Carlisle Tires ?

[les45]

Anyone have any experience with Carlisle in the 5.3X12 size? I'm not displeased with the Chinese Duro tires that came on my HF and NT trailers but am looking for replacements for the older ones that are dry rotting on my HF. I haven't seen anything good said about Carlisle on other forums and they are fairly expensive. In my area, I can get a new Duro tire and rim at HF for less than the cost of just one Carlisle tire of the same size. Not sure they are worth it.

[bobhenry]

I have nothing good to say about Duro. I had a pair let go internally and when I contacted the factory in Georgia I was basically told Tough luck Charlie. So I guess you get what you pay for ! I replaced them with Carlisle's and never looked back.

[KevinC]

I have used Carlisle Tires in various applications and have never had an issue.

[KCStudly]

I don't know about trailer sized Carlisle, but when I worked at Giant Vac we went thru pallets and pallets of the little ones like you would see on hand truck dollies and lawn equipment, and there were always dozens per crate that had bad bearings, bad grease fittings, flats, etc. And we got lots of customer complaints that they did not hold air. Really put a bad taste in my mouth regarding their quality control.

But then that was buying bulk on spec, about 10 years ago, and a different product, so maybe not apples to apples.

[Shadow Catcher]

One of the problems with anecdotal reports is that you will find some that have had a good experience and just got lucky. If you Google Carlisle Tires country of origin you will find lots of problems with Chinese made tires and a large number of stories of Carlisle tire failures. My personal feeling is that for the most part we are at the mercy of junk tires from China for our trailers. Ultimately the only recourse is that when you have a failure report it to the NHTSA and to seek reimbursement for damage caused by failures. Goodyear at least does stand behind their tires and you can file a claim for damages. Most folks do not know this is something you should and can do.
You can check country of origin by punching the first 2 digits of the DOT code from the tire into the NHTSA website. http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/manufacture/index.html
My personal solution was to find Micheline passenger car tires with an 80,000 mile warranty. They have a rated capacity that is twice that of Compass Rose wet weight at 1600#, and worked very well last summer.