Trailer tires

[Grit dog]

Oh I know the two are unrelated. I was just connecting the dots on paper that I currently have load range C bias play tires that, other than longevity, I’m not happy with. That said, I’m thinking that a load range D, radial tire might be what fits my needs better.

I used the same logic to figure out what truck tires I needed, and ended up getting p rated highway tires that I’ve been super happy with. Turns out buying stuff based on specs that meet your honest needs works out way better than buying tires that look cool. Who knew.

D load radials will take the tires out of the equation. That said, if you think it’s the tires making it handle poorly that is largely how much they flex. You can do an easy test and air up your current tires to whatever pressure you think will cure the problem and try it out.
They won’t explode. And then you’ll know.

 

[bigcountry78]

Figured I’d close this one out, I pulled the trigger on two new tires yesterday. National…. Something’s. My tire guy had them in stock so that’s what I went with. I got the 205 size, radial, load range D. These tires are rated for 81mph at 65 PSI cold, so I think they’ll do me justice. One thing I did notice is that the old bias ply tires had a very noticeable crown across the tread area, and they had very uneven wear on the tread edges versus the center. The outer tread also had some obvious feathering on the tread. I think the radials, with their flatter tread area, should ride and wear better. I also had them balance the tires when they mounted them. The guy said they normally don’t balance trailer tires, but he didn’t give me any issues when I asked them to. It only makes sense to me to have something rolling down the road at highway speeds balanced.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Figured I’d close this one out, I pulled the trigger on two new tires yesterday. National…. Something’s. My tire guy had them in stock so that’s what I went with. I got the 205 size, radial, load range D. These tires are rated for 81mph at 65 PSI cold, so I think they’ll do me justice. One thing I did notice is that the old bias ply tires had a very noticeable crown across the tread area, and they had very uneven wear on the tread edges versus the center. The outer tread also had some obvious feathering on the tread. I think the radials, with their flatter tread area, should ride and wear better. I also had them balance the tires when they mounted them. The guy said they normally don’t balance trailer tires, but he didn’t give me any issues when I asked them to. It only makes sense to me to have something rolling down the road at highway speeds balanced.

It makes no sense to not balance. But you could probably use airsoft pellets since high speed would balance them automatically but nothing wrong with normal balance

 

[bucket]

Figured I’d close this one out, I pulled the trigger on two new tires yesterday. National…. Something’s. My tire guy had them in stock so that’s what I went with. I got the 205 size, radial, load range D. These tires are rated for 81mph at 65 PSI cold, so I think they’ll do me justice. One thing I did notice is that the old bias ply tires had a very noticeable crown across the tread area, and they had very uneven wear on the tread edges versus the center. The outer tread also had some obvious feathering on the tread. I think the radials, with their flatter tread area, should ride and wear better. I also had them balance the tires when they mounted them. The guy said they normally don’t balance trailer tires, but he didn’t give me any issues when I asked them to. It only makes sense to me to have something rolling down the road at highway speeds balanced.

Cheap radials often have a significant crown in the tread as well. Quality of the tire is everything, no matter if it's bias or radial.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Cheap radials often have a significant crown in the tread as well. Quality of the tire is everything, no matter if it's bias or radial.

And radials still flat spot just not as bad as bias ply.
Balancing tires on a trailer , i should mention, is helpful but not necessary as stated before but something I learned specifically is the trailer should be fine with a static balance like a bubble balancer, because the only real improvement youre gonna see over the life of the trailer from balance is going to be limiting wheel tramp which is mostly vertical bounce but its got a small amount of side to side shake that is more pronounced in front of a car because thats the steer tires. on rear axles on vehicles its mostly just up and down as how it affects the car. so on a trailer, which has minimal body movement relative to the axles , hop is going to be more severe. id think that the bearings on the axle and bolted connections would be the most strained beyond the tire. tire is already expected to be shorter lived because of sitting, rotting, quality of tires often, low air, etc.. but tread wear is tread wear

 

[bigcountry78]

So these are National Road max ST, made in Vietnam, not sure how that compares to China. I’ll be sure to let yall know how they do for me, but it may be a while. I don’t use my trailer very often, but when I do it’s usually for several trips very close together.