55 max speed on trailer tires..?

[JohnnyG]

With great anticipation and exitement I leave work early to pick up a trailer from the Harbor Freight store, coupon in hand. Might as well look at the display before I take one home I says to myself. Maximum speed 55 on trailer tires it says. That cannot be. I left without a trailer, being the cautious type that I am. I knew I could get answers and observations here. If I knew how to weld I would definately make a trailer and use real wheels ( I like the looks of 13in plus tires anyway). What to do.

[neal b]

hi johnnyg welcome to the fourm i have a hf trailer with the 12 in wheels and i drive 65 and 70 with no problem so far

neal b

[Alphacarina]

Maximum speed 55 on trailer tires it says. That cannot be. I left without a trailer, being the cautious type that I am. I knew I could get answers and observations here. If I knew how to weld I would definately make a trailer and use real wheels

Were those the 8 inch wheels or the 12 inch wheels?

You don't have to weld - Any 5 bolt hub on an axle will take most any tire or wheel you want to put on it. 13, 14, 15 or even 16 wheels are all possibilities - I'm using 205/55-15's on 6.5 inch (wide) alloy wheels

Don

[closurdo]

ST tires (special trailer) have a speed rating of 65 mph max.

Here is a link to read more :http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos;jsessionid=FvxW3ZBHVFRY7BVpLC69PQNK7d52L91WWghQK30FM0Hj9ZzN

[sushidog]

I've taken 12" ST rated tires briefly to 120mph on a light (less than 1000lb) trailer.

Of course at maximum tire load, you should limit your speed to 65mph sustained, or they will overheat and delaminate.

[JohnnyG]

The trailer comes with the 12 inch wheel and I'm VERY interested to know that I can put just about any size wheel on a 5 lug hub, unfortunatly this trailer has 4 lugs. I was hopeing to build as low buck as possible but I don't want to use an inferior trailer. Maybe I should look into having one welded for me..I'll have to find out pricing on that. Thanks for your answers.

[Alphacarina]

The $299 1175 pound capacity 4 X 8 foot HF trailers at my local store all come with 5.30 X 12 tires mounted on 5 bolt wheels - Are you sure you were looking at a 4 bolt hub?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92469

That's a link for the spare tire to fit that trailer

With a 5 bolt hub, you can use many, many wheels . . . . and just keep one of the original wheels/tires as your spare

Don

[nikwax]

The $299 1175 pound capacity 4 X 8 foot HF trailers at my local store all come with 5.30 X 12 tires mounted on 5 bolt wheels - Are you sure you were looking at a 4 bolt hub?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92469

That's a link for the spare tire to fit that trailer

With a 5 bolt hub, you can use many, many wheels . . . . and just keep one of the original wheels/tires as your spare

Don

I just bought the 1175# trailer, it comes with 4.80-12 4 bolt wheels.

[asianflava]

Yeah, and U-haul trailers say, "Max Speed 45mph" on all their trailers. They are both just covering their butts from getting sued.

[Alphacarina]

I just bought the 1175# trailer, it comes with 4.80-12 4 bolt wheels.

In that case, you would need to buy new 5 bolt hubs to go on your axle to be able to use 13 or 14 inch wheels/tires

I'm a firm believer in having considerably more trailer tire than just the bare minimum requirement . . . . or be prepared to carry several spares - It's the living pits to have a flat or blowout on a trailer tire, especially if you don't have a spare

I'm going to considerable trouble to use the factory wheels/tires which fit my car - Much less likely to have trailer tire trouble that way and one spare fits both the car and the trailer

Don

[davel]

I drive the speed limit with my 55 mph tires from HF and have just changed the first set at 16,000 miles.

[Arne]

I built the tear in 2004.. this year, I noticed hairline cracks in the grooves, so I swapped out the tires for new ones... the tires had about 25,000 miles on them (h/f 1800# trailer).

I don't know what caused this minor cracking. I don't feel it is dangerous, but I do run the tires at 40 psi, as 65 gives more trailer bounce... I ran them at 30 psi for a while, and then the tires did get too warm.

In any event, every time I stop, I check the hubs and tires for temp, and neither every seem hot... mostly look warm on hot days, and cool on not-so-hot days....

I figure 25,000 miles on those small tires is pretty good. I typically run 60-65 mph.

[SteveH]

In that case, you would need to buy new 5 bolt hubs to go on your axle to be able to use 13 or 14 inch wheels/tires

Not totally true as trailer parts suppliers like Northern Tool has four lug wheels in 13 and 14" sizes.

[nikwax]

anyway, the Puffin is built on a chassis with 8" wheels and he's towed that over 55 mph.

[Scooter]

I don't see the ST designation on any of the 12 inch tires that came on my HF and NT trailers. Instead, it says "High Speed" on the sidewall.

However, the 14 inch tires I have on the teardrop are marked ST, and I've driven to CA and back, sustained speeds of 75-80. They are not marked "high speed."

So if a tire is marked "high speed" does that mean they are safe to exceed 65??? I don't see the ST markings anywhere on the 12 inchers.