tire question

EVW

New User
I have trailer tires that have less than 1000 miles on them but there old and cracked. Can I run tubes in them and still have the same load range as they were tubeless?
 
I would think that if you were involved in a accident the cops and the court wouldn't give a flying flip if you had tubes in the tires or not. all they are going to see is the old cracked up tire. its gona cost you im afraid
 
A tube will not alter your load rating. If the tires are bad enough to be leaking air thru the casing; buying tubes is a waste of money. Will keep you from loosing air; but; does nothing to prevent tire from blowing. Might help a little while on a slow speed; farm trailer; avoiding buying for a while; but; the cost of the tube may not be justified in additional use
 
tires that sit without spinning on the ground to keep rubber from dry rotting and cracking, won't have a chance with a good load on them going down the road...which is more important to you, saving money on tires, or loosing your and maybe someone elses life and property
 
5 years on a trailer tire is kinda the limit, tubes shorten tire life because they hold more heat and hold it longer.
 
I have been where you are this past summer. Tires were just 5 yrs old. On the way to the pull about 60 miles, noticed a vibration. We pulled over and looked things over. Couldn't find a thing. Went on to the pull. Did our thing and started home. We had gotten used to the vibration. Boom! tire on right rear of trailer blew out. Tore the mudflap off. Well it was in the 90's and two old guys and my buddy just has one foot! Spare was over the gooseneck. Just sitting there, and we had plenty of blocks and a 19.2 impact. No problem. But when we tried to get the spare down it wedged in the gooseneck and wouldn't come down. Also we couldn't reach valvecore to let the air out.(had a 12V compressor) Luckly for us some early church goers saw us and came to our rescue. Two young guys managed to pull the tire up while we pushed from the bottom. The rest was easy. Monday pulled trailer to town and bought new 14 ply tires. Need to mark on wall when 5 yrs are up! Vic
 
Thanks guys. These tires are about 10 to 12 years old. They are just leaking around the aluminum rims and I put about 200 miles on them the past few months with them loaded to there limit. I csn't believe they didn't blow but I think I will just buy new tires for next season.
 
This is the trailer its on.
a177639.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 21:20:49 12/27/14) my tires are 12 years old and still look good?

Look real close. The tires on my trailer are at least 12 years old. Look REAL good from a distance, but I doubt very much that a D.O.T. officer would like them.
 
I have had real bad luck with tires that are rarely run blowing out. I would not want them on the highway, might be OK if you are putting around between farms, but never at higher speeds.
 
If you want your tire to last longer keep them cover when not in use so they get no direct sun light. UV rays damage tires and use a silver cover to cut down on heat.
 
Do all of you realize how much more expensive my hobby has become due to this discussion!

Oh well, back to the salt mine for me.
 
Hi
An expensive hobby and free choice working in the salt mine sounds way better than no hobby and being in the state pen, stamping licence plates , Because you killed somebody with a tire or 2 blowing out to save 800-900 or so bucks for 5 years, or the big fine from DOT for bad tires!.

Enjoy your freedom and Hobby the costs worth it, to be free, happy and have choices, the state won't let you make if your in jail.
Regards Robert
 
(quoted from post at 11:44:36 01/01/15) Do all of you realize how much more expensive my hobby has become due to this discussion!

Oh well, back to the salt mine for me.

WOW. Sounds like you stepped on someones toes. LOL
 
Tires are a frequent subject on an RV forum that I visit. Lots of blowouts on RV trailers with 5-6 year old tires.

Replacing trailer tires every 5 years regardless of condition is one thing that they almost universally agree on over there.

Of course my oldest trailer has the original 2004 tires on it. They're like new, and show absolutely no signs of rot or cracking even in an up-close inspection. The trailer is also lightly loaded for its capacity. I may break down and put new tires on it this year, and put the old tires on a hay wagon or something.
 
I did some research on the useful age of tires a while back. What I found was most manufacturers don't recommend running tires that are more than 10 years old and it's important for them to be properly inflated. I know on road tractors, they are often over 10 years old.

On my trailer I run Load E rated tires. I found used ones that according to the DOT codes, are 5, 7, 8 and 10 years old. All of them are in good shape with no noticeable weather cracks. I run 75-80 psi in them. I've checked them all closely and all the rubber is still pliable.

The quickest thing that will kill a tire is heat due to under-inflation. Remember the Firestone SUV tire recall back in 2000? The auto makers were under-inflating the tires at the factory and the majority of the incidents were in the southern states in the summer in large heavy SUVs. If it's under-inflated, it flexes the tire and builds heat, not unlike when you bend a wire coat hanger until it gets hot and breaks. That's why I run Load E tires near the maximum pressure, to minimize flexing.

Now having said all that excessively old tires are dangerous to run. My dad had a 1969 chevy truck with 1976 Uniroyal tiger paws with virtually no wear. One of those tires came all to pieces on the interstate due to age. It was properly inflated too.

Adding tubes to old tires won't increase your load capacity, but it might help with some of the leaks, assuming you use the correct size tube. If you use a tube that is grossly too big, you will get folds in the tube and it will wear holes in it very quickly. I've removed failing tubes for that mistake as well.
 
If the tires are Chinese you will be lucky to get two years out of them. From my past looking at tire info I found where tires loose about 30% of thier load rating by 3 years. Doesn't matter if they are inflated of hiding on a shelf. I see folks running old junk car tires on trailers and somehow getting away with it. I have blown several 2 year old 16 ply fresh from China trailer tires on a trip with less than half their rated load on them. Course now I would run a 10 year old US made tire over a brand new China tire. I doubt you see any 10 year old tires on semis either. Maybe on a trailer that stays local.
 
i have had more problems with steel belts breaking than blowouts. Sort of solved the problem by lowering air pressure way down when not in use.
 
I used to have issues with trailer built tires lasting very long, now I use E load truck tires and I have not had any issues since and I can now run the speed limit in all states.
Speed, air pressures and overloading the trailer has a lot to do with tire life.
 
johndear, you'd be surprised what you'd find if you start checking the date codes on semi tires. I've heard drivers mention they have tires re-treaded at least twice before discarding the carcass. That means that carcass has survived three sets of tread. By that time, one could easily make ten years old. Heck, I have a suburban with a set of load E pirellis that have less than 10,000 miles on them, but they are over 6 years old now. I'm not afraid of a 10 year old truck tire that's at least rated at Load E. Now a 10 year old car tire or a light truck tire, I don't feel comfortable with those carrying much of a load.
 

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