Any recommendations for trailer tires?
I know several of us trailer our cars lots of miles to tours. Someone may have some tires to recommend or ones to stay away from.

You'll probably here both sides on this one(kinda like oil). Some say to use tires designed for trailers only, stiffer side walls. Others have no problem with plain ol' passenger tires, radials most likely. When I trailer-ed my car out 5 months ago, the UHaul had tires designed for trailer use only and said so.

Most states now require trailer have trailer tires. If you are not going far from home do what your state requires. But if you play in someone else's sand box, you must play by their rules. I run trailer tires on by trailers. Mostly use Towmax from Carroll Tire. Wife is in the tire business and says they have the least trouble out of them. As always "your mileage will vary". Dan

When I had my trailer built in the late 60's, the builder put Goodyear Polyglas H78 X 15 tires on it. Never had a problem. Replaced them with 7.00 X 15 tubeless truck tires. Never had a problem. Time to replace again. I may see what trailer rated tire I can find, but will probably stay away from Goodyear Marathons. They are made in China and I have seen one too many fail.

I just replaced the four Goodyear Marathon tires on my Pace enclosed trailer with Carlisle's. Tire man told me that there are three manufacturers of trailer tires BUT all three are made in China. He told me that you are simply paying for the Goodyear name and the Carlisle was every bit as good a tire for a little less per tire.

I have made in China 700-15 8 ply rating trailer tires on my stock trailer. They were $59 each installed. So far so good.

I Had an '89 Pace America 20 ft. trailer, I bought new, with Goodyear Marathon tires installed at the factory. Had no problem until 2011 when one came apart. 22yrs old. Can't beat that.

Is the general consensus that radials are superior to bias plys when it comes to trailer tires?

My understanding is the lateral stiffness of bias ply tires on a trailer makes them preferable.

All good info but most important is buying tires with the correct Load Rating. You sure don't want to risk putting 300lb tires on 3,000lb trailer.

My personal opinion is to avoid Chinese rubber at all costs. They just don't have the formula or process perfected yet. I have yet to have one last more than 18 months. Checks, bubbles, ply separation and loss of tread are common. Had one blow a tread flap just sitting.

Tow your car on all fours and you won't have a trailer tire blowout or other failure.

At least once a year I trailer a T 800 to 1000 miles one way to a tour. I think I would rather wear out trailer tires that sell for about 60 to 80 dollars each and will last 50K miles instead of dragging the T behind my truck with a tow bar and wearing out tires that are considerably over 100 dollars each and only last 5K miles. Just my .02.

China bashing ... again

And those that bash China will refuse to take the advice of someone who tows a trailer just
about every day in just about every one of the
48 lower states who RUNS on tires made in China.

That would be me ...

Check your manufacture date on your trailer tire.

Change your trailer tires every (3) years
or 15,000 miles.

Check your rims to see they are not bent.

Balance your trailer tires.

Keep at maximum PSI.

Try and use E load range rated tires.



Jim

You can use tires that are designated as "LT" (Light Truck)as they have the higher load range rating also. Don't use passenger car tires.

Kenny,

Most states now require ST rated tires on trailers.

Vehicle enforcement will issue a citation if your trailer has tires other than ST rating
in most states if you are stopped ....



Jim

It sounds like the tire manufacturers have managed to get laws passed so they can sell more tires. light truck tires should last more than 15,000 miles on a trailer. As far as towing a car on all fours, I agree with Paul, tires on a trailer are going to be cheaper and easier to get than tires for a T, especially if they are white, grey or original. A bearing failure on a tandem axle trailer (or tire failure for that matter) is a minor thing, and it is even possible to limp to the next parts house with one axle chained up, but loose a bearing on the car while towing, and you are going to be doing a lot of repairs.
Best
Gus

The extra gas to pull that trailer will buy a lot of tires. Not to mention the extra weight and cost of a tow vehicle to pull that trailer.

I agree with Jim, "Change your trailer tires every (3) years or 15,000 miles." Just send me your "old" three year old tires and I will never have to buy another trailer tire.

I have tires on my flat bed equipment/hay trailer that are likely 40 years old and have never have one fail due to age or high mileage. I have had tires fail due to normal tread wear and road hazards but not due to age or mileage alone.

Jim

Ralph, if Gene is asking about replacing trailer tires, it's probably a safe bet to assume he already owns a trailer and a vehicle to pull it with. What may work for you isn't necessarily the answer for everybody... My flat trailer and 1/2-ton truck are used for a lot of things besides hauling Model T's. Besides that, towing on all 4s is terrible advice for anyone without a free neutral from an accessory transmission in their car.

