tires for cargo trailer?

A 7000 lb trailer equate to 1750 lb per tire requirement.

A ST225/75-15 C = 2150 lbs capacity or 8600 lbs gross. A good match especially if the trailer sits a lot and makes short local trips but as any ST your limited to 65 mph.


A ST225/75-15 D = 2540 lbs per tire or 10160 lbs gross. Not a good match for a 7k trailer.

IMO your best upgrades will be going to a LT or a multi position tire especially if the trailer is on the road making you a living and long trips.
Depending on room in the wheel well and proper wheel pressure/wheel width requirements the Goodyear Wrangler HT in a LT235/75-15 C (50 psi) at 1980 lb capacity. Most LT tire makers carry this size.

And a Wrangler HT in a LT215/75-15 D (65 psi) at 2090 lbs capacity.

Maxxis LT U-168 are a commercial grade tire with several 15" sizes and have became popular with all types of trailer owners.

Vanco 2 from Continental another popular tire for trailer users has several 15" sizes and load capacities.

I see the Yokohama RY215 in a 700R 15 D at 2040 lbs capacity is popular on some of the other RV websites.

Do your home work on the numbers.

There is no reason to believe that Carlisle are inferior tires .
Increasing the Weight rating in pounds as posted on the sidewall is more important than brand .
There is a good solution that uses your current 15 inch wheels , that will fit your wheel wells :
There are at least 2 different LT graded tires in a 225/70 R15 size that can be fitted to your current wheels .
Neither are made in china.
Recent discussions on this forum have shown that LT tires are graded using a tougher standard .
Goodyear Cargo G26 rated 2470 # , made in germany and france.
Continental Vanco 2 rated 2470#, made in germany and slovokia .
I ordered continentals from tire rack on a monday and they were delivered by wednesday recently .
Goodyear G26:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Cargo+G26&partnum=27R5G26&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&tab=Specs
Continental Vanco 2 :
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsptireMake=Continental&tireModel=Vanco+2&partnum=27R5V2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&tab=Specs

The best way to improve your chances of not having a tire failure is to increase the load weight rating in pounds as shown on the sidewall .
That is measurable .
To rely on brand for improvement is similar to going to a casino .
That is not measurable .

I would suggest the LT tires in your size.

Check out Tire Rack. If it rolls, they have the tires for it. And they ship to you, or to a dealer of your choice for installation. My daily driver is a 4WD pickup truck, which doesn't do well on snow. I ordered 4 Bridgestone Blizzac snow tires. They arrived in just a few days, mounted, inflated and delivered onto my back porch. I'm currently looking for a glass mountain to climb. :)

Yup, LT's if they fit. I just bought 4 Carlisle ST Radial Trail RH in that same size in a load range D. That would also be a good replacement tire.

JIMNLIN wrote:
A 7000 lb trailer equate to 1750 lb per tire requirement.

A ST225/75-15 C = 2150 lbs capacity or 8600 lbs gross. A good match especially if the trailer sits a lot and makes short local trips but as any ST your limited to 65 mph.


A ST225/75-15 D = 2540 lbs per tire or 10160 lbs gross. Not a good match for a 7k trailer.

I am also an LT tire fan on ALL my trailers but curious on your above statement.

Why would the tire with the higher load rating not be suitable? Seems to me that it would just be that much more insurance. :@

JIMNLIN wrote:
A 7000 lb trailer equate to 1750 lb per tire requirement.

A ST225/75-15 C = 2150 lbs capacity or 8600 lbs gross. A good match especially if the trailer sits a lot and makes short local trips but as any ST your limited to 65 mph.


A ST225/75-15 D = 2540 lbs per tire or 10160 lbs gross. Not a good match for a 7k trailer.

hmm I must be missing something. You said the ST225/75-15 C = 2150 lbs capacity or 8600 lbs gross is a good match.

But the higher capacity of a ST225/75-15 D = 2540 lbs per tire or 10160 lbs gross is not a good match?

Did you post them backwards?

FYI Radial RH's come in a 225/75-15 E rating with 2850lbs./tire (x4 = 11400).

If you go LT's just be sure to avoid the michelin LT's that just got recalled for tread separation.

RVUSA wrote:
If you go LT's just be sure to avoid the michelin LT's that just got recalled for tread separation.

Posts like this tend to cast doubt on an entire line of tires, in this case Michelin. That is most likely what the poster is trying to do. Please be more specific when talking about recalls.

The reality is that most tires produced by Michelin are of high quality. The tire in question is one that is mostly used on Class B's and Class C's. The sign of a good tire company is one that openly recalls a tire type when problems surface. Unfortunately, there are many out there that attempt to hide their mistakes or simply change their name to hide.

Keith

DJ wrote:
Why would the tire with the higher load rating not be suitable? Seems to me that it would just be that much more insurance.

I've found at some point a tire on a trailer can have too much capacity which is true for the ST225/75-15 D at 2540 lb at 65 psi on a trailer with 3500 lb axles and a 7000 lb gross weight.
Tire experts and experienced trailers owners have found up to a 10-20 percent reserve capacity works best as the tires may then may be ran at max pressures for a cooler operating tire and max performance and max long term reliability.

If the OP is going with a Carlisle tire and wants to protect his warranty he will have to run max sidewall pressures which means 65 psi in those D tires.

I've ran dozens of tires on my cargo/flatdeck road trailers and one thing I found early on is tires simple last longer when used at their highest performance levels.