Carlisle or Maxxis

[ken56]

Going to replace my tires soon but I am trying to decide between Carlisle Radial Trail HD or the Maxxis 8008. 205/75R15, both D1 load rating. The trailer is maybe 6800-7000 lbs. loaded so I figure I don't need E rated. There is only $11 per tire difference in price so that's not the issue, I just find very few current reviews on either tire to help me make a decision on this. Help me out here please??

[Airstreamer67]

I ran the set of Maxxis tires that came with my trailer for eight years. They began showing signs of tread separation in the eighth year of service, so I replaced them with another set of Maxxis.

So far, so good.

[3oaks]

Atlee wrote:
Either. A few years ago, I would have definitely said Maxxis. That's what I put on my trailer in '13. Back then Carlisle did not have a great reputation.

But from all I've read in recent years, Carlisle has done a great job of re-engineering their tire and it performs very, very well not.

If I had to put new tires on my trailer today, I would consider either one equally.

My sentiment exactly! 😉

My choice between the two would be made by the lowest price. 🙂

[coolbreeze01]

Carlisle tires are readily available while Maxxis usually has to be ordered.
I would buy Carlisle from Discount Tire/Americas Tire because they have lots of stores and good service from my experience.

The new Goodyears are worth looking at. I ran Made in the USA Marathons years ago with zero problems.

[ken56]

Again, the only reason I asked this is because I have read and heard that the new gen Carlisle's are a lot better than the old ones and that there have been recent issues with the Maxxis. Hearing about real experience from real people is a good thing I think so .......

My current tires are Akuret....so called "china bombs". I have 20K miles on them but they are showing signs of UV rot on the sidewalls (they are dated early '13). I have gotten good service out of them really but its time to reduce the blow out chances with them.

Honestly, I respect everyones opinion here and thank you all for putting it on here. I am going to look deeper into the warranty issue between the 2 brands and continue to look for other information.

[dkreuzen]

To those of you that are stating poor performance from Carlisle tires... If your Carlisle tires were made before 2012 you probably didn't have the "new" design. I have had the old ones too and can state they were really poor. I bought a set of new Radial Trail RH (225/75R15 E) when they first came out that were dated late 2011. In the 10 years before the new Carlisle's I averaged 18 months before one of the set (other ST brand) separated, I replace all 4 and tried again. I ran the new Carlisle's for 5 years and about 15,000 miles, not one problem. They looked almost new but I was getting nervous about their age so I replaced them with a new set of the Radial Trail HD. Hopefully they will last as long.

[Turn_Key]

Everyone has an opinion on this and all are valid, for them that have'em. For me, my last "5th" came with Carlisle's and though I was diligent in keeping them covered and maintaining pressure, I got VERY poor service from them. Was able to replace two of them under warranty from trailer manufacturer and they replaced them with another make as the manufacturer no longer used Carlisle tires as OE. Gives you an idea of how bad the service life, overall, must have been. Will never purchase Carlisle tires or a trailer so equipped.

Just my 2-cents based on my experience. Good luck and Happy Camping!

[ScottG]

Carlisle owes me for 5 tires (one of which suffered a tread separation just laying in the back of my truck under the canopy) and $200 worth of damage they did to our TT.
Never had any problems like that with Maxxiss. Much better track record and they stand behind their product.

[JIMNLIN]

ken56 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. The only reason I asked is I can't find much info out there on either of them. People talk up Maxxis as the best, then I see posts of them having blowouts. I know, all tires will have blowouts. Roll the dice and go with whatever. Thanks all.

Some folks like to talk but don't read much other than rv.net when it comes to tires. Seems like the different rv websites have their more popular brand of ST tires.

We've had around 30 members with Maxxis ST8008 tire issues. I would say they are popular but certainly not without issues.
However Maxxis says not all of the ST 8008 sizes have the nylon cap and they don't advertize which ones do or don't have the cap.

I would go with a new gen Carlisle HD in the size you mentioned.
Another new gen ST tire with the nylon cap in all sizes and M speed rated is the Provider by Taskmaster.

[dennis1949]

I have carlisles on my 12,000 pound 5th wheel with about 25,000 miles on them I am pleased with them and have had no tire problems

[trailertraveler]

ken56 wrote:
...The only reason I asked is I can't find much info out there on either of them...

A search of the forum for Carlisle gives lots of reading choices.

I had Maxxis 8008s that I ran for three years and about 20,000 miles with no issues. When I replaced them I decided to go with the Carlisles because they are speed rated to 87 MPH rather than 65 MPH like many ST tires including the Maxxis 8008. I put about 6,000 miles on the Carlisles since August and have had no problems. I used a tire pressure monitoring system with both to keep an eye on inflation and hopefully detect any issue as early as possible.

[CALandLIN]

When buying Maxxis tires the warranty start date is the manufactured date on the tire sidewall.

[wrgrs50s]

Maxxis now has a 6 yr warranty on their trailer tires ! Noone else does ! Google and see for yourself. Been using them for 10 yrs now and replace every 5, and I've had 1 tread separation, no blowouts, and I paid $34 for the replacement tire under the warranty that was just under 5yrs old. Try that with a Carlisle or any other brand !

They can and will fail eventually as any tire can, but to stand behind a warranty for that long means they believe in their product. In fact the warranty used to be 5 yrs, and was upped to 6.

maxxis.com/trailer/trailer-warranty

And by the way most tire dealers will tell you anything to get you to purchase the tires they have on hand and make them the most profit. I had that happen when I asked Discount tire to order my Maxxis. The salesman I dealt with didn't know about the warranty on the Maxxis until I told him. He looked it up and said wow, I didn't realize that. It only took 1 day to get them in and installed. Well worth the wait in my opinion.

[Walaby]

ScottG wrote:

ken56 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. The only reason I asked is I can't find much info out there on either of them. People talk up Maxxis as the best, then I see posts of them having blowouts. I know, all tires will have blowouts. Roll the dice and go with whatever. Thanks all.

Can you point me to a post where someone said they had a blowout with a Maxxis?

Doesn't happen much, but here's one thread... top of page 2

Maxxis Tire failure

I will say in this particular case, the tires are four years old, and who knows if individual was overloaded or whatever, since he had a failure with Goodyear Marathons with same trailer earlier.

Here's another one

Maxxis Tread Separation

Mike

[ScottG]

ken56 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. The only reason I asked is I can't find much info out there on either of them. People talk up Maxxis as the best, then I see posts of them having blowouts. I know, all tires will have blowouts. Roll the dice and go with whatever. Thanks all.

Can you point me to a post where someone said they had a blowout with a Maxxis?

[travelnutz]

Carlisle without a question. Maxxis used to have a great reputation however there have been a lot of tire failures reported on various forums with Maxxis tires the last 2+ years. Research it so you can avoid adding your name to the long list.

Last April I'd replaced 4 tires on our 5th wheel and was planning on buying "E" (80 psi) Maxxis tires until lots of researching and talking to 7 tire dealers who sell Maxxis and 3 had confirmed that they were seeing a lot more failures with the last few years of Maxxis trailer tires. So doggone glad I'd indepth researched it and resulted in changing my mind. Went with the new style same size Carlisles and what an excellent very strong tire they are turning out to be on our 12,800 lb scale weighed Carriage Corp 5th wheel!