Carlisle trailer tires

[stratcat]

Visited my local Discount tire today. The salesman was pushing the New Carlisle tires they are selling. Speed rating is 87 mph on an ST tire. Claims they are a special build for Discount. He didn't seem to want to order the Maxxis tires, but would if I persisted.

I have a TT . gross weight is 9K lbs. my loaded weight runs near 7500 lbs. I have concerns about the OEM tires (Towmax) on the trailer. I'm getting frustrated on trying to figure what tire to purchase.

presently running 225/75/15 ST.

[dkreuzen]

On my car trailer (225/75 R15) I have been averaging 18 months on a set of tires for the last 8 years. Out of four one would separate or start cracking so I replaced them all. I keep the tires are covered when not in use. In 2012 I got a set of the new Carlisle tires. I have had bad luck with the old Carlisle tires so I was reluctant to get them but I wasn't going with Tow Masters again. It's been 24 months and about 4000 miles and the tires look new. I now remove them and store in the garage when not in use.
So far no issues but I still carry two spares.

[Mountainman42]

I would be extremely wary of anything a tire salesman says, especially one from Discount Tire. I recently went to Discount for a new set of Michelin XPS Ribs, after I blew one of the Towmaster ST junk tires that came as original equipment on my 5th. I spoke to 2 reps and arranged for an appointment a few days later. When I brought my 5th in for the new tires, they had jacked it up on 4 jacks and removed 2 of the tires when another rep came along and said they would not install the XPS Ribs on my unit because the weight ratings were not as high as on the ones that came originally on my 5th. The originals were Towmax ST junk but had a load carry rating of 3500# as opposed to the 3042# XPS Ribs. I pointed out that my axles were only rated for 5200# each and the Ribs were easily capable of handling that but the rep insisted they would not install them on my 5th. He then said they could put on Goodyear Load Range G tires that would be acceptable, as they had a 3775# rating and they had 4 in stock so they could proceed with the installation right away. They were almost $100 per tire more but I bit on this and had them installed as I was traveling home from our winter vacation and I needed to get new tires and get going. Later that day I just knew something was wrong and it finally came to me..... my rims were aluminum rims rated for 80psi and the new tires were 110 psi. I drove back to Discount and told the Mgr what they had done and he stated "Ooops, forgot about that". He then proceeded to tell me that I could: 1. Just drive them like that as the rims would probably be OK or 2. Deflate the tires to 80# as they were much heavier tires and would likely be OK even at the deflated pressure. To my uneducated mind, either one of these alternatives would have been MUCH less safe than installing the XPS Ribs that I had requested.
To make a long story a bit shorter, I returned the tires to Discount and got a refund and them went elsewhere and had the XPS Ribs installed. I've been a happy traveler ever since, but would NEVER deal with Discount again.

[Ron3rd]

I had Carlisle load range C on my old trailer with no issues.

[Me_Again]

Dandy Dan wrote:


FWIW Michelin owns Bridgestone and also BF Goodrich.

Michelin does not own Bridgestone. It is Bridgestone/Firestone. Michilen does own BFG and Uniroyal among others.

Chris

[Dandy_Dan]

dodge guy wrote:

Me Again wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I'm running Carlises on my TT in a load range E. In my research the problems people used to have with Carlisles were in the C and D rated tires. Mine have been to the northwoods, Macinaw MI, Smokey mtns, disney (separate trips), niagara falls and many trips of around 3-4 hundred miles. I am putting a new set on in 2 weeks.

All ST tires C, D, E 14, 15, 16 inch have been failing at unacceptable rates. It does not real matter on brand that much either, even Maxxis dry rot and fail. Even the old highly regarded Denman tires failed before expected life.

The only tires that you do not hear about failing on trailers are the Michelin XPS Ribs and Bridgestone Duravis R250s, and maybe the Firestone Transforce HT.

Chris

I did a lot of research and found that with the carlisles the failures were in the C and D ratings. Never did look into other brands.

FWIW Michelin owns Bridgestone and also BF Goodrich.

[dodge_guy]

Me Again wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I'm running Carlises on my TT in a load range E. In my research the problems people used to have with Carlisles were in the C and D rated tires. Mine have been to the northwoods, Macinaw MI, Smokey mtns, disney (separate trips), niagara falls and many trips of around 3-4 hundred miles. I am putting a new set on in 2 weeks.

All ST tires C, D, E 14, 15, 16 inch have been failing at unacceptable rates. It does not real matter on brand that much either, even Maxxis dry rot and fail. Even the old highly regarded Denman tires failed before expected life.

The only tires that you do not hear about failing on trailers are the Michelin XPS Ribs and Bridgestone Duravis R250s, and maybe the Firestone Transforce HT.

Chris

I did a lot of research and found that with the carlisles the failures were in the C and D ratings. Never did look into other brands.

[Me_Again]

dodge guy wrote:
I'm running Carlises on my TT in a load range E. In my research the problems people used to have with Carlisles were in the C and D rated tires. Mine have been to the northwoods, Macinaw MI, Smokey mtns, disney (separate trips), niagara falls and many trips of around 3-4 hundred miles. I am putting a new set on in 2 weeks.

All ST tires C, D, E 14, 15, 16 inch have been failing at unacceptable rates. It does not real matter on brand that much either, even Maxxis dry rot and fail. Even the old highly regarded Denman tires failed before expected life.

The only tires that you do not hear about failing on trailers are the Michelin XPS Ribs and Bridgestone Duravis R250s, and maybe the Firestone Transforce HT.

Chris

[dodge_guy]

I'm running Carlises on my TT in a load range E. In my research the problems people used to have with Carlisles were in the C and D rated tires. Mine have been to the northwoods, Macinaw MI, Smokey mtns, disney (separate trips), niagara falls and many trips of around 3-4 hundred miles. I am putting a new set on in 2 weeks.

[TXiceman]

I had put the Carlisle trailer tires on my 89 Avion. The tires were made in China at a Carlisle factory. The tires worked fine and never an issue.

I wanted a 15" bias ply tire for my old aluminum trailer, not a radial.

Honestly, I do not believe you need to run over 65 mph with an RV.

Ken

[JIMNLIN]

Don't bit into any special trailer (ST) tire that the seller (not the manufacturer) says has a 87 mph speed rating. Those claims have been made but Carlisle RH website does not say any where that their speed rating is any thing but 65 mph like all ST tires.
If your sticking with a ST tire the Maxxis has the better long term track record of the ST tires at this time.

Its possible the new Carlisle RH after several years/miles of actual service on heavy trailers like yours may be a winner. Right now the big smoke from Carlisle is on lite weight bass boats.

If your wanting to travel at speeds greater than 65 mph you really need a LT tire or a multi position tire that has the capacity and the higher speed rating.

[danager]

Two of my wheels are at the local tire shop right now. I pick them up tomorrow with a new set of Carlisle ST's on them. A few people I know run them on their trailers with no issues.

I ran the original cheap tires for four years. Decided to replace them as I ran under inflated last year and damaged them. Pulled on off and it had a crack the entire height of the sidewall. I doubly that would have survived another trip.

[grampachet]

I have @3000 miles on mine so far with no problems. They have the chainlink symbol on them that is supposed to be the better tires. They actually gave me for $10 per tire a lifetime guarantee if they ever fail and are not bald they would replace them.