Suggestions for Trailer Tires?

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I'm wanting to custom build a trailer, something like 6x12 single 3500lb axle. I'm thinking 225 75 15 trailer tires. Does anyone have recommendations? I'l be looking to purchase it already on a wheel if possible and not end up with junk.

Not out of the question is building the trailer with 8 lug hubs and using something like 235 85 16 truck tire to match the tow vehicle. Thanks!
 
Ive looked high and low and all ST tires have bad reviews. I ran carlisle and now run trailer king from amazon. Cheaper ans so far so good. Motor nted and balanced (besides des snarky comments about balancing trailer tires) at walmart for like $12.
 
We have two 6x12 tandem 3500 axle trailers that tow kubota rtv900s around town all day. The oem 205 75 15s tires were worn out quickly so our tire provider recomended chinese made hercules tires. Even going to a st225 75 15 (10 ply) they held up marginally better than the originals. Ive got him ordering the goodyear endurance tires to replace as needed. He's charging us $50 over the price of the hercs for the goodyears. I have noticed the tread is not as deep as the hercules. We will see if they hold up better.
We also have a rusty old 16 foot utility trailer that might get used twice a year. It is wearing a set of four goodyear unisteel p78_15st tires. They must be 30 years old or better but show no dry rot or visable wear and never seem to need aditional pressure when i check them.
The last 205 75 15 goodyear marathon i bought was chinese made.
 
My travel trailer has 13inch wheels, with no room for larger ones. I run Maxxis 8008 tires. They have given no problems. i'm on my second set. The first set aged out. I do check pressure often, and i run them at 48-lbs cold. I also had them balanced on installation.
 
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I have 225/75/15 Goodyear Marathon 10 plys on my 16 foot car hauler, I like them.

You can buy 5 lug 16" wheels, Never really thought about 16" E load tires on such a small trailer.
 
I have a 4x8 utility trailer that I mounted a long bed Dodge truck bed to.

I've got 235/75-15 tires on it. They're rated at about 2,100 pounds each. They're the stock size tire on 90's Chevy pickups. They're also a super cheap size and made plentiful.

I wouldn't be using trailer tires even if they were free. I'll take modern technology tires any day.

But it depends how heavy you're going to load it. If you're gonna load it to the max, a 235-85-16 tire is probably a good idea.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994

I wouldn't be using trailer tires even if they were free. I'll take modern technology tires any day.


My Marathon's are Radials, I can tell you have little towing experience, Some experiences are better learned the hard way.......
Take your trailer, Load 3,500# in it, Try to drive for 300 miles straight with your cheap P-metric tires & see how far you get.
 
Originally Posted By: Soggydog

The last 205 75 15 goodyear marathon i bought was chinese made.


Sadly, I have actually had better luck with non-name-brand Chinese tires.
I'll never buy another cheap goodyear ever again.

I don't buy "trailer specific" tires - they don't hold up as well as passenger car 205/75R 15's do.
 
Chinese trailer tires are mostly tubes with tread, lift one up and then lift a same size car or LT tire. Look at people that pull trailers for work and haul heavy, the tire of choice is usually an LT. Some have Maxxis or Hercules which are the best of ST tires. Cost per mile is way less for a LT tire. I pull a tri axle with LT tires that have 50 k on them and are 5 yrs old, still got 5/32 on them. Run 15k gross wt. or occasionally more.
 
Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: Nick1994

I wouldn't be using trailer tires even if they were free. I'll take modern technology tires any day.


My Marathon's are Radials, I can tell you have little towing experience, Some experiences are better learned the hard way.......
Take your trailer, Load 3,500# in it, Try to drive for 300 miles straight with your cheap P-metric tires & see how far you get.


They're not P-metric: LT235/75R15C is a truck tire, once a very-common size.

Trailer tires are, by and large, garbage. If possible to run an LT tire, I would.
 
Originally Posted By: neil57
Chinese trailer tires are mostly tubes with tread, lift one up and then lift a same size car or LT tire. Look at people that pull trailers for work and haul heavy, the tire of choice is usually an LT. Some have Maxxis or Hercules which are the best of ST tires. Cost per mile is way less for a LT tire. I pull a tri axle with LT tires that have 50 k on them and are 5 yrs old, still got 5/32 on them. Run 15k gross wt. or occasionally more.


