Trailer Tires

RCP · Jun 14, 2015

On the way home yesterday we had two tires go bad on the trailer. The trailer tires are 15" radials, one blew out the tread and the second developed a bubble on the sidewall. I am considering upgrading to 16" tires with a significantly higher load rating, 2500# versus 3500#. This is a 10,000# trailer running at capacity.

Has anyone else made this change and did tire life improve?

Thanks
Rich

T in NE · Jun 14, 2015

Math says it should. A 235/75-15 is about 29 inch diameter. If you've got room to swap in a 238/85-16 you've now got a 31 inch diameter. The tire goes around fewer times, the bearings turn fewer times, so they should last longer.
That's completely disregarding load capacity, which is a 600-700 pound gain (per tire) going from a heavy 15 to a 10 ply 16, and nearly 1000 pounds in a 14 ply 16. Which would definitely be overkill for your application.
If you can contact the trailer manufacturer you may have a 12k or 14k trailer limited to 10k by the tires on it.

RCP · Jun 14, 2015

I agree, was just wondering if anyone had tried this and seen positive results.

Thanks
Rich

toolz · Jun 14, 2015

I think that would be a good move for your trailer. More tire is always better. Sounds like you had a day about like mine. I left early yesterday for a pull about 1 1/2 hours away. Had 19k on the trailer, and blew a tire 20 minutes from home (235-80-16, all 8 new two years ago). The whole tread came off. Headed to the tire shop for a new one, missed the pull, and no adjustment on the tire. Back home, unloaded those two, loaded up my 6500lb open tractor, and headed to an evening pull 1 1/2 hours the other direction. Almost there, and another tire came apart. Changed to the spare at the pull, and noticed another tire with a slipped belt. That makes 3 in one day. These are 10 ply, and although I do carry a lot of weight, the tires are never overloaded. Tires look like new still. One would think they should last more than two years. Might have to replace them all with 14 ply, but that's a lot of money.

VicS · Jun 15, 2015

Same thing happened to me last summer. Tire shop had me lift a 10 ply then a 14 ply. No comparison. Got the 14 have never looked back. Tires might have been old when they put them on.

RCP · Jul 7, 2015

Everything is in place now, I found someone who had purchased piles of new rims at an auction, so I purchased (5) 16" 3800# rims from him. I bought (4) new tires 235-80-16 E rated at 3500# and mounted a used tire for spare. It appears that I have enough clearance between the tires and the bed, but it raised the trailer about an inch.

If these tires are not heavy enough, at least I have the option of going 14 ply.

Rich

CountryRoadsScholar · Jul 7, 2015

I run LT tires on my trailer.

Dextero DHT2 E load range from Walmart.

Trailer Tires

RCP

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T in NE

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RCP

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toolz

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RCP

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