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Trailer tires..............

BigKahuna

BigKahuna

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Went down to the lake to check on the boat in anticipation of moving it to the marina on May 1st and noticed that the trailer tires all had dry rot. The trailer was new in 2008 so it's time to change them all. I have Carlisle 175 80D 13 Load range C tires on them now............My question to you all is...............Should I keep the same bias ply tires or should I switch to radials?!? Pros and Cons?!?

Currently I drive about 200 yards to the marina ramp from the storage facility but We are moving to Lake Norman later this year/early next year and will be making the 5 or so hour trek..............
 
Here is what a pontoon trailer mfg had to say. Most pontoon trailer tires are “bias” tires. For more information search the internet for bias versus radial tires. There are hundreds of posts and everyone seems to agree that radial tires are better. But, radials are more expensive and if you tow infrequent, bias tires are probably just fine. If on the other hand your talking your boat on long runs in hot weather, you might want to invest in radial tires.

Radial tires are clearly superior to bias ply tires. Bias ply tires haven’t been used on cars since 1983. Even for individuals who are not towing much, there are benefits to radials. We have a generation of consumers who don’t have experience with anything but radial tires. It’s a scandal that pontoon trailer companies are still using bias ply tires. If we didn’t have competitors we’d raise the price of each trailer and make radials standard. Weathering on bias ply tires is our biggest customer complaint.

bias vs radial tire comparison

Weathering on side walls on bias ply tires is an ongoing complaint. The tire companies claim that the little “cuts” are just cosmetic. People call and tell us their side walls are cracking and we have to tell them, that’s a characteristic of bias ply tires. We have a generation of consumers who don’t have any experience with anything but radial tires. But when you check the tires on your two year old trailer that sat outside during the winter, and see cracks in the side wall, you’ll be concerned. Tire companies will tell you it’s not a warranty issue. We check every new tire for weathering and return probably 40 a year to our supplier. Our tire supplier squawked at first, because they don’t consider the weathering a defect. We learned that they just restock the ones we return and sent them to our competitors. We’ll try and sell you radial tires, but if you buy a pontoon trailer from us with bias ply tires, it won’t leave out lot with weathered tires.
 
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The trailer tire that's in a class of its' own is the Kumho 857's.  There's nothing else on the market that'll handle the loads or have the speed rating of that tire.  And they're available online at the big tire operations.
 
I've had good luck with the Korean tire brands such as Bamaman recommended. I have another Korean tire, a Maxxis radial, on my bass boat trailer. My pontoon trailer was upgraded to Goodyear Marathon radials when I ordered it. I had bias ply on my bass boat trailer when I bought it. Chinese crap, splits in several places the first year, and completely worn out by the end of the 2nd year---and that was just about 2500 miles of travel. I wouldn't buy a Chinese tire for anything, but you can't go wrong with these three brands. I would steer clear of Kenda, Trail America, etc., and the US made Carlisle brand.
 
Wow I had no idea that the tires on pontoon boat trailers are typically bias.  I'll have to see what mine are when I eventually get it out of storage (indoor heated during the winter).  During the summer I park it along the side of my pole barn in between that and some woods so it is in the shade practically the entire time in the day so no sun gets to the tires.  This year it will be even better as I will have another pole barn to store  it in....so it will always be inside all year round which I have to believe will help the tires from cracking since no sun is ever beating down on it.  Glad I read this article because I will certainly buy radials when I do need to replace them.
 
The other thing to do is balance your trailer tires.  I see many trailers on the road with their tires bouncing up and down.  When I took my new trailer to get the tires balanced the sales manager asked why.  I said have you ever seen a unbalanced trailer tire with 1,000's of miles on them.  It looks like somebody took a knife and cut out chunks of the rubber.
 
Just remember. Your hauling a $25-$35k plus Bennington, do not cheap out in tires !!! This ain't a load of mulch your hauling. Spend a little extra now for good quality tires, or spend lots more later on the "boat builder" site........ :)
 
I just bought a complete radial 13" with rim at Northern Tool for less than $100. on sale  normal is $119. The rims can get rusty around the bead so new tires will not hold air. New set up for less than $400. is a good deal.
 
I had the same reaction from my tire guy about balancing trailer tires when I started dealing with him. It is as important for a trailer tire as it is for a car or truck. I have two boat trailers, two utility trailers, and a gooseneck, 18 tires total,  and all have been balanced. As for buying quality trailer tires, there are very few tires that meet that requirement when it comes to trailer tires. Most of the major manufacturers, like Michelin, don't make trailer tires. You get stuck with oddball brands for trailers with just a few exceptions. My fifth wheel weighs 16K, and I have to run load range G tires. Goodyear makes 1 tire for it, and the rest are all foreign made. Mine fifth wheel came with Chinese tires. I had $4k in damage caused by a blowout on a tire with 1000 miles on it. I had checked the tires, including the 110 psi pressure, 15 minutes before the total disintegration of the tire.

I think a lot of companies shy away from manufacturing trailer tires because trailer tires, as a whole, are abused, neglected, not maintained, etc., and it could be a liability problem. Too bad, there is a huge market for a quality trailer tire.
 
Everybody has opinions and I will give you mine as well. I have a little tire experience since I have multiple trailers. Boat, camper, dump trailer and  a car trailer.  You get what you pay for so pay enough to meet your objective. Circumstances will dictate what you need. My shortest lake trip is 62 miles each way. My longest trip is 350 each way. Its usually hot out and the last place I want to be is on the side of the road , sweating my butt off, looking out for the idiot that won't move over as he zoom's past, changing a blown tire and wondering how much its gonna cost to fix the fenders, light wiring and anything else that got in the way of a big chunk of rubber flying off at 70 MPH. Then trying to find another spare in case I blow another tire. So much for a fun day at the lake!. The Max life of a tire is about 10 years no matter how much tread is left. Less if its sitting out in the elements. I will NEVER put a Bias tire on anything I own except my lawnmower. Since I have to drive the miles to our vacation lake, I ordered my trailer with 14" radials. It's sits a little taller but handles the load easily. If I can get the next higher load range to fit under the fenders, ie; an 8 ply v\s a 6 ply on it, I will pay the extra $$$. Goodyear makes the best trailer tire out there but I have run Carlisle's with  no problems. That's my story and I'm sticking to it........
 
I have to weigh in on this First DON"T get China BOMBS. Most Carlisle tires come from China. Next, Goodyear if you look make their tires in China and other foreign countries as well.. Goodyear by the way means just that "Good For One Year". I had Michelin's put on my RV and Balanced after a bad experience with Carlisle's Blow out's (2) tread split (2) No better tire anywhere than Michelin and they're made here in SC. On the Toon trailer You can't find an American made tire. My 13" radials comes from Mexico. I'm hoping they'll hold up better than China Bombs.

My experience for what it's worth.
 
Goodyear does have a factory in China, but it is their factory and not a subcontractor. They also have 8 factories in the US, 2 in Canada, and 2 in Mexico. They recently built a few factories in Chile too, but if you check the sidewall you will find most tires sold here are made in North America. The Marathons are made in the US or Canada, depending on the size. Mine came from Canada. I do know that if you have damage from a blowout from a Goodyear tire that they will cover the damage, provided it was not underinflated, etc. No such warranty on the Chinese tires. Best to check the sidewall of any tire you're contemplating and see if it was made in China. If so, I would pass on that particular tire. The Trail America tire that blew apart on my fifth wheel was Chinese, and when I replaced them with the Goodyears there was a huge difference in the weight. The TA was about 20% lighter. That is 20% less rubber, steel and polyester in the same size tire.
 
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