Time for New Tires?

[gary_in_neenah]

Due to all the Down Time with this virus I decided to pull the tires off the trailer, check the bearings, rotate, etc. Glad I did, as you can see from the picture there are small cracks appearing on both tires. This is a view of the inside of the tire, the outside looks fine. Original tires for the trailer that is six years old, tread is like-new. Wondering if I should replace them now or wait until fall as the trailer is used very little during the summer. Any thoughts?

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[sweeperguy]

Looks like the cracking is from being parked for some time with tires in same position. Possibly with low air pressure.
Kinda also looks like it could be heat related, again possibly low air pressure.
Personally I would replace, not knowing what you mean by not used much in summer months.
My current trailer is used year round. When I used to park trailer in summer, I would put on jack stands, to keep rubber off the ground.

 

[gary_in_neenah]

During the summer maybe 3 or 4 trips around town with landscaping supplies, no long trips, no highway miles. Putting it on jack stands is a good idea, I think I'll start doing that over long periods.

Curious though, why on the inside only? Both tires.

 

[harski]

I agree with Sweeperguy that I'd replace them. I'm also speaking upon experience from this season as I had ten year old tires on my trailer that one of them blew out about 15 minutes from home. It tore out the fender and put some road rash on the side of the trailer. I rotated the tires every other year and always had the proper pressure in them and was hoping for one more season as I already stuck enough moola in the brakes and bearings 2 weeks earlier. So, needless to say I put 4 new tires on too! So, in summary, I'd change them!

 

[indy_500]

I’d change em, but wait until after the summer heat. I coat my tires in wd40 when I store it to keep them from drying out.

 

[Carbide]

Tandem axles? Get them aligned. Many people don't realize this can be done.

 

[mrbb]

I would replace NOW< why risk a failure and the inconvenience of changing road side, not to mention the safety of it!
why wait, to save a few penny's on some MILD wear and tear from low summer use?
there tires, there made to be replaced and why they come with dates on them, my rule of thumb is I replace my trailer tires , all the more so on these smaller one,s that turn at HIGH speeds to keep up with the bigger one's on my truck!, as I might be prone to over speed limit speeds now and then LOL

I rather not have tire issue's in season or out of season, that try and get the most life and miles out of tires
flats suck, blowouts even worse!

this has been the best place I have found to get tires online, too, if you care to look!

https://recstuff.com/trailer-tires-...range-c-bias-ply-trailer-tire-kenda-loadstar/


I would also highly recommend while your looking at trailer, inspect your trailers axles, the mounts on the axles where they bolt to frame and the frame and the spacer between axle mounts and frame, as they too are wear and tear items , that fail faster than other parts on trailers!
its something many forget to look at! yet are on every aluminum framed trailer!

 

[scoot]

I would replace NOW< why risk a failure and the inconvenience of changing road side, not to mention the safety of it!
why wait, to save a few penny's on some MILD wear and tear from low summer use?
there tires, there made to be replaced and why they come with dates on them, my rule of thumb is I replace my trailer tires , all the more so on these smaller one,s that turn at HIGH speeds to keep up with the bigger one's on my truck!, as I might be prone to over speed limit speeds now and then LOL

I rather not have tire issue's in season or out of season, that try and get the most life and miles out of tires
flats suck, blowouts even worse!

this has been the best place I have found to get tires online, too, if you care to look!

https://recstuff.com/trailer-tires-...range-c-bias-ply-trailer-tire-kenda-loadstar/


I would also highly recommend while your looking at trailer, inspect your trailers axles, the mounts on the axles where they bolt to frame and the frame and the spacer between axle mounts and frame, as they too are wear and tear items , that fail faster than other parts on trailers!
its something many forget to look at! yet are on every aluminum framed trailer!

In February we saw some guy that lost BOTH his snowmo trailer axles heading south near Wausau. Rode on its belly until he got it stopped on the shoulder. Bet it was that section of highway 51 south of 8 that did him in.
As for tires, I check for cracks in the grooves of the tread. These might be OK for trailering around town, but several 12 hour driving trips per season at highway speeds....
View attachment 61479

 

[mrbb]

the larger problem is, you cannot see the damages on the INSIDE of the tire, as they don't just crack on the outside
and this is why they date things and recommend time frames to replace, regardless of how they look on the outside!

