Car trailer tires

[Dodge33]

I'm getting ready to buy some new tires
for my 16ft flat bed car trailer. What do all recommend for brands of tires?'All input appreciated! Thanks. There 15 inch tires.

 

[Budnicks]

Whet ever brand, you have a loyalty too
I'd buy 6 or 8 ply tires 'intended for car trailers', not some cheap ****
NOT Coopers or Good Years, I can tell ya' that... really horrible luck, with them 2
NOT any of the cheap *** Chinese brands either...

if it's a smaller trailer/open trailer I assume, like a load D, 8 ply 15"...

you can do a -www- search ask
'for the best rated trailer tires/for wear & durability'
in the size you're looking for, lots of opinions out there

 

[F4R/T]

Load related trailer tires , the best you can afford, heavier side wall is better imo. I think most are made overseas and tons of chinesium.

 

[dadsbee]

The current choices are a **** show... talk to your local tire shop, I mean really talk, and get their honest opinion. I had goodyear Marathons on my Lund Trailer and got 17 years out of them before they decided to part ship litterally. Replacing them... no longer available in 13's, had to go Carlisle's. My old enclosed had them on it as well, new tires are Hukuba ST20575R15.. only thing he could get.

 

[Dave6T4]

Sometimes TSC stores have "specials" on trailer tires.

 

[gtx6970]

I just put 4 Carlisles on mine this past spring

 

[XS22J8R]

I put some new Goodyears on my enclosed after I bought the trailer a couple years ago. Got home after my first trip with the trailer, about 900 miles on the tires, and while putting the covers on my tires at the storage place, noticed a lump on the sidewall of one of my tires!
I took it off and went back to Discount tire with it, the guy measured the tread and said "this tires got hardly any wear". No sh-t sherlock, I just bought them here 2 months ago.
They charged me $40 to replace it, some sort of pro rated warranty I guess. I thought the tire must be defective to have done that, but I wasn't going to argue trying to get the last $40 credited.
Last year after getting back from a trip, I noticed a little lump on the tire again. It wasn't bad so I decided to live with it.
Good Year is the only trailer tire still made in the US and I wanted to buy domestic, but that's unacceptable. Carlisle for me going forward.

 

[dadsbee]

The old GYear Marathons were good, the new ones are junk. My local guy, a Good Year dealer that for 38 years we've worked together, won't put them on a trailer anymore.

 

[VANDAN]

On my box trailer, I run 10ply, load range E. Same goes for my P/U's...

 

[LowBikeMike]

Along with load rating you need to pay attention to speed rating also.

 

[Detective D]

Back in the day you could put some old truck tires on with the 8 ply rating and go to town. Not so much now.
15's is tricky, not much out there besides dedicated trailer tires unless you want to put some all terrain's on lol.

Bridgestone makes top shelf commercial truck tires, in 16" anyway. The "highway tread" they make wear like iron. I have no idea if they make it in 15".

Otherwise, you know what? Most of them are not made of much rubber, just hybrid blends of epdm and a little rubber and/or silicone. In my experience, you find the tire that has the squarest shoulder because it is designed to ride on the tread. Narrower tires with more round shoulders are designed to flex a bit more, and use the corners and part of the sidewall as contact surface. You don't need "smooth ride" characteristics on a tire hauling an entire car on it. So find the "square" tires, no stupid beach ball looking agriculture floatation style looking bubble tires.
Besides that, you get what you pay for buy something in the above middle price range and you will probably be OK. Mileage warranty is a scam nowdays, they know if it fails you will come back and give them more money to pro-rate and/or remount a new tire or pay to dispose of the junk one. Don;t let a mileage warranty sway you.

 

[dadsbee]

My big enclosed has Towmax Power King radials on it. Have had zero issues with them in 6 years..

 

[64BEL]

Our camper came with 15" Carlisles in 2000. 3 out of the 4 failed (bulges/belt separation) within a couple of years. I found that they were just barely big enough rating-wise for the weight of the trailer - which made them undersized, in my book. I replaced them with Goodyear Marathons (this was around 2010). They seemed to be the best option at that time. I went up in load rating, ply, and size, and they performed well the rest of the time we owned the trailer (sold it in 2023). One thing that helps tire life for trailer tires is keeping them well inflated and keeping your speed reasonable. Speed = heat and heat is the enemy of tires. It also helps to park them on boards rather than on dirt and put tire covers on them to protect them from the sun.

 

[dadsbee]

Park on boards, not on dirt. Lean a sheet of plywood over the sunny side tires, etc and like anything do a tire inflation check before you hit the road.

 

[MarPar]

Our camper came with 15" Carlisles in 2000. 3 out of the 4 failed (bulges/belt separation) within a couple of years. I found that they were just barely big enough rating-wise for the weight of the trailer - which made them undersized, in my book. I replaced them with Goodyear Marathons (this was around 2010). They seemed to be the best option at that time. I went up in load rating, ply, and size, and they performed well the rest of the time we owned the trailer (sold it in 2023). One thing that helps tire life for trailer tires is keeping them well inflated and keeping your speed reasonable. Speed = heat and heat is the enemy of tires. It also helps to park them on boards rather than on dirt and put tire covers on them to protect them from the sun.

Speed + heat will cook bearings too.

Lesson #1...maintenance yer sh*t.

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

Towmax on allof my trailers. Thats all my tire guy will sell me!

 

[GTXDAN]

Quite a few people with RVs that have Carlisles have problems with them. It's a crap shoot any more to get good trailer tires.

 

[Fastand fury]

I'm getting ready to buy some new tires
for my 16ft flat bed car trailer. What do all recommend for brands of tires?'All input appreciated! Thanks. There 15 inch tires.

Most all trailer tires are made in China, but you want a D rated tire! I prefer Hancook, they're not cheap though!

 

[72redbird]

Most made these days are junk, like what has already been posted. Working at an RV dealer, I see good and bad. So with that being said I will tell you what I have personnel experience with on my car trailer and my two boat trailers. I use Hercules brand trailer tires. Also Goodyear Endurance tires (not Marathons). The tires should be good for 6-8 years as long as they are taken care of and not neglected. Keep them aired up, keep them covered, its important to take care of them.

 

[64BEL]

Speed + heat will cook bearings too.

Lesson #1...maintenance yer sh*t.

Good point, Mario! I repacked my bearings every spring on our camper. One year I almost skipped it because we only towed it once the previous year, but I decided to do it anyway.
The first wheel I pulled had a bearing that was missing a roller. Boy was I glad I decided to do them that year! Never had that any other year.