What tires should go on an off road trailer?

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What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby tdhcsc » Fri Jul 27, 2018 11:46 am

We have a Vistibule teardrop being pulled by the wife's has a 2015 Rubicon. We were X sailing cruisers that have decided to play in the dirt for a while.

When I had the Vistibule teardrop made we did all we could do to set it up for being towed offroad by the Jeep. I had brakes put on, larger fenders, 15" rims, heavy duty torsion axle, 2 inch extra clearance. Only thing left is to upgrade the tires to something more in keeping with the whole Jeep/teardrop off road camping thing. Every tire store I go into tells me I must have a trailer tire on it. They've explained all the reasons and I can agree with some but when you look at photos of off road teardrops and trailers they all have off road knobby tires on it. I can also see why I'd want to have that for the rocks and sidewall protection.

The Jeep Rubicon has BF Goodrich KO2's on it and wanted to get something more like what's on the Jeep except a bit smaller (to fit).

The first is the KO2 photo is the tire I thought would work. The guys at every tire store I go to say it's too big and keep pushing a larger but 'standard' trailer tire. I'm completely confused.

I'm not married to the one KO2 included but then I think the tire store's are trying to sell me the wrong tire ( tread of a standard trailer tire).

A lot to ask and any help is greatly appreciated. I'm really lost on this one.

Dan
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We're X long distance sailboat cruisers logging more than 25,000 miles under the keel. After 13 years the 24/7 routine became just too much. On multi day passages someone always had to be in the cockpit and we took 3 hour watches. Even at anchor we had to be ready to head to sea even if it was 3AM. We miss it but using our experience of 'self accountability' the Jeep/teardrop idea appealed to us. Our idea is to camp mostly in the California dessert (we had the Vistabule teardrop set up for off-roading) and play in the dirt with the Jeep Rubicon.

It's all new but fun!
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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby Ottsville » Fri Jul 27, 2018 1:03 pm

Whatever gives you the clearance and durability you need. Anything beyond that is simply window dressing.

A lot of the trailers you see with big off-roadish tires never go further than a forest service road.
A trailer doesn't NEED big knobby tires as a trailer will only need traction in a few very rare circumstances.
LT and offroad trailers are generally fine for light single axle trailers. Tire shop guys may have no real understanding of what you are trying to do. They may only know what their tire manufacturers and corporate trainers tell them. You say "trailer" and they lock into one mode.
For simplicity, you may want to go with the same tire size and wheel as your jeep so you can get by with a single spare. Check your tire clearance both around the fender and between the tire and trailer.
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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby Socal Tom » Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:00 pm

Remember, when you hit a bump the space between the tire and the fender gets smaller, probably several inches smaller. Looking at your pictures, there isn't a lot of space for a bigger tire in that space without putting additional space between the fender and the tire. If you got much bigger in tire size you risk tearing your fenders off.
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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby working on it » Fri Jul 27, 2018 4:36 pm

tdhcsc wrote:...Every tire store I go into tells me I must have a trailer tire on it. They've explained all the reasons and I can agree with some but when you look at photos of off road teardrops and trailers they all have off road knobby tires on it. I can also see why I'd want to have that for the rocks and sidewall protection....
Ottsville wrote:...Tire shop guys may have no real understanding of what you are trying to do. They may only know what their tire manufacturers and corporate trainers tell them. You say "trailer" and they lock into one mode....
  • Recently, I made the switch from ST bias-ply trailer tires (12+ years-old, and with patches galore) to LT tires (27x8.5-14LT General Grabber AT2's). Knowing that others had problems getting the big chain stores like Discount Tire and NTB (my two go-to's), and especially the Goodyear & Firestone stores, to install non-ST tires on trailers, I bypassed them all, and bought my tires online at Amazon, and my spare a year later at Tire Rack, where no questions are asked. Then, I simply took them to a small two-man shop to get them mounted and balanced...no problem. Even though the trailer wheels were white "trailer-specific" modular-type, they simply didn't care!
  • I'm sure if I had rolled into the local Discount with those wheels & tires (two wheels still had the ST tires on them), I would've been turned away, due to company rules. Though later that month, I did take a flat ST tire and a new wheel (for our 20-ft travel trailer, not my TTT) to Discount, and had the flat repaired, and a new ST tire installed on the other wheel...and the dealer still asked me what they were to be mounted on (I usually dis-mount single, or two tires at a time, when going to their shop, so I can drop them off without a two-hour wait, unless I have the time or I get a full set of 4). Why argue with the corporate policies and the installers that have to follow the rules, when there are small (or fly-by-nite) operations that want your business.
  • I wonder if a 4WD specialty shop would have the same mis-understanding of using LT tires on a trailer? IMHO, the LT tires are actually better for small single axle trailers (off, or on-road)than the current crop of most ST tires; tandem-axle trailers should always use ST tires, with the Bruder as an exception.
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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby tony.latham » Fri Jul 27, 2018 8:01 pm

