New TT Tires

Having access to shop machinery we ran some trailer wheels on a big engine lathe. Ran four 14" and two 15" and a set of 16" for my tri axle flatbed.
All were new still in the shipping box. The bead seat flanges on all the wheels were way out of radial and lateral specs for automotive wheels.

Several reasons a savvy tire shop doesn't recommend balancing a tire on a trailer.
My neighbor had his 38' GN triaxle horse trailer tires balanced. The tires had no weights from the factory so not familiar with trailers he thought they should be.... and dropped by a tire shop and had them balanced using a lug adapter.
The trailer shook his F350 drw crew cab long bed all the way home. He dropped by my place and said no shaking before but only after balancing. I found three wheels that had two 4" long weights next to each other.
He decided to remove them. He got his smooth ride back and learned a lesson.
Cheap tires...no as these were LT235/85-16 E Michelin XPS Ribs on 6k axles.
Those 26-28" long trailer springs act as a huge damper.

Terryallan wrote:
agree. The tire shop I bought mine from had at one time this little know it all working for them, and said he would not balance my tires. I told him, and the owner if they wanted to sell them to me. they would balance them. And yes. you can tell the difference.

I bought a flatbed car hauler trailer back in about 2007 or 2008. I tried to get the tires and wheels balanced. The tires were so badly out of balanced, I could feel it through the hitch when towing the trailer empty. The tires were so badly out of round, the tire shop said they couldn't be balanced.
I took all 4 tires and wheels back to the trailer dealer and said I want these replaced. They reluctantly replaced them and made the claim that "trailer tires don't need to be balanced". I told him they were so bad, I could feel the vibration through the truck hitch.

Here's a video of another trailer I bought which shows how badly out of round trailer tires can be.

What size/make o tires are on it now? Also, you can go to Discount Tire's website and use their "Found it Cheaper" option - I sent them the link to GY Endurance tires on Tire Rack, and they met the price.

The dealer came way down on the price for the Endurance. Should have them stalled later this week.

Thanks!

Maxxis tires worked well for me in the years we had pop-up campers and then travel trailers. The last set I bought were for our Winnebago Minnie trailer and I think I put them on the trailer in 2015.

The only trailer tire I ever had a problem with was a Goodyear Marathon and I replaced them with a set of Maxxis tires. That was back when we had a Sunline TT.

Huntindog wrote:

deltabravo wrote:

Deano_1 wrote:
Goodyear Endurance tires for about $212 each.I’ve used Goodyear Marathons before without any issues, but they no longer make them.

Endurance replace the Marathons.

I run Endurance on two trailers. Northwood and ORV install Endurance at their factories.

I have no issue recommending Endurance.
Just be sure to get all metal valve stems and also have the tires balanced.

No trailers come from the factory with the tires balanced. The manufacturers and many others do not think it is of benefit in a solid axle. I will not enter into that debate here and now. If you choose to have it done, be sure that they use a lug plate to do it. This because most trailer wheels are lug centric, not hub centric. Using the hubcentric method on such a rim is a waste of time and money and could even make the out of balance worse.
Tire shops hate to do it as it takes more time, and a lot of them do not have the lug plates. I have witnessed several times shops not doing when I had requested it. Ask for it, and watch them to make sure they do it.

agree. The tire shop I bought mine from had at one time this little know it all working for them, and said he would not balance my tires. I told him, and the owner if they wanted to sell them to me. they would balance them. So they did, and the little smart elic doesn't work there any more. And yes. you can tell the difference.

Vintage465 wrote:
I would limit my choices to Goodyear Endurance or Maxxis. Maxxis is the only tire from China I would have any confidence in. Maxxis owns their own factory in China and they have their own people managing from inspection to production and quality control. At the time of my reading an article in Trailer Life magazine, Maxxis was the only Chinese tire able to boast this as all other Chinese tires were contracted and stamped with a brand............that was at the time I read the article 4-6 years ago. But I'd still go with Goodyear if possible. And yes, Endurance replaced Marathons.

In truth the Maxxis I bought are not from China. Some are actually made here. But most are made in Thailand. They do not have the bad reputation China has. and as of this time. Maxxis does have the best reputation in the ST tire industry.

Deano, congratulations on the Airstream. You are going to like it.
The Marathons proved to be poor tires, hence Goodyear came out with the improved Endurance. If you liked your Marathons, you will like the Endurance. I purchased my used Airstream in 2009 and promptly replaced the tires with Maxxis. I was pleased with them and when it came time for new tires I went with the Carlsile Radial Trail HD that my local Discount Tire shop was selling. I also went with LRE which was a bit of an overkill for me. They will take 80PSI I believe but I run mine at 70. They are now 5 years old and I have put over 25,000 miles on them without issue. The tread still looks great but I will replace this set next spring anyway. I do have one tire that is showing some wear on the outer edge but that is an axle issue and not a bad tire.
The reason I went to these is that the Maxxi at the time was quite a bit more expensive. I think I paid all of $100 per tire back then. Don't really have a clue as to prices today.
This might be an option for you.

Tires should always be balanced, period. A good shop can dynamically balance the tires.

The reason it isn't always recommended is from a comfort standpoint. The vibrations from an unbalanced tire aren't really felt in the TV unless they're really out. However, an unbalanced tire causes premature, uneven wear and excessive heat.

Tires appear to be a common failure point, but it's the weight, TT suspensions and lack of maintenance that contribute to these failures.

I have 40,000 miles on my Endurance tires. So far, and so good. ;)