vehicle tires for a trailer

sjb

Member
Looks like I need to replace my dual axle snowmobile trailer tires. I see there are some great black Friday deals right now on tires. Is there any reason I can't use a car tire instead of a trailer tire? I know I will still be well under the weight limit of any tire I chose. Thoughts?
 
Looks like I need to replace my dual axle snowmobile trailer tires. I see there are some great black Friday deals right now on tires. Is there any reason I can't use a car tire instead of a trailer tire? I know I will still be well under the weight limit of any tire I chose. Thoughts?

I would not do that car tires are not going to last. I have a car trailer that I halled a on car after putting on just 1 car tire. It did not last more than 50 miles after loading a car on my trailer. Blow out not good!
Randy
 

scoot

Member
They are different. Car and truck tires are designed for acceleration, cornering and to have softer sidewalls for a nice ride. All stuff you don't want in a trailer tire. Trailer tires have stiffer side walls that run higher PSI to roll easier and prevent swaying. They also have harder tread to last longer while getting scuffed going around corners.
 

eao

Active member
I have to agree. Had a tandem axle trailer at work that had an arrow board, sign box and about 30 traffic cones. Tires were bad so was told take it to Goodyear dealer (nat't contract for gov't agencies) and the GY shop put passenger car tires on it but we did not realize that. The trailer started swaying all over the road and seemed heavy to pull so I took it to another GY in a different city (we moved around a lot, GPS surveys) and he took one look and could not believe the other GY dealer installed those tires simply for safety reasons.
 

longtrack

Member
I run car Tires on my Boat Trailer and they have worn well and ride better. I do have 2 Spares on it and they are new Trailer Tires.

We have bought a lot of cheap Trailer Tires off Walmart.com. They have worked fine hauling our Equipment.
 

wiharley02

Active member
sjb-
Check out the website discounttire or discounttiredirect, they usually have good black friday, or more likely cyber monday deals. I have bought from them multiple times. I bought a set of 4 radial trailer tires from them for my 7x23 Legend inline, they are running very nicely and ride well. That is after the misaligned axles from the factory chewed through the original tires way too quickly. Had the new tires dropped shipped from discount directly to the trailer shop, they straightened both axles and installed the new tires, been great ever since. Some trailers come with bias trailer tires, step up to radial trailer tires if possible for a nice improvement in ride quality. Definitely stay with a trailer tire for the reasons mentioned above, sway, durability, etc.

I bought the Taskmaster Contender TTT868, 205/75R15. It's not a Goodyear but its not a cheng shin either. Been on for a couple years now, no issues, run good, no signs of aging, can't complain. I think a fair amount of the trailer tires out there are made overseas. I'd try and stay away from the cheapest bias tires, the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
 

sjb

Member
sjb-
Check out the website discounttire or discounttiredirect, they usually have good black friday, or more likely cyber monday deals. I have bought from them multiple times. I bought a set of 4 radial trailer tires from them for my 7x23 Legend inline, they are running very nicely and ride well. That is after the misaligned axles from the factory chewed through the original tires way too quickly. Had the new tires dropped shipped from discount directly to the trailer shop, they straightened both axles and installed the new tires, been great ever since. Some trailers come with bias trailer tires, step up to radial trailer tires if possible for a nice improvement in ride quality. Definitely stay with a trailer tire for the reasons mentioned above, sway, durability, etc.

I bought the Taskmaster Contender TTT868, 205/75R15. It's not a Goodyear but its not a cheng shin either. Been on for a couple years now, no issues, run good, no signs of aging, can't complain. I think a fair amount of the trailer tires out there are made overseas. I'd try and stay away from the cheapest bias tires, the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Thanks - and understand the radial vs bias bit. A buddy had a bias blow on his way out west due to heat (speeds around 80 mph for hours on end). Took out the fender and did a lot of damage to the shell of the trailer.

- - - Updated - - -

They are different. Car and truck tires are designed for acceleration, cornering and to have softer sidewalls for a nice ride. All stuff you don't want in a trailer tire. Trailer tires have stiffer side walls that run higher PSI to roll easier and prevent swaying. They also have harder tread to last longer while getting scuffed going around corners.

Makes sense. Thanks for the feedback.
 

samc

New member
I know there are a lot of different options on this topic but 3 years ago I put snow tires on our 23 ft enclosed snowmobile trailer and glad we did. We don't run the trailer in the Summer so not worried about the tires on the hot pavement wearing out. I'd do it again on our next trailer for sure.
 
I have bought a bunch of trailer stuff, including wheels and tires, from etrailer.com, very competitive, good products, excellent service.
 

euphoric1

Well-known member
Looks like I need to replace my dual axle snowmobile trailer tires. I see there are some great black Friday deals right now on tires. Is there any reason I can't use a car tire instead of a trailer tire? I know I will still be well under the weight limit of any tire I chose. Thoughts?

sent you a pm
 

dfattack

Well-known member
Goodyear Endurance are what a lot of the RV folks run. Designed for trailers.

I have them on my 29' Legend and two boat trailers. No problems, balanced good and hardly lose any air other than the seasonal temperature changes. I personally would not experiment with a non-trailer tire. I don't want any issues so why risk it?
 

yamadooed

Active member
Seems most trailer tires I’ve tried cracked on the side walls after a couple years.( One set lasted 8 months) Searched around and I found lots of great reviews on the RV forums for the Maxxis 8008 ST tires... So far its the best damn RV trailer tire I’ve owned...Also the really heavy duty 5th wheel RV guys have had good reviews for LT tires so that may be a option...
 
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