designed to hold the additional weight and tire pressure used by trailer tires. When I switched to 15" I bought 8 wheels and tires so I would have a couple of spares--just in case. I believe that a lot of trailer manufactures put on the smallest wheels and tires they can to save money. Generally the larger wheel you can get the larger the choice you have regarding the load range of trailer tires. The only problem when you switch for 14 to 15 or from 15 to 16 is usually fender clearance. Your trailer will also be a little taller, however only by a few inches.
Jay

[Buoy]

Call these guys up, they have some great deals.

http://www.sporttruckspecialty.com/

15" split 5 star rims for $125 per pair, stainless center caps are $5, and stainless lugnuts are $1 each.

I bought 6 rims with tires mounted, center caps, and lugnuts from them for under $800. This included shipping to my door and the rims came prebalanced and ready to bolt on!

If I can do it that reasonably, the idea of some better rims and the whole deal would the way I'd want to go.
The trailer has literally been on at least two cross-country trips under the current set-up.
How do they ship the tires?? Pallet?

Maxxis is the way to go. Make sure you get rims for a trailer. Trailer rims are designed to hold the additional weight and tire pressure used by trailer tires. When I switched to 15" I bought 8 wheels and tires so I would have a couple of spares--just in case. I believe that a lot of trailer manufactures put on the smallest wheels and tires they can to save money. Generally the larger wheel you can get the larger the choice you have regarding the load range of trailer tires. The only problem when you switch for 14 to 15 or from 15 to 16 is usually fender clearance. Your trailer will also be a little taller, however only by a few inches.
Jay

I already plan on changing the fenders, and how they mount, so clearance isn't an issue. The boat is a 24' Pantera, so it's already pretty low-profile on the trailer.
Is there an issue using the tires and rims Tom suggested? I really like that option.

[Mitch32]

I need new tires for the trailer.
Want to make this as simple as possible, but want to keep safe.
Dual axle "Float-On" aluminum I- beam trailer. No brakes (yet).
No, it's not a Myco, no fancy rims, no nothing.
Just a bunk trailer.
I'm towing it with a 2500 4x4 Avalanche now.
Brought it home from St. Louis behind my 1500 2wd pickup no problem.
It has 215/75/R14 tires on it.
Should I just get the same??
The load of the boat is probably 4000lbs. Include trailer weight, probably 5500-6000 total payload that I'm hauling with fuel.
Give me tire suggestions.
Oh, I'm trying to do this cheap.

Bouy, I'll give ya a few numbers to look at.
Your 215/75R14's have a 1870lb per tire rating, providing it's a C rating
(6ply) I think a C rating is about as high as you can get in a 14 inch tire. I'm not aware of any availibility issue in the 14 stuff, we still sell thousands a year. The O.D. is 26.7 inches
Going to a 225/75R15 8PLY (D) your jumping up to 2540lb's per tire with an OD of 28.3 inches. Your width is going to be pretty close to the same, they are both probably a 6 inch.
Hope this helps.

Mitch

[Never Enuff]

Bouy,
The only thing about what Tom said is that he didn't mention if they were Trailer wheels? Also he didn't mention what brand tire or the load range?
I talked to ricks-tire.com when I was looking for wheels and tires and they had a pretty good selection and the prices seemed pretty good. But as Jason said I finally went with Discount Tire because they were local and would warranty the tires and their price was pretty competitive. There use to be a guy on another web site called mama tried that sold Goodyear Marathons at a pretty good price for members of that site and you can get a load range "D" in a 15"Marathon. The web site called The Tire Rack can also gives you all the dimensions on different size tires including height and width.
Jay
Sorry--I just realized that I think Mitch is mama tries--ddddddaaaaa???
sorry Mitch--Jay

[Mitch32]

LOL,,,, I forgive ya!!!

[Tom A.]

If I can do it that reasonably, the idea of some better rims and the whole deal would the way I'd want to go.
The trailer has literally been on at least two cross-country trips under the current set-up.
How do they ship the tires?? Pallet?

Each tire had heavy duty cardboard on each side and were individually wrapped in plastic. The center caps and lug nuts came in a separate box.

[Buoy]

Tom - do you have the P/N for those, or what make and combo you got??
They'd look great on my trailer, and I think I need some pretty fast.

[scottc]

If you buy new wheels, make sure they are trailer rated. They are made for a heavier loads.

[Chris]

If you buy new wheels, make sure they are trailer rated. They are made for a heavier loads.

Not oly in terms of axle rating, they're engineered to sustain a much higher lateral loading than standard rims. On tight turns, the non-turning wheels get big side loads. I've seen centers popped out of cheapie cast alloys on triple-axle trailers before.