Greygt3

While trailing my car home from the Dragon I had a trailer tire explode. It ripped the aluminum fender from the trailer and sent it cartwheeling through the air. It landed on the inside median and I managed to get pulled over to the outside shoulder. Yes I had a spare, floor jack, tools to change the tire. Trouble was that the fender locked up the other tire and flat spotted it all the way down to the cords before it flew off. While I'm changing the tire on the side of the road I'm wondering how I will retrieve my fender with the attached license plate. It's sitting three lanes over on a very busy Interstate. Right about that time a white ford truck pulls up behind me. The gentleman introduced himself, says he saw what happened and was nice enough to pick up my fender. I just couldn't believe what a nice guy he was. Another PCA member and fellow 911 driver. Just when you're ready to give up on mankind something like this happens. Needless to say he made my day a lot more pleasant. I was about to leave that fender there and drive home without it. I managed to get home on the flat spotted tire without any drama, mind you at a greatly reduced rate.
I plan on having two spares available for the trailer from now on.

For those of you with trailer tire experience what brand do you recommend ? From what I'm reading it sounds like these tires need to be changed out every three years minimum. Tread depth is no indicator of tire life.

BTW I put 720 miles on the GT3 in two days in and around the Dragon. Many roads in the area just as good without all the traffic . North Georgia has some insane roads. I literally shredded corners for eight hours a day for two days. Weather was perfect as was the scenery. If you haven't done this trip it's well worth your time.

ADias

You were lucky and I am very happy you came out OK. You ought to research high quality tires for your trailer. I often see trailers of all kinds running on ragged tires, They seem ready to burst at any time. I also wonder if those tiny wheel/tires and dinky suspensions many trailers have (not necessarily your case), should be beefed up. The other thing is to keep up on tire maintenance/tire pressure.

TRAKCAR

Trailers are not the problem. Trailer tires are the problem!

The tail is awesome!!

Greygt3

I thought about you guys as I drove right past that spot. I was by myself so it wouldn't have been much of a picture.

I've got the 15 inch wheel/tire combo on my trailer with what I thought was good quality tires, I guess that term is relative when you are talking about trailer tires.

medpilot105

Incredible pic! Whatever happened that day had to be fun. Holy crap...

jenk12m

There are several Atlanta guys that will provide company the next time your up there

David Schacht

Goodyear Marathon is the best trailer. I usually purchase them through Tire Rack, no affiliation.

kaamacat

++ on the Marathons....... used them on my boat trailers and they are outstanding!

jrgordonsenior

Curious, did you check tire pressures and were you near max for those tires?

As for tire replacements, I will only use Maxxis though the Marathons are well thought of. The Featherlite 3110 comes with "C" load tires as do most open trailers. Upgrading to "D" loads is only a few dollars more and they're much stronger tires.....

Greygt3

I always keep an eye on tire pressures, so that wasn't the problem. Yes my tires are "C" load range and I agree that the "D" would be a better option.

I'll look into the Goodyear product. A friend of mine who is into boats says those tires are not not held in a high regard on his forums. There really aren't a lot of options out there.

Crazy Canuck

We've had decent luck with Goodyear and Maxxis.

Don't buy Carlisle.

jrgordonsenior

Maxxis from: http://discounttiredirect.com/

LehmanZ06

When in doubt, any doubt new trailer tires are in order.

Sometimes the tread seems ok, but there might be a bulge in the tread indicating that a belt has gone bad inside the tire (i think).....

I always carry two trailer spares....and from experience I change a bad looking tire before it blows (if I am lucky)

cannon1000

Don't know about Grey - but we are sworn to secrecy.

;-)

007DT

It didn't end well...