I have cheap Carlisle tires on my trailer that are about 3 years old. I haven't had any problems with them yet, but they seem to be very soft and flat-spot easily if you have a brake lock up. I store my trailer outside along the North side of my shop to keep the sun off the tires as much as possible. Getting it inside would help a lot, but I have rented out the space for a lot more than the cost of trailer tires.

I'm well familiar with Gene's trailer, Derek. I rode with him towing it just 3 weeks ago. What works for me is a choice, just like open / tandem wheel / closed / flatbed truck / box van / toy hauler.

Looks like the flatbed truck, box van and toy hauler are the only choices if you don't want to trust your T to ChiCom tires.

Another problem with towing a stock Ford T is you have to pull the drive line or you are going to have even more problems that worn out tires and wheel bearings.

A new Warford (and wheel brakes) are still cheaper than a pickup heavy enough to be safe to pull a trailer - and they will be useful on most tours, while said pickup and trailer would be sitting useless in a parking lot.

I think it's Tom Carnegie who made freewheeling hub adapters to tow a stock T to the 500.

My trailer was built in 1955 and I modified it in 1965. It is light enough so Minnesota does not require brakes on it. It will hold either my Model T or one of my 1931 As.The axle is from a 1929 Chevrolet with a six bolt pattern. I use 600 x 16 wheels and tires. I bought the tires from Sears in about 1990. They are tube type. They hold air just fine and show no wear. I travel at abut 45 MPH with them. Some day I suppose I will have to put a modern axle under the frame using surge breaks. I use it just around Minnesota.

A properly designed trailer will haul more than a T. I will agree that most people could not justify buying a pickup and trailer, but some of us use what we have. The original question was not if it is better to tow or trailer, but what kind of tires ore best. In my opinion, tires that are 30 years old or older are the best. If you are going to put a modern transmission and brakes on the car, why not a small block V8 and drive it there? I would still argue that the trailer provides greater protection to the T and if the trailer is equipped with trailer brakes, it is much safer for the driver as well.
That being said, I often tow my GPW when I travel a long distance, but it is on stock full floating hubs, and the rear axles can be removed and replace by the front hubs, and the front hubs replaced with a cap, but I do not have to worry about wooden wheel spokes becoming loose and failing at high way speeds, and the wheel bearings are off the shelf items that can be replaced in a few minutes.
Best
gus

Richard Wolf,
Your old Marathons are probably gone now, but if you had looked at them closely, I think you would have found that they were not made in China.
I had the same experience on our 1991 travel trailer just a few years ago. Went to put air in the tires after winter storage, and the rubber valve stem broke right off. That caused me to look at the date on the tires. Sure enough, they must have been the ones the factory installed when new, so I bought new ones. The old Marathons had given good service, so I bought a new set of 5. To my horror i found that they were made in China. The old ones were made in Canada.
There has been a lot of trouble with the ST tires from China, from what I read on a couple of camping trailer fora. It seems a crying shame that we have been legislated into buying Chinese products. I wonder how much money the Chi-coms funneled to the politicians through their lobbyists to pull that one off!

Roar;
I think I still have that tire and rim. I'll check and see tomorrow, where it was made.
I also have an 18ft open trailer that needs tire and all I've seen is those Carlisle tires. About $300.oo a set. I suppose those are made in China.

LT tires not legal in most states! I have not heard that one. This has not come up on the Travel Trailer Forum I frequent. On that forum almost everyone highly recommends them as they are a superior tire. Also did you know trailer tires (ST) are only rated for 60 mph.

Richard W., I'm not doubting your luck with Goodyear Marathon tires that lasted 22 years, but that long ago, US companies weren't having the Chinese make anything but checkers. So, I can only assume that they either were US made or in some other country with better quality control. I'll bet money with anyone that uses their Chinese Goodyear Marathons that they won't get 22 years out of them. Two years might be a safer bet. At least the ones that WalMart sells. I wouldn't trust taking a load of junk to the scrap yard on my trailer if I had Chinese Marathons on my trailer, and I work for WalMart!

I would like to know where in hell you gus are buying all these great trailer tires for $60 each.
I think you need to check a calendar, this is not 1972.
A couple of years ago I spent the entire day looking for trailer tires and the best deal I could find was about $130 each plus mounting balancing an Taxafornia sales tax.
I put car tires on it and let it go at that.
They were Walfart tires that I bought for a van that the tranny crapped out on a month later, $65 each, I think.

I bought 700-15 8 ply Chinese tires at Crawford Smith in Greenville, Texas in 2011 for $59 each.

At the swap meet, a couple weeks ago, they were selling 15in. radial Carlisle tires,mounted on white spoke wheels, for $79.00 each.