Trailer Tires... Which are best?

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Both Maxxis and Greenball have fine trailer tires. I would feel comfortable on either. Carlisle had a bad name from years ago, but haven't heard of anyone with problems in a long time. The Kumho tires are very good quality.

Costco has 2 reasons for selling the Greenball tires. They are good quality and Greenball gives them a better deal than the other guys.

I don't discount the China manufactured tires. I have sold a lot of tires from there over the years, and just like anywhere you have something manufactured, it is all in the design specs and quality control. Some of the early tires produce in China were complete crap, but there are a few brands of passenger and light truck tires that are quite good.

[KnoxX2]

Ok... So I have a 06 that was built in 05 and have the same stock tires on there. Have I just gotten lucky? We tow at least 1 hour each way to the local lake and up to TN. at least 2 times a year. I am looking at replacing my tires this year. Guess I will be looking for a different brand!!!

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Not all Marathons are bad. They just seem to have a huge quality control problem.

[CantRepeat]

Hey Peter,

Let me ask a question, or kind of a follow up I was having with my local tire dealer(he's an old door gunner from Nam so I support him).

When I was getting my Carlisle put on my 06, replacing the Marathons he asked my why I getting the done. The Marathons had a ton of tread on them. But I blew one out not more then 20 miles into my drive home last Oct. I told him that I've read so many bad things about the tires I just can't see taking a chance on it. He told me the failure rate on the Marathons was no greater then most trailer tires and explained the reason we see such a high rate was because of the amount of Marathons on the road. IE if you have 20 thousand Greenballs and 10 million Marathons you'll see more failures even if its only .1 % of the Marathons going bad.

I figure you can make anything work with numbers but told him to replace them anyway. There's just been too many boat owners here that have had the same issue. I in fact check the air pressure within 2 miles of my pick up point before getting on the hwy but still lost a tire within 20 miles of heading home. None of the tires had dry-rot on them.

[rspiecha]

Kumho for tandem trailers with 14" rims and torsion suspension. Only D rate tire I can find. Friend has had good luck with the Maxxis tires also.

Here is what happens with Marathon tires.



Rob

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

Hey Peter,

Let me ask a question, or kind of a follow up I was having with my local tire dealer(he's an old door gunner from Nam so I support him).

When I was getting my Carlisle put on my 06, replacing the Marathons he asked my why I getting the done. The Marathons had a ton of tread on them. But I blew one out not more then 20 miles into my drive home last Oct. I told him that I've read so many bad things about the tires I just can't see taking a chance on it. He told me the failure rate on the Marathons was no greater then most trailer tires and explained the reason we see such a high rate was because of the amount of Marathons on the road. IE if you have 20 thousand Greenballs and 10 million Marathons you'll see more failures even if its only .1 % of the Marathons going bad.

I figure you can make anything work with numbers but told him to replace them anyway. There's just been too many boat owners here that have had the same issue. I in fact check the air pressure within 2 miles of my pick up point before getting on the hwy but still lost a tire within 20 miles of heading home. None of the tires had dry-rot on them.

My GY info comes from a large GY dealer. He doesn't have Marathons on his trailers. Smell what I'm stepping in?

[CantRepeat]

Same tire for me as well.

[CantRepeat]

Originally Posted by thatsmrmastercraft

My GY info comes from a large GY dealer. He doesn't have Marathons on his trailers. Smell what I'm stepping in?

Yeah, but I hope to steer clear of it with my new set. lol

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Originally Posted by CantRepeat

Yeah, but I hope to steer clear of it with my new set. lol

The main causes of trailer tire failure is under-inflation and overloading. Something most people don't consider is that the under-inflation that caused the tire to fail wasn't necessarily from the trip where the tire went down. The damage may well have been done on a previous trip and was just waiting for an especially inopportune time to go.

[kman]

That was my trailer in the first picture, and those tires had about 3000 miles on them. It was always stored in a garage and the trailer is on jacks in the winter, and tires always had max pressure. I guess I had some of the bad batch. Anyway, I replaced with Maxxis and have about 2200 miles on these. I had them off just recently as I was bleeding the brakes, and they look almost brand new still.

However, next time, I think I'm going with the Kuhmos, since they are D rated. rspiecha has them, and the side walls are much stiffer and appear to hold the wieght a little better.