I was towing my Jeep on a 7K trailer this weekend and one tire blew out. I didn't notice the tire went flat until I saw some tread flying off in my mirror. I changed the tire with my spare, rechecked all the pressures and was rolling again in about 10 minutes. Now, this trailer is 1 1/2 years old and had new tires on it when purchased. This failure is making me weary about the other three tires. I always check the pressures before each tow. All 4 tires are load-star Bias ply's, and I now want to replace them with Goodyear Marathon radials, hoping these will be better. Has anyone used these? or any others they reccomend?
What size are they? If it's a 16" rim you have a lot more options for heavy duty tires. I replaced my 5th wheel tires with Goodyear G614's, they are a trailer specific heavy duty tire, G-rated. Only available in 235/85r16. Seems like a great tire though.
Trailer Tires When you blow a trailer tire on the highway as in your case, it is so far gone by the time you know about it, you don't know what caused the tire to go down prior to coming apart. If you weren't watching your pressures, it could be low pressure. That doesn't seem to be the case here. So, the next likely suspect is a road hazard. Something punctured the tire resulting in loss of pressure and tire breaks down. My point is, I think, in most cases, it is a waste of money to purchase anything more than the average generic load rated tire from one of the large chain discount tire stores. You buy the replacement guarantee for $10 or so a tire and when you bring in that shredded tire, all you pay is the cost of renewing the replacement guarantee. My equipment may be different than some others but I find in traveling the Interstates pulling a gooseneck trailer that I have had more than one occasion to lock up the trailer brakes. This will flat spot the tires whether they cost $80 or $180. When I find myself in a tight spot for a pickup, delivery or a fast food spot, the maneuvering necessary to get out will rub the tread right off the tires. Normal cornering with a tandem axle trailer causes some scuffing of the tires. Wearing down the tread on your trailer tires comes from many things other than the number of revolutions it turns while going straight down the road. I have replaced three tires this year. With tandem axles, there isn't any danger involved, I just pull over and change it. I look at my list of tire stores nationwide to find the location I will be closest to that day and add it to my itinerary. They take one look at that shredded carcass and replace the tire, mounted and balanced, for the cost of replacing the replacement guarantee. I like the fact, their computers are all linked nationwide so they view my history of purchases no matter where it occurred but they never try to determine when the shredded tire was purchased. If in a hurry, I just throw the new tire in the trailer and hit the road. If I have time, I wait and have the new tire put on the trailer (no charge) and then continue on. If by chance I can't get to one of their stores, I keep my receipt for buying a new tire and they will reimburse me when I get home. This works for me so I do not see a need to pay extra for a brand name tire.
