by Jim Edgerly » Sat Mar 29, 2014 11:51 am
I'll give my opinion once, but will not follow up on any future questions because I have got in trouble in here before for being too opinionated in regards to tires.
They make Special Trailer tires for a reason, to go on trailers! Trailer tires are designed for trailers that do not have such fine tuned suspension as cars and trucks do. Trailer tires are designed to be pulled and track properly behind a vehicle, where as car/truck tires are designed to be on the pulling vehicle. The sidewalls are stiffer so that they won't squirm behind the car at high speeds, and trailers will track true as they should. They are rated at higher pressure, normally 50psi. Since next to nails a trailer tire's worst enemy is heat, the manufacturer/experts say to keep them inflated to maximum pressure. It may make for a slightly bumpier ride on rougher roads, but to keep the heat factor down it is worth it.
Some people will say to run less air for a smoother ride, and some will say trailer tires fail more often than trailer tires. It would not surprise me one bit if trailer tires fail more frequently because people run less air for a smoother ride, but get dangerous heat build up and blow outs because of it. The lower pressure makes for more sidewall flex which defeats the purpose of buying a special trailer tire to begin with...and causes dangerous heat build up, which has been said is number one cause of tire failure. Also, operation of a trailer tire that is 30 percent under-inflated (50psi down to 35psi) can reduce tire lifespan by approximately 55% (per Carlisle tire).
I have only pulled 3 trailers in my life. Two of them(boat and my camper) had trailer tires on them and they tracked so nice I had to keep checking the mirror to make sure they were still there. The third trailer (boat) had car tires and I felt I was taking my life in my hands every time I took it out at higher speeds. At highway speeds I had more than one occasion where the trailer started swinging from one side to the other, and once where I was on only one trailer wheel at a time before I got the sway under control, and the tires replaced with special trailer tires, which solved the problem.
I don't know who you have for an insurer, or what you have for car/trailer insurance. But should I ever get in an accident because of a tire failure the insurance company will NOT be able to deny my claim because I was running the wrong tires on my trailer, or they were not at the recommended tire pressure! Last thing I need is to be sued in court because I "caused" the accident by irresponsibly using the wrong tires or wrong pressure. People are too sue happy in our society, and I have accumulated far too much in my lifetime to lose it all now in retirement.
I am throwing new tires on my camper this spring because the old ones are 4 years old. They only have around 2000 miles on them, but special trailer tires have a 3-5 year life span, and are not made to wear out. I bought Goodyear Marathon Special Trailer radial tires this time around, ST205/75 R14 on line for $91 apiece delivered.
As I said, my opinions. I will not respond to any comments/questions and go down a rat hole (again). There are people from both camps in here, and we are pretty adamant about our opinions. My opinions will not change no matter what anybody in here throws up against these opinions, therefore no responses from me will be forth coming.
Last edited by
Jim Edgerly on Sun Mar 30, 2014 2:45 pm, edited 6 times in total.
*When doing anything, if there exists no possibility of failure, then any feeling of success is diminished.
**The glass is neither half full nor half empty...it is simply twice as big as it needs to be.
***If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.
****When I die, I want to die like my grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.
