Are these tires any good?

[Delawaresace]

trailer.png (202.16 KiB) Viewed 2030 times

I plan on building a foamie this fall/winter, and have been casually looking at trailers on FB to see what's available. So yesterday I went to look at one listed for $400. I think it's a popup camper stripped down and turned into a motorcycle hauler. Not bad, but not exactly what I'm looking for. I start to show the seller I'm not really interested, thinking I can get a better deal, and she says that I could have it for free, just get rid of it. Apparently her HOA had sent her some nasty letters about it being in front of her house and she now just wanted it gone ASAP. Well, you can't beat free, so I hooked it up and off I went. It's a strange trailer that looks like it was restored/build by someone who knew a little bit of what they were doing. I'll see if I can snap some more pictures and post them. My main question is the tires it came with. They're obviously not original to the trailer. They look pretty new, no real ware on them at all. Walmart sells them new for $76. Are they any good? Thanks



Omni-Trail-ST205-75R15

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Omni-Trail-S ... SellerId=0



P.S. How can you tell how old a tire is?

[tony.latham]

A $76 Walmart trailer tire can't be good. I put six-ply LT tires on mine. I think they are something like $200 apiece and I have never had a teardrop flat in twenty years of teardropping. (Three teardrops.)

You can tell what year they were made:

https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/how-do-i-determine-the-age-of-my-tires?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtsy1BhD7ARIsAHOi4xbTnCg2V2xXkdpe6hzo03SMV6k6jlW07FpPBLzTSQ3SN4vg9R2EgosaAk6kEALw_wcB&ef_id=Cj0KCQjwtsy1BhD7ARIsAHOi4xbTnCg2V2xXkdpe6hzo03SMV6k6jlW07FpPBLzTSQ3SN4vg9R2EgosaAk6kEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3756!3!386427243784!!!g!!&gclsrc=aw.ds&&affiliate=HM5&gad_source=1

Tony

[bdosborn]

Good trailer tires are few and far between with Chinese tires being the worst. Google "trailer china bombs" for a few horror stories about trailer tire blowouts. The most important check on a trailer tire is the age; they only last 5 years or so now. I've had two blowouts and both times the tires were older than 5 years.
Bruce
edit note: check out Tony's link above...

[Woodbutcher]

Look into Goodyear Endurance tires.

[working on it]

A $76 Walmart trailer tire can't be good. I put six-ply LT tires on mine. I think they are something like $200 apiece and I have never had a teardrop flat in twenty years of teardropping. (Three teardrops.)

I don't trust ST trailer tires at all, whether foreign-made or US-made, on any type or size of trailer. I know that they're probably needed for tandem-axle trailers (due to tire scrub when making tight turns), but on a lightweight single-axle trailer, I'd go with passenger car tires (on a very light trailer), or LT tires for heavier trailers (like my 2225lb 4x8) or for use over rougher roads/terrain.

I can't tell you how many sets of ST tires I've gone thru (especially on my old car-hauler trailer), but the ones that lasted longest are no longer made (Denham? #1, Carlisle #2... both bias-ply, from 30 years ago). I tried Goodyears and Chinesium tires alike, bias and radials, but either unexplained blow-outs, tread separation, or propensity to pick up nails, all doomed them, at least on my car-hauler.

On my 4x8 squareback trailer, I had initially used very old (12 y.o.) cast-off Carlisle bias-plies, that I had repatched (they had several old patches already), and I used them for another few years, before buying LT all-terrain tires (General Grabber AT2, 27x8.50r14lt) to replace them, as I felt very uneasy driving a 75mph on the may-pop Carlisles, anymore). I bought mine (3) for about $100-10, IIRC, from Amazon, but now they cost $174 apiece at Discount Tire. Even at that highly-inflated price, I'd buy them again.

[rjgimp]

I'm absolutely with Working On It on this one. Especially for a single axle trailer, I would definitely go with a light truck tire. There is far more selection available and you can probably get a better tire for less money. Your trailer will ride smoother too because the sidewalls aren't so terribly stiff.