Good point about sidewalls the sidewalls on the two blowouts that came in this week are intact as the tread blew up or peeled off! which is why we replace so many fenders. Trailer sway is another can of worms. Trailer tires work for a lot of my customers but the heavy and frequent haulers are the ones having the most trouble with tires and are switching to LT's. Not good so far for my work load as we need to keep working to buy diesel to go fishing!!

 

I tow a very heavy gooseneck and I highly recomend the goodyear 14 ply tire. I have had excellent results with them.

 

What model has 14 ply rating? Rim size? Weight rating?

 

I think model 614. rim size is 16x7.not sure on weight rating.

 

Spud - - that is an interesting statement. Help me understand. Heavy haulers must be using high rated tires like maybe G. The ST has a much tougher and stiffer sidewall than the LT. Why would one switch to a squishier tire if they are having problems with swaying? I guess I don't see the logic in that one.
Bob

 

I was looking at new stock trailers last week, some brands came with ST tires while most makes and models came with LT tires new from the factory.

On the 20' steel gooseneck stock trailer I run I only run LT tires and have had far better luck in terms of tire longevity and fewer blow outs.

 

The biggest problem with ST tires is the fact that people do not take care of them with inspections for proper air pressure and dry rot. Both of these can occur quickly when tires just sit exposed to the sun for extended periods of time.

ST tires are manufactured to different standards to withstand the torsional stresses of the turns they are put through as everyone knows the trailer axles do not allow the tires to turn as they do on your TV.

The only LT tire that could withstand the stress of being used on a trailer are the 5 rib design models. These are made with square shoulders of the tread are much stronger than a lug design tire. Look at the tires on semi trailers and that is the design that should be used.

 

the comment about people not taking care of st tires isn't completely accurate. we had marathon's and had a tread seperate on it tore up the trailer pretty good. when i was changing the tire i noticed the one next to it had a huge lump in it as well. checked the other side and all four tires were showing tread seperation. i had just inspected the tires 15 miles earlier meaning check sidewall pressures and run hand along tread to feel for seperation. these tires were in very good condition and went without warning.
we decided to go with bfg commercial t/a's 2158516...

 

I spoke to a LAPD Commercial Enforcement Officer today... asked him if a trailer legally had to have trailer tires on it and he said no as long as the tires are rated for the load in which they carry they are legal...

 

The new 16" BFGoodrich Commerical T/A tires with new aluminum wheels performed flawlessly on thier maiden voyage last weekend. They only raised the fiver 3/4 of an inch. However, there is much less "tugging" on the truck with these new tires. I attribiute that to the stiffer sidewall allowing less flexing of the tire and therefore less bouncing of the rv. At any rate, it towed great! I feel safer and I love the new look. The other half noticed the difference and commented before I did. I'm very pleased. PCM

 

PCM, the trailer looks great with the new wheels and tires.

Nice and level too.

Happy camping!... Joe

 

I'm looking to swap my 5200lb axles out for some 7000lb units and am considering using Dodge rims/tires. My biggest concern with the tires is how they scrape when you are making a tight turn. Has anyone had any serious issues with their trailer when they are running these LT tires? I just think it would look cool to have the same rims as the truck has. I could always get trailer tires for the Dodge rims but it would cost a whole lot more I'm sure....

 

Come on now! Nobody has put Dodge rims/tires on their trailers???

 

What about swaping out my trailer's 235/85/16 4 ply tires for 235/75/16 8 ply tires from my sisters 2500 Dmax? I know there is a slight height different, but the load capacity and extra 4 plys seem like a good investment for zero cost. Guys?

-Dustin-

 

It would depend on what size your axles are. I recently had built a 14,000lb goose car hauler with 2 7000lb axles. Being a car hauler the deck is between the wheels. My plan was to use dodge rims and tires to carry only one spare, that fell apart as the offset of the rim would have made the trailer too wide (over 102 inches). If you have a deck over the axles you could have them made narrower to accommodate the dodge rims but the place I got my axles from didn't have a stock axle that would work.

Second problem was the availability of steel dodge rims in wreckers. It seems they are in very high demand due to the aluminum rims cracking and also people wanting them for winter tires. I was unable to find ANY used ones in my city of over 1 million people.