tire wear

Hairline cracks are ok, but 4 years is getting up there. Be cautious.

That's not considered tire wear, it's usually UV damage.

Probe those cracks with something like a toothpick.
Odds are they aren't even a milli-meter deep and that is NOT a problem.

If you can actually get the toothpick INTO the crack, then that's a whole DIFFERENT story.

Most tire manufacturers spec ST (Special Trailer) Tires for a life of 5 years... I'm replacing my 4+ year old tires in the next few weeks.

Anson wrote:
tires are about 4 years old now, tread is great except I noticed some very small hair line cracks on the side walls. how many of you still would drive on these or not?

If they're Chinese-made ST tires, you're getting into borrowed time, IMO. Treat them with ultra-care, check often, store covered and, preferably, on boards. If you've got LT's, you should be OK. Think about a product like Aerospace 303 protectant to treat them with. It =adds= back some of the volatiles you lose from just sitting. Armor-All and other tire shine products do the exact opposite.

Lyle

I wouldn't worry about hairline cracks in the sidewalls. I see that quite often my work trailers.

I will be replacing my 6 tires this fall. They will be 5 years old. Too bad they cost about $350 a piece....

2 weeks ago we had 2 tires to blow - out. at the same time with underside damage.
there was only one spare. being on the side of the road. droping a camper.
Driving 35 mile to a walmart. we will never try to extend the Life of a tire...

Thanks everyone, guess im just gonna look for some new tires today. I don't wanna take the chance, had a blow out years ago and I figure the price of tires are a lot cheaper then the repairs we had to go thru last time. Thanks everyone for there opinions

we all kinda talked about your tires without knowing what they were.

If 16" and on a camper I would go with LT's.

Anson wrote:
Thanks everyone, guess im just gonna look for some new tires today. I don't wanna take the chance, had a blow out years ago and I figure the price of tires are a lot cheaper then the repairs we had to go thru last time. Thanks everyone for there opinions

Your trailer most likely had Kenda Klever LT235/85R16E OEM. These were china bombs.

Given that your trailer has 6K axles I believe, I would recommend Bridgestone Duravis R250 all steel ply tires or Michelin XPS Rib tires which are also all steel tires, however cost more. If you installed Ribs the last time, then have a Michelin dealer inspect them for remaining life. If you have been on a poly carcass LT's switch to all steel ply tires. The only poly carcass LT I would recommend is the Duravis R500 which has a two ply poly carcass.

Are you a member of the Cardinalrvclub.org? If so have you read my tire thread there? If not you should signup over there.

Chris