RickBetterley

Time to replace mine, which are 4 years old. Goodyear Marathon D rated which have served me well.
- How often do you replace yours?
- Are you located in the sunbelt (I am in New England)?
- Do you replace your spare(s) at the same time (my spare just blew out)?
- Would you buy a Goodyear Marathon D rated tire or a Power King Towmax E rated tire (ignore price; only interested in longevity)
- Do you cover your tires against sun damage?
Thanks - would like to reduce the frequency of tire failures. They happen at the most awkward times and places. My latest was in the Adirondacks late at night with minimal cell service.

ProCoach

Rick, you're already taking the best step to prevent untoward and unscheduled failures on the road by adopting this proactive policy.

I just did the same thing, replaced my Marathons with TowMax one load range higher after four years. That's the recommended interval. I live in a hot place and do not cover the tires, although I will with the new ones. See you soon!

mark kibort

Now, this is good advice . those trailer tires get weak and are pretty cheaply made, especially the bias ply style which came with my open trailer. the can look good, but 5-7 years old on the trailer, sitting in the heat, makes them weak. I was running up to thunderhill and fortunately , 10miles from home, one blew out.. 4 wheel trailers cant ride on one tire, so it ground that tire down to a pulp , and scuffed up the rim a lot trying to get it to a gas station. HUGE inconvenience. ruined the race weekend. Most tire stores dont have that kind of tire in stock. went to the trailer store the next day and just bought 4 rims and tires already mounted . kept the other 3 for spares. I carry 2 for long trips and one for the short ones. this is 2 years ago.
So, as far as trailer tires go, i think you should replace them every 5 years. (you know me.. ill probably go 6-7. and ALWAYS carry a spare! I cover the tires in the backyard now too. I went to radials (Towmaster Trailer Tadials) from the bias ply cheapo that came on the trailer ST5000s .

interesting that the new radial trailer tire pressure is 50psi too.

LuigiVampa

I have replaced them every 3 - 4 years. Experienced a blow out at speed on the NJ Turnpike a bunch of years ago and DO NOT want to experience that again. Although it was far from an "almost" it was not a good feeling so I view it as cheap insurance to get new tires before they are well and truly needed..

I do not replace the spares at the same time and let them go a lot longer. Mine are inside the trailer protected from the weather and sun. I inspect them for dry rot and pressure from time to time. I carry two because if you run over something there is a good chance you take out both on the same side.

Goodyear Marathon.

I have the covers but use them about 25% of the time during the summer but they are on for the whole winter.

I also have a drive on trailer ramp. Instead of worrying about jacking up the trailer you place the ramp under the tire that is still inflated and drive up leaving the other one suspended.



My rule is I consider the safety of my trailer equipment equal to the safety in my race car. At speed a failure in either can be dangerous.

Frank 993 C4S

Proactive replacement every 3-4 years is the way to go. Also, meticulous monitoring of pressures before each tow is important.

Trailer tires ALWAYS blow out at night, in the rain where there is no shoulder on the highway or cell service

Matt Romanowski

We run the Towmax and replace them about every 4 years. They still have a ton of tread, but it cheap insurance like others have said. We do the spare at the same time. We also cover the spare all the time and cover the trailer tires when it's sitting.

niche

This may be a dumb question. Can't you just use good truck tires instead of trailer tires? Trailer tires seem to blow all the time.

ExMB

LT tires may not be available in the needed sizes. Bigger sizes may cause loading angle issues.

pmason

Changed mine at the 5 year mark, also upgraded the tire to the next load rating too.

mark kibort

going to radials, did that help my situation for risk? why bias ply vs radials. the tires seem much more durable , but that is just the appearance .
my question is the same.... is the trailer tire a special type of tire? why not just a tire of similar size?

rnh204

I just swapped mine out at 3 years with maxxis tires. Supposedly they're one of the better ones, certainly more money than the comparable good years.

Discount tire direct has a $160 rebate off trailer tires this weekend assuming you use their credit card, if you're due for a change it might make sense.

I thought about going with LT tires but that would require new rims, and I worry about screwing up the height / offsets with a new wheel combo.

If someone has done it with an enclosed trailex I'd love to hear what they went with.

mark kibort

thats a great little device .. illl have to get one of those!
thanks for posting

linzman

There's a great explanation on discount tire. Here's the link

http://m.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.do


And here's their take on ST tires

Why Use An "ST" Tire
"ST" tires feature materials and construction to meet the higher load requirements and demands of trailering.
The polyester cords are bigger than they would be for a comparable "P" or "LT" tire.
The steel cords have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet the additional load requirements.
"ST" tire rubber compounds contain more chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking.

RickBetterley

Thanks everyone for your input.
PETER and MATT - did you go with TowMax for the higher load rating (E instead of D)? The price is lower but that's not a priority for me on this purchase.

Matt Romanowski

Judy and I went with the Towmax for 2 reasons - 1. The guy at the RV place (the people who use the most tires like these) suggested them as almost equal to the Goodyear for a much lower price 2. We figured for the money saved we could just replace them more often. We got ours at VIP for a really reasonable price.