2014 reviews on 14" trailer tires

Moved from Forum Technical Support

Kumho 857
size 205R 14
placarded 2271 # on an LT rating scale
available from tire rack
order on Monday , delivered to your tire installer on Wednesday , installed on your trailer Thursday .
I've got 'em on my boat trailer .
gmwphotos has 'em on his tt .
they weigh about 3-5 pounds more than the ST tires of the same size .
speed rating is 106 mph .
st tires are 65 mph .
in a 14 inch size this particular tire is the very clear choice .

Lowsuv wrote:
Kumho 857
size 205R 14
placarded 2271 # on an LT rating scale
available from tire rack
order on Monday , delivered to your tire installer on Wednesday , installed on your trailer Thursday .
I've got 'em on my boat trailer .
gmwphotos has 'em on his tt .
they weigh about 3-5 pounds more than the ST tires of the same size .
speed rating is 106 mph .
st tires are 65 mph .
in a 14 inch size this particular tire is the very clear choice .

I've had the Kumho 857 in the 195R14C (2094lbs @ 65psi) which is almost an exact size replacement for the normal ST205R75x14 tire for a year now and have put close to 6K miles on them and am pleased with them so far and would recommend others to give these tires a shot. You will probably need new rims since almost all 14" rims are only rated for 50psi. In addition to a much higher speed rating the extra load capacity over a similiar ST tire is an important fact to consider.

Larry

Another user of the Kumho 857 here. They are working well for me.
There is also Hankook RA08. I believe Walmart sells them in the 185R-14.

Edit: What specific trailer do you have ? And do you know it's actual weight, and what the axles are rated for ?
A couple more tires that could work:

Nexen SV820
Yokohama Y356

BFG All Terrain KO looks like it should work also. It has a tread that is more geared towards slightly "off-road 4x4" though, so I don't have an opinion on that for trailer use. It seems here in north america, on road use of trailers has led to the use of a rib tread design. If we look at trailers ( caravans ) in Australia, we see some being equipped with these more off road looking tires, likely because they do more backroad driving. Perhaps "tireman" or "Capriracer" would comment on the suitability of this tread design for typical highway use ?

co2014 wrote:
You here all about the "Bad tires" is there ANY good tires out there in a 14" for a trailer, i would like to here it ! i have been lucky so far but i now have a trailer rated at 7000 G.V.W. with c load rated tires.Would like to meet that engineer!

Curious as to why you would buy from and support a TT manufacturer that would do this.

~DJ~ wrote:

co2014 wrote:
You here all about the "Bad tires" is there ANY good tires out there in a 14" for a trailer, i would like to here it ! i have been lucky so far but i now have a trailer rated at 7000 G.V.W. with c load rated tires.Would like to meet that engineer!

Curious as to why you would buy from and support a TT manufacturer that would do this.

If a guy limited his choice of trailer companies who actually fit good tires from the factory, he would have a very few choices indeed.
He'd probably end up just buying a tent, and going camping in his car.

My trailer has a GVWR of 5800 lbs, however I've been as heavy as 6006 lbs for one trip so I always use that as my baseline. The trailer came with 14" B rated tires that just made it to the 5800 lb limit (according to the sidewall of the tire 1450 lbs max)

I recently upgraded them to C rated tires with 1760 lbs each maximum listed on the sidewall. 1760 lbs x 4 tires equals 7040 lbs... math seems legit to me. Why wouldn't a manufacturer list the maximum total weight based on the lowest rated item, in your case the tires. I would assume the axles, frame, hubs, and other components are all rated to handle 7040 lbs or higher.

~DJ~ wrote:

co2014 wrote:
You here all about the "Bad tires" is there ANY good tires out there in a 14" for a trailer, i would like to here it ! i have been lucky so far but i now have a trailer rated at 7000 G.V.W. with c load rated tires.Would like to meet that engineer!

Curious as to why you would buy from and support a TT manufacturer that would do this.

Because 4 tires with C rating can hold 7000 lbs without a problem. Should the manufacturer put higher rated (higher cost) tires on every unit just to increase the Low carrying capacity. What if the tires were rated higher then the axles... should that manufacturer not upgrade the axles to match the tires... what about the frame? It just keeps heading upwards.

The kinda good thing with 14 inch trailer tires is that in a roadside emergency most Wal-marts , Sams and Tractor Supply Stores carry them on the rim for $109 to
$129 . I have ran a pair of Trax Supply ones on my cargo trailer for eleven K miles with no probs .

Nvr2loud wrote:

~DJ~ wrote:

co2014 wrote:
You here all about the "Bad tires" is there ANY good tires out there in a 14" for a trailer, i would like to here it ! i have been lucky so far but i now have a trailer rated at 7000 G.V.W. with c load rated tires.Would like to meet that engineer!

Curious as to why you would buy from and support a TT manufacturer that would do this.

Because 4 tires with C rating can hold 7000 lbs without a problem. Should the manufacturer put higher rated (higher cost) tires on every unit just to increase the Low carrying capacity. What if the tires were rated higher then the axles... should that manufacturer not upgrade the axles to match the tires... what about the frame? It just keeps heading upwards.

I just thought that 14" tires on a 7000# TT (over twice the weight of most cars)is really leaning on the chintzy side. Then again most TT manufacturers don't put enough axle capacity under the TT to match it's GVWR hoping the tongue will carry 10%, IF you could possibly load the TT evenly on both axles.