We are about to take our first long trip ever with our trailer,an 1100 mile round trip. I was out looking at the tires and noticed two had weather checking/cracks in the sidewalls. The other two look perfectly fine. The manufacture date on the tires is mid-2007, so they are about 6 years old. Are the cracks cosmetic or should I have them replaced? Should I have them all replaced? The two showing cracks replaced? Tire1Tire2Tire 2 seems to be the deepest/worst but seems to be relatively small area wise. Tire 1 seems to be relatively shallow but cover more area.

Since you live in ID, you're probably not to far from a Les Schwab tire dealer, I'd go to them and get their advice on your tire situation. They're a real honest company, I've bought tires from them for many years and they will treat you fairly. If you replace all four. you'll be trouble free for at least five years, probably longer. They only sell good tires so you won't be faced with cracking again, especially if you can cover the tires when parked for long periods of time during storage.

Even without the obvious signs of decay, at six years old those trailer tires have outlived their useful life. Good for you for checking them out, and do replace them before you go.Before you make any decision to go off-spec from what your trailer manufacturer recommends, however, be advised that if you do so, such tires will be sold to you without warranty from the seller. (Not an approved design use for LT tires)Good luck!

Personally if I had ANY worries about any of the tires I would replace all four, saving best one as new spare (if spare is older). Not sure what size you have, if 15" I'd get Maxxis, not some Chinese junk.FYI we have put over 200,000 miles on various non-Chinese ST tires. Only issues have been a few repairable nail punctures. We do not run tires over 7 years old per DOT code.

Wonder why it is when folks post a question about tires and show a photo, the letters c h i n a nearly always appears in it somewhere?The best word I've ever heard anyone mention about defending these c h i n a tires is "Well, mine are OK."OK is not the word I'd prefer to hear when asking about the most important thing between me and the road in my RV with myself and family in it - that's for certain.Another amazing comment - I saved $20 each ..... $20 EACH, that's $80 bucks on a ballpark of a $20k - $40k trailer, or a $150k and up MH. Not my priority

Chuck&Gail wrote:Personally if I had ANY worries about any of the tires I would replace all four, saving best one as new spare (if spare is older). Not sure what size you have, if 15" I'd get Maxxis,.X-2, especially the Maxxis part!!!

Tires | Good Sam Community

Islandman
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Since you live in ID, you're probably not to far from a Les Schwab tire dealer, I'd go to them and get their advice on your tire situation. They're a real honest company, I've bought tires from them for many years and they will treat you fairly. If you replace all four. you'll be trouble free for at least five years, probably longer. They only sell good tires so you won't be faced with cracking again, especially if you can cover the tires when parked for long periods of time during storage.
Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Even without the obvious signs of decay, at six years old those trailer tires have outlived their useful life. Good for you for checking them out, and do replace them before you go.

Before you make any decision to go off-spec from what your trailer manufacturer recommends, however, be advised that if you do so, such tires will be sold to you without warranty from the seller. (Not an approved design use for LT tires)

Good luck!
Chuck_Gail
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Personally if I had ANY worries about any of the tires I would replace all four, saving best one as new spare (if spare is older). Not sure what size you have, if 15" I'd get Maxxis, not some Chinese junk.

FYI we have put over 200,000 miles on various non-Chinese ST tires. Only issues have been a few repairable nail punctures. We do not run tires over 7 years old per DOT code.
monkey44
Nomad II
Jul 10, 2013
Wonder why it is when folks post a question about tires and show a photo, the letters c h i n a nearly always appears in it somewhere?

The best word I've ever heard anyone mention about defending these c h i n a tires is "Well, mine are OK."

OK is not the word I'd prefer to hear when asking about the most important thing between me and the road in my RV with myself and family in it - that's for certain.

Another amazing comment - I saved $20 each ..... $20 EACH, that's $80 bucks on a ballpark of a $20k - $40k trailer, or a $150k and up MH. Not my priority
wny_pat1
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Chuck&Gail wrote:
Personally if I had ANY worries about any of the tires I would replace all four, saving best one as new spare (if spare is older). Not sure what size you have, if 15" I'd get Maxxis,.

X-2, especially the Maxxis part!!!
CKNSLS
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
monkey44 wrote:
Wonder why it is when folks post a question about tires and show a photo, the letters c h i n a nearly always appears in it somewhere?

The best word I've ever heard anyone mention about defending these c h i n a tires is "Well, mine are OK."

OK is not the word I'd prefer to hear when asking about the most important thing between me and the road in my RV with myself and family in it - that's for certain.

Another amazing comment - I saved $20 each ..... $20 EACH, that's $80 bucks on a ballpark of a $20k - $40k trailer, or a $150k and up MH. Not my priority

Nothing wrong with Chinese tires if you get the improved ones with the Nylon cap. They have construction similar to the "Mx" brand. Most complaints of Chinese tires are the PREVIOUS GENERATION. The OPs "China Tires" gave him six years of service. How is that bad?
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Jul 10, 2013
Replace all 4. At 6 years old they're at the end of their useful life. Went through the same thing with my Marathons about 4 years ago and wish I had replaced them before 1 of them blew.
campigloo
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Going to ID soon. Will look for you on the side of the road with flats. LOL! Tires are cheap insurance.
aruba5er
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
I saw that they where only load range C . Buy all 4 and get at least a D load range. I changed to LT tires a couple years back and can't wait to change back to a ST tire.(Money). the Lt ride is Harsh. I'd get Maxis next time without hesitation.
astraelraen
Explorer
Jul 10, 2013
Thanks for the tips and the sarcastic comments :)

I have never owned a trailer or dealt with trailer type tires before. I was intending on replacing at least these two, but I will probably just hook the whole trailer up and take it down to Les Schwab and have them replace all four.

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