New Trailer Tires... Goodyear v. others?

[cannesdo]

I have a heavy trailer and get nervous about the trailer tires. They're G-load. Goodyear. Got them after one blew up in rush-hour traffic in L.A. four years ago. Now that I'm looking again I'm learning that the Goodyear are twice the price of the others I've had quotes for (Solid Track from Big 'O' and Vision Load Boss). Your thoughts? With a heavy trailer will these other two do the job? Would they just not last as long? What is Goodyear giving me for twice the price?

Also, half the people who look at them say they have wear left. I hate the guessing game. They're 4 1/2 years old. Not a lot of miles on them and covered for most of that time, no cracks or anything but it still makes me nervous. ? I'd almost rather sell the old ones used on CL and get all new tires for myself just for peace of mind.

Just looked at the photo I took of the one that blew up in L.A. It was on the trailer when I bought it. It was a Good Year also. Do they have different load ratings? Is a G a G? Or are there different kinds of G's...steel wall, not steel wall...

Also, I have 265 75/16s on my truck right now and just realized that the plate on the door says it should have 235 85/16s. ? Les Schwab put those on for me 4 years ago and didn't mention the difference in size. Is that a problem? Should I go back to the 235 85/16? Is one or the other better for towing?

You know.....I just checked the tread. What's freaking me out mostly is that these tires are 4.5 years old. But they don't have much in the way of miles on them. Only about 6K really. The sidewalls look great -- like nw -- and I still have 1/4" of tread. And like I say they've been covered for almost all of that 4.5 years. And 18 months ago I painted on that solar screen stuff. Think I'm ok? I'm heading to Santa Barbara for the summer, then back to Mesa AZ next fall.

The tires were in heat for about 2 months. The rest of the time was MT (one winter there)...2 years in San Diego, a few months on the Oregon coast.

[C130]

I run Michelin XPS Ribs on my toy hauler. Little less weight rating but I've never heard one bad thing about the tire and I was told numerous Hotshot drivers use them on their trailers here in Texas. Yes, I understand the max axle rating and the tire ratings but so far the results speak for themselves. Dealership I bought them from told me they were hands down the best tire if I wanted the best protection on my toy hauler which is what I told them I wanted and wasn't worried about the cost.

[Cummins12V98]

cannesdo wrote:
Do you know where the bars are...

I don't. I have the GY H's now. I do know it would take well over 50K to wear them out!

[MarkTwain]

cannesdo wrote:
Thanks for all the input. I've had Goodyears (Unisteel G614) on my rig all 8 years on the road and the only had one blow-out and it was because the tire was low. I've had it up to 75 as well and never a flat...nothing...so I know they're good tires. Here's a photo of the sidewall. I feel pretty good about getting to Santa Barbara and back (from Phoenix) with these tires at this point. I'm replacing the truck tires before I leave so I'll have that peace of mind and I'll take it easy. I'm on a mission to pay everything off in 2 years so I'm not traveling much and I need to put some big $ toward that to save myself the interest. And It will be interesting to see how they do.

From my experience, limited as it is, is seems taking care to make sure they're inflated to max is key.

X1 Great tires:)

[cannesdo]

Do you know where the bars are...

[Cummins12V98]

I have seen only one person run their G's down to the bars and it was Dutch of Dutch and Di. He grooves his deeper as those tires are allowed to do.

[cannesdo]

Question...Where is the wear bar on this tire? Is it the little depressions between the blocks (that's only about 1/16 inch down...?) or is it the little dotted line the runs through the trenches, vertically?

Goodyear Unisteel G614

[cannesdo]

Thanks for all the input. I've had Goodyears (Unisteel G614) on my rig all 8 years on the road and the only had one blow-out and it was because the tire was low. I've had it up to 75 as well and never a flat...nothing...so I know they're good tires. Here's a photo of the sidewall. I feel pretty good about getting to Santa Barbara and back (from Phoenix) with these tires at this point. I'm replacing the truck tires before I leave so I'll have that peace of mind and I'll take it easy. I'm on a mission to pay everything off in 2 years so I'm not traveling much and I need to put some big $ toward that to save myself the interest. And It will be interesting to see how they do.

From my experience, limited as it is, is seems taking care to make sure they're inflated to max is key.