Unfortunately, not aleways an option. MANY trailers use ST sizes that have nothing close in an LT size and no room to use larger tires. (185/80D13 load range D, for example.) I had that problem: my car trailer used ST225/75D15 tires, with no room for anything larger.
 
About a year ago, Goodyear introduced a new trailer tire - Endurance. On the surface, it appears they have brought the tire up-to-date technologically (cap plies, higher speed rating) - and while the jury is still out on long term durability, there hasn't been any negative feedback on the several travel trailer websites I frequent.

I know the OP wants the tire already mounted on a wheel, but I think experience says that to get good quality tires, they have to be purchased separately.

And allow me to fill in the rest of the landscape: P type tires can be used on a trailer, but they have to be derated by 10%. Plus, there is an upper limit on load carrying capacity.

Using LT tires has been suggested, but the problem with that is that LT tires come with larger load carrying capacities. And they are not immune to the same sort of durability problems associated with ST tires.

So in the range that the OP is considering, there is very little except for ST tires, which are kind of known for durability issues - and it is unclear how this new Goodyear tire will perform.
 
Capri ~ even on the minus 10% on P tires … is that at max pressure?
I know we are supposed to temporarily up P tire pressure on light trucks if really loaded …
 
I’m tracking some guys with that premium Goodyear … they have hauled small dozers and farm equipment so they are putting them to task …
 
Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: Nick1994

I wouldn't be using trailer tires even if they were free. I'll take modern technology tires any day.


My Marathon's are Radials, I can tell you have little towing experience, Some experiences are better learned the hard way.......
Take your trailer, Load 3,500# in it, Try to drive for 300 miles straight with your cheap P-metric tires & see how far you get.


What’s the difference between a 3,500 pound trailer with those truck tires on it compared to a 4,000 pound truck with 1,500 pounds in the bed pulling a trailer? Probably the same weight on the tires.
 
I won't do "trailer" ST tires at all if I can avoid them. I would suggest looking at LT tires, which may also come disguised as European spec "commercial van" tires, which will have a size looking something like the following, ending in a "C" which is NOT the load range, but a designator that it is a commercial and not passenger tire: 185/R14C. There are 15" sizes, more plentiful than the 14" example I gave. Not sure how available a North American spec "LT" is in 15" these days.

If you decide to go with a P metric passenger tire, the rule that I have heard is you must de-rate the stamped capacity by 10% for trailer use. I have no experience going this route.

My "ST" experiences have been as follows: a tent trailer with marginally spec'd 13" bias ST tires. Had me always more worried than they should be, but were a "better" Asian brand - Taiwanese company, but Chinese made tire. They held up until I decided to replace them when they reached 5 years from the code date, and had edges wearing bald. Did the upgrade to 14" tires in 185/R14C Load Range D, and these tires showed no uneven wear, and gave me much more confident feeling I was no longer pressing against weight capacity, low speed ratings, or relying on questionable construction.

The 5th wheel I more recently bought came with a very bad "China bomb" which are so bad, their name Towmax earned them a nickname in just about every forum talking about trailer tires of "blowmax." I even saw one of these blowouts when I went to get my LTs mounted, and another customer came in with his blowout. Here, I used a very common LT tire in LT235/85R16 Load Range E.

In both cases, the trailers were towed thousands of miles, for hours on end per day on the highway, with absolutely no issues.

If the trailer you are building will see any significant load, distance or speed greater than what a tractor might tow it at, then stay far away from the ST tires if you can. The older generation Goodyear Marathon had such a bad reputation, that I have no interest at all in trying out the new Goodyear Endurance.
 
I can build it as big as i want, 5 lug or 6 lug or 8 lug huns. To go 8 lug means 5200 lb axle and about $400 more cost
 
If you go 16" I have had great luck with the Sailun S637. http://www.sailuntires.ca/MRT/S637.html (note only the 16" are trailer tires) Once I put them on my heavy trailers my tire issues decreased.
otherwise the Maxxis have treated me well in the past when I needed 15"
 
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