The guys at every tire store I go to say it's too big and keep pushing a larger but 'standard' trailer tire.


Trailer tires should be called dual-axled trailer tires. That's what they are for.

Go with a decent LT radial. They'll ride much better.

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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby KTM_Guy » Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:12 am

KO2's are getting a bad rap out here in the desert, seems like around the 3 year mark they fail. We have them on our Jeep and they seem okay so far. But will probably switch to something else next time.

But as was said it's more for the looks, you don't need a tire with lots of traction because there is no power to them. If you go in a lot of mud a mud tire is helpful because there are designed to clear the mud out of the tread quicker than an AT tire.

I picked up some used Rubicon wheels with some life left on the stock mud tires. I wanted to be able to swap tires from the trailer to the Jeep, or put the spare from the Jeep on the trailer. I probably have another 10K mile left in them. Then will figure new tires for the tear.

You need to check the clearance at the top of the wheel and fender and subtract the suspension travel. That number will tell you how much bigger tire you can go. There are web sites that you can put in tire sizes like 245/65R15 and it will give you the tire size in inches, hight and width. Find what size works for you and then take your tire in and say I what this tire in this size put on these wheels. Don't tell them that it's for a trailer. Or order the tires online and bring them in to get mounted and balanced. Our Discount Tire didn't care I was remounting tires for a trailer, the guy even asked about my build. Or you can find a small shop or garage that will mount them. Should be around $20.

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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby Ottsville » Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:37 am

If fender clearance is an issue, torsion axles can be raised quite easily by building a spacer to go between the axle and the frame.
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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby Cosmo » Sat Jul 28, 2018 11:04 pm

Hello tdhcsc.
I am a fellow Vistabule owner. I am wondering about the off road configuration you have. I am an off road newbie. My car is a 2018 Subaru Outback which has 8.75 inches of clearance not sure about approach angle, departure angle etc. That is not an issue right now.
The trailer has about 10 inches of clearance If I remember correctly. I did not opt for the extra 2 inches on the trailer lift because my tow vehicle has 8.75 inches of clearance.

I am curious about your configuration and the heavy duty axel you ordered. Do you have any specifications on that or a model number and how that compares to the stock axel you would have gotten (I assume I have the stock axel) which has the Dexter EZ Lube config – which is really great.

Any info and opinion is appreciated. I am heading to St Paul in a week or two to have heat installed on my trailer and while I am there… When I leave there I will be boondocking around Lake Superior (both sides) with much dirt road and who knows what. I like to get “out there”.

I could put an additional 2” of height on the car with a lifter kit but I so far have chosen to turn around on trails that would rip the un-armoured soft tissue out of my cars underbelly. I mean there is always going to be a larger rock and a trail I can’t make it through and I am wondering how much cash it will take me to get over a 10" rock! Ha ha ha. 

I have only had a small taste of some of the more challenging stuff and I love where I have been able to get to so far.

Thanks
=Cosmo



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Re: What tires should go on an off road trailer?

Postby jandmz » Sun Aug 12, 2018 10:24 am

I would prefer wheels and tires that match the tow vehicle. That way you don't have to carry spares for both.
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