[rexlion]

This is about peace of mind and reducing the chance of blowout inconvenience. If you're tight on cash, run them another 6 months or another year. If you have the money, buy yourself some peace of mind today.

Technically, tire rubber obeys the law of entropy. It begins to degrade from the moment the tire is produced, albeit so slowly and gradually that it doesn't really matter for several years. But when you come down to it, that tire is declining in weight carrying capacity continually as it ages. 5 to 7 year replacement is the common rule of thumb, but the closer one runs to capacity the earlier one should switch out.

[MarkTwain]

marspec wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
4 year old Goodyear Marathons? You are on borrowed time. I will never own another set of GY tires. You pay extra for the name, and get less.

Were I you. I would try to find some Maxxis tires, IF you are sticking with trailer tires, and not going to a truck tire. Maxxis is generally thought of as the best ST (trailer tire) on the market.

Goodyear "G" tires are not Marathons. I put over 70K on two sets of Goodyear "G"s with one blowout that was probably due to a leaking valve stem but Goodyear paid for the damages. I have heard that tires that set for long periods can deteriorate because of the lack of use prevents the internal "chemicals" from doing their job in lubricating the tire. (I don't know of another way of putting that.) Again that's what I've heard but haven't attempted to check that out.

X1 Good Year stands behind their tires in terms of replacing a defective tire at no cost to the owner. My goal is to run as many miles with a minimum of time spent changing, fixing or repairing tires.

[oldtrojan66]

JIMNLIN wrote:
Oh... and by the way the Goodyear G614 RST is rated at 75 mph on their web just like the Sailun S637 LT G.
The Sailun S637 are actually more popular with haulers because of cost issues and the G614 past performance issues and the S637 is a all position tire for truck or trailer unlike the G614.

I bought one Sailun tire the same size as my four Goodyear 614's (235/85R16)for use as a mounted spare on a pending trip this summer. Even though logic tells me I am wrong, I squirmed under the RV and measured the circumference of my mounted Goodyear and I got 103.25" I then measured the mounted Sailun and found it to be 99.75". Now this seems to me to be a great difference. The tire store (Big O) guy, has not gotten back to me from his superiors as to why this might be. I could understand 1/2" or so difference as a mistake, but 3 1/2" is a lot. Any thoughts from the tire experts out there?

[RollandB]

For my trailer tires I never judge them by the way the tread looks. Last year I put 5000 miles on my TV. And had the tires installed January of 2014. The reason why they were put on was not from worn tread but some small cracks on the sidewals.

[JIMNLIN]

cannesdo wrote:
Do wider tires offer more support/strength for towing? The 265/75/16's look fine on my truck. Is this a common thing to go with that size tire on a Ford Superduty? Even though the specs show it should have a 235/85/16?

Ford used the LT235/85-16 at 3042 lbs capacity for years. The LT265/75-16 tire at 3195 lbs capacity has the same tire diameter and is one of Fords OEM sizes now.

Oh... and by the way the Goodyear G614 RST is rated at 75 mph on their web just like the Sailun S637 LT G.

The Sailun S637 are actually more popular with haulers because of cost issues and the G614 past performance issues and the S637 is a all position tire for truck or trailer unlike the G614.

No more miles than you tow the trailer either tire will work fine.

I run my LT tires on my different trailers for around 7 years which is usually around 50k-60k miles before selling them and buying new ones.

[marspec]

Terryallan wrote:
4 year old Goodyear Marathons? You are on borrowed time. I will never own another set of GY tires. You pay extra for the name, and get less.

Were I you. I would try to find some Maxxis tires, IF you are sticking with trailer tires, and not going to a truck tire. Maxxis is generally thought of as the best ST (trailer tire) on the market.

Goodyear "G" tires are not Marathons. I put over 70K on two sets of Goodyear "G"s with one blowout that was probably due to a leaking valve stem but Goodyear paid for the damages. I have heard that tires that set for long periods can deteriorate because of the lack of use prevents the internal "chemicals" from doing their job in lubricating the tire. (I don't know of another way of putting that.) Again that's what I've heard but haven't attempted to check that out.

[Terryallan]

4 year old Goodyear Marathons? You are on borrowed time. I will never own another set of GY tires. You pay extra for the name, and get less.

Were I you. I would try to find some Maxxis tires, IF you are sticking with trailer tires, and not going to a truck tire. Maxxis is generally thought of as the best ST (trailer tire) on the market.