Experience with Kenda tires?

[les45]

Does anyone have any experience with the 12" or 13" Kenda trailer tires sold at etrailers.com? I'm talking long term use and not especially the price or customer service at etrailers.

[Shadow Catcher]

I did a search of problems and came up with http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/16996134/print/true.cfm
Having looked at the tire situation, all of the trailer ST tires I could find are made in China and they do not have the same DOT testing standards as truck or passenger car tires. Failure rates are frankly appalling with one well done survey finding a better than 1/3 failure rate. I went with passenger car tires.

[Jim.M]

I put carlisle 5.30x12 on my harbor freight trailer.

I just got back from a nice camping trip to the Saline Valley, CA. The camp site is at the end of 53 miles of pretty rough unpaved road.

The way in, I took it easy and drove kind of conservatively. On the way out, I drove as fast as I could. Lots of washboard on the flats, and lots of sharp rock gravel on the 5000' climb out of the valley.

No flats and no nicks or cuts on the tires. I also read about the decline in quality for carlisle in particular once they moved production to China.

But they are a sight better than the original HF tires which disintegrate on their own whim.

[dmdc411]

I had 15yo Kenda tires on a popup. They were fine, worn, and everything. Carlisle are cheap wouldn't go beyond 4 or 5 years and throw them away. I found after about the 4th year they start to weather check. They're done. Car tires are the way to go, but most trailers don't have the back spacing for the car rims!!