I currently have a 30' travel trailer with Goodyear Marathon tires on it. Absolutely no problems to speak of. However, next week I am trading in the travel trailer for a 2003 30' 5th wheel that currently has Carlisle tires on it. I have read numerous post on various RV websites that state the Carlisle tires are famous for blowouts and this has me worried. Should I get new tires installed on the 5th wheel and which brand do you guys recommend? Anyone out there running the Carlisle brand tire? If so, how are they holding up?

Thanks....HUMP

 

I just went through the same trailer tire search. I bought Tow Masters load rangs D. My 5th wheel had goodyear marathons load range C,that were seperating from the trailer just sitting in one place.

Tow Masters are good tires, Made in Canada and I was told the are owned by goodyear.

I heard bad things about carliles too.

 

I own a 30' toyhauler fifth wheel that had Carlisle 235 75 16's on it. One year and three blowouts later, I had my fill of changing tires on a fully loaded 5vr on the side of the freeway. I bought Michelin XPS ribbed, not cheap but best investment made on my trailer yet. Do yourself a favor and replace those Carlisle's as soon as you can.

 

Search RV net - lots of horror stories w/Carlisle tires.
Goodyear: - was at local tire shop. Mgr said he had
Tow Masters on his boat trailer and real happy with those.
I said OK - he called warehouse - said they don't mfgr anymore.
[No way to tell if BS or not - but had no reason to doubt it]

Chatted about useful life of tires (as per mfgrs). I had
heard 6 years, he said 5.
Anyway, decided I would take Marathons over Chinese brands -
or Carlisle. [Had Marathons on there - great shape, just old]

Warehouse sends out tires with sidewall date of April - 04.
[17th week of '04]
That meant a quarter of the 5 year life was already gone!
Already had two mounted when I spotted that.
[No thanks, hank! Remember, you're the guy that said 5 years!]

Guy called Goodyear - said they only mfgr trailer tires once a year.
Guess this year was still in the works, or whse dumping the old stuff.
Was ready to throw in the towel and take the Chinese.

Said how about Cooper Tires.
That worked - date of 26th week of '05.

So, whatever you decide on - CHECK the mfg date on the sidewalls!
JC

 

Only ever had one Carlisle tire blow out and I think that is because someone put a tube in a tubeless tire which I was always taught not to do. I was hauling one of my tractors and just looked in the mirror in time to see it explode all over the road. It completely disintegrated. The main thing with the trailer tires is to keep them inflated to the max pressure, for bias ply tires anyway, and check them often. They don't do the radial wall flex thing real well. I also had another hi dollar tire blow out on the way to Indiana one time with my truck on the trailer. That was not a good feeling at all. I think it picked up something and went flat from the last time I checked it. Again, check the pressure often.

 

I've had no problems with my Carlisle tires on my TT. But I check them about 3-4 times a year and keep them at max air pressure.

 

I've heard horror stories about Carlisle tires too. See if the RV dealer won't switch out the Carlisles for some Marathons. Pay extra.

I had good service from a set of Marathons. Finally got new tires after 8 years of using the Goodyears. I think the "5 year/6 year" useful service life recommendation begins after the tires are installed. "Service" life means after the tires are put in service. The Goodyears I had still looked great and had plenty of tread but I had a blow-out and decided it was wise to get rid of them.

I bought a set of unbranded Cooper ST tires. The Cooper dealer told me they were Coopers but they don't have the Cooper name (or anyone's name) on them. I was initially kind of leery of them but they seem to be okay and they were relatively cheap. But I won't keep them in service for 8 years.

 

They still make tow masters . I just bought some. They only had 1 tire in stock so he just ordered 20 more in and they were there the next day, This was last week.

I called several tire dealers and most are full of ****, they dont know what they are talking about and they dont know squat about tires ,They just sell them.

 

Thanks for all of the information guys, I think I am going to replace the Carlisle tires just to be on the safe side. I have only read about 5 posts where people are having good luck with these tires and have read around 20 or more negative results with them. That paints the picture clear in my book

 

My carlisle's are coming up on one year. So far they've been to California once (450 miles) and Vegas four times (1040 miles total). Kept a very close eye on them and make **** sure they are at 65 when I leave. Bad thing down here is that on three of those trips the road temps were 140-150 degrees which would equate to a tire temp of 128-130 when I would stop for fuel. (temps taken with my Raytec heat gun). I ended up buying Carlisles without any research. I was in Vegas racing and the sun was shining on the side of the trailer......and my tread was GONE on my Goodyears. Not to fault the Goodyears...they were six years old and had some major miles on them. I was running alot more back then and they didn't owe me a thing. I ended up leaving the car at the track and pulled the trailer to the nearest tire store (discount) and they carried the Carlisles....so that is what I have.

 

I've got some new Carlisle Bias-plys on my trailer (got them free). Hopefully they will last a while, but I'll make sure to check them often

 

We have several HD trailers with 16" Carlisle bias ply tires. Can't really complain about them other than taking a lot of weights for balancing.

MikeyB

 

I have Carlisle bias-ply trailer tires on my 18 ft Big Tex 7K-lb rated car hauler trailer only because that's what it had on when I bought it new. I've also been concerned about their reliability due to reading lots of horror stories about blow-outs. I was particularly concerned this past summer when I had loaded very heavy (probably over its rated weight) and running across Kansas when the outside temp was between 101-104. The tires were very hot to the touch but fortunately none of them ever gave out. I still have my doubts about their lasting a long time but I guess only time and more travel will tell. I do think they cause a lot more drag than radials of the same size. I borrowed a friends similar 16 ft trailer a couple of years ago and it seemed like it rolled with less effort than my trailer. Both are Big Tex 7K-lb trailers. I hope they'll last at least one more trip to OK and back so I can get our CJ-7 moved back here (CO) again.

Steve

 

I am in the market for 6 trailer tires on my new, used car hauler.

I am having a hard time figuring out what is best. I never really paid much attention to trailer tires...

ST - Don't know anything about them - what is there to know? Are they better than LT on a trailer?

LT - IS it ok to run LT tires on my trailer? I can get LT 215 85 16's Load range E delivered to my houes for $87 each then spend $13 to have each mounted and balanced.

Should I balance trailer tires?

Bias ply - Don't think very highly of them. I have read that the sidewalls are stiffer?

I will be putting about 14,000 lbs across the 6 tires max, which comes out to 2333 lbs each... if it is loaded evenly.

Bias ply sure wins in cheap factor. Looks like about $60 for one of these


I kind of like that it is super skinny as this would keep it inside of my fenders... but I have heard all of the horror stories...

Which tires will hold up the best... which tires will tolerate BACKING up (where you see the tire getting pulled off the rim)?

For radials, 215's are rated to 2680# and 235's rated to 3042# This equals a 2000# load difference. Worth it to get the 235's even though I won't be anywhere near the max load?

And of course, load range G steel belted tires can be had for about $220 each.

 

I agree. My Cooper ST have been super on my single axle trailer with 4000# load. Always use ST (Special Trailer) tires on a trailer. They are designed for that type of service.

Manufacturers say that tires are good for 6 years if you use them or not. The rubber ages.