 

[gary_in_neenah]

the larger problem is, you cannot see the damages on the INSIDE of the tire,

As was my case, I wouldn't have known unless I took the tires off. Anyway, I decided to replace them, went for an "essential drive" and picked up a pair of replacements. The wife gives me the Stink Eye every time I leave the house because of the virus so one problem has morphed into another. Think I'll take Sweeeperguys advice and put the trailer up on jack stands until it's needed. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[ezra]

sissy stuff I looked at my sled trailer tire and said why is my tire flat

 

[scott_l]

Tandem axles? Get them aligned. Many people don't realize this can be done.

Get them aligned...... never heard of this, who would do this (tire shop, trailer shop) how often do people do this. Estimated cost?

Also question on rotating trailer tires, makes since, but what is the rotation pattern ?

 

[blown_apex]

i had all the brakes off my stacker haulmark trailer
i used a plumb bob and marked the floor
they were off bad 3/4 inch and out of square with the frame
cut all the welds and moved them and rewelded
id say most are off and they wont take the time to check them that close
and my new tires dont wear the tread over weird

 

[Carbide]

Get them aligned...... never heard of this, who would do this (tire shop, trailer shop) how often do people do this. Estimated cost?

Also question on rotating trailer tires, makes since, but what is the rotation pattern ?

Alignment shops. No idea on the cost. But yes it is a thing.

 

[Tracker]

Get them aligned...... never heard of this, who would do this (tire shop, trailer shop) how often do people do this. Estimated cost?

Also question on rotating trailer tires, makes since, but what is the rotation pattern ?

you should never need them aligned...what happened on my tandem is the welds broke which thru it out of alignment...then I kept buying new tires before I figured out and got up under there with a keen eye...noticed broken welds making trailer ride crooked which in turn produced hairline cracks in the axles overtime also...end result was putting trailer on crane and lifting in air and aluminum weld all joints on frame entire trailer....then installing 2 new triton axles....was not cheap at all....I think 1000 per axle...just for part...check your u brackets to see if ones broke...if you get back into spot it was in from factory you won't need it aligned...you will be able to see if its good with a test tow to see if it dog legs or not...my trailer had 100,000 miles on it when this happened....to see hairline i was under trailer while we set sled with forklift on it and off it to see crack spreading....otherwise you could not see it...was EXTREMELY hard to detect...overall repairs were 3500....but new triton elite was 7500 so I saved money in long run...hope this helps

To align new axles I took mine to rangeline trailer they did excellent job but are now out of business...I suggest taking to trailer place or manu or semi trailer repair shop

 

[mrbb]

I don't agree, that you NEVER have to align them
I have replaced many trailer axles over the yrs on many trailer types and found, MANY came from the factory with elongated holes, so things can be adjusted without needing to re weld anything
and some of these, holes for mounting axles, can come loose, , or just holes can egg out some and thus throw things out of alignment!

again, there is also a sacrificial spacer put on most aluminum trailers and the axle mounting brackets, as time goes by they wear out and can cause things to get loose and or out of alignment as well! there also supposed to be replaced as needed too, and should be checked every so often, to make sure the mounting bolts are TIGHT, as they wear too!

 

[liamjon]

I would replace them also. Actually, I'm planning to drop some coin on michelin tires for my trailer because my china made ST trailer tires already have some dry rot on the sidewalls.

 

[Tracker]

the rewelding i am referring to mrbb is the trailer frame itself....the corners of it and cross members....those crack causeing the trailer to dogleg and such..making it seem like it needs aligned....weld those up again and make the cracks tight into original position and it will be fine with no alignment needed....unless the axles and u bolts holding axles are cracked or broken....it will save time and money and headaches if you look at those first

 

[mrbb]

the rewelding i am referring to mrbb is the trailer frame itself....the corners of it and cross members....those crack causeing the trailer to dogleg and such..making it seem like it needs aligned....weld those up again and make the cracks tight into original position and it will be fine with no alignment needed....unless the axles and u bolts holding axles are cracked or broken....it will save time and money and headaches if you look at those first

well I agree sort of LOL
IMO< its best to examine the whole trailer frame every now and then
all welds, can crack over time, all the more so if one is the nature of over loading things and or running down rough roads

I know my one 1997 aluminum trailer, over the yrs I have it since new, I have had to replace and have re welded many parts on it from normal wear and tear(as in never been in an accident with it)

so any times your getting a vibration towing or noticing un even wear on tires, its never a bad idea to look the whole trailer over
or just inspect things very yr bore the season, so if you do find something you have time to get it repaired
around me, very few shops will work on aluminum trailers
and as such, if you need to get work done, it takes a lot longer to get in a shop and done!

steel trailers are easier here for repairs,. but I gave up owning them for sleds yrs ago!
salt here eats metal too fast for my liking!