Another Tire Thread

I have 15" Good Year Wrangler HT, LT tires on my horse trailer.

Just had a blowout in the Chinese Exploder type on my way from MI to WI last week. I got 5 years and 16,800 miles out of them so I did pretty well. I was doing 65 in I-94 when it went so I slowed immediately to 20mph, hit the hazard flashers and pulled as far onto the shoulder as I dared. I was lucky I was only 3/4 of a mile from a ramp and when I hit the ramp I slowed to 5mph. Wheel well damage was negligible with a little insulation being spattered across the road and the over wheel skirt was shattered.

I'm getting 4 Goodyear Endurance at $138 apiece installed ad my speed limit will go from 65 to a rated speed of 87, (N rating), so I can squeeze an extra 10mph out of the trailer making trips a little quicker. The inflation goes from 65 to 85psi giving a better ride/experience and potentially some mpg savings.

I'm not unhappy with the whole deal...

The OP looks to have a 4500 gvwr single axle trailer...or 2250 lb capacity per tire. Now add 15-20 percent reserve capacity and he's looking at a ST225/75-15 load D tire at 2580 lb capacity.
The 15" LT D Wranglers have a 2080 lb capacity....not a good fit for that single axle trailer.

Being made in the USA doesn't mean much as far as a ST tire goes. Hell at one time all ST class tires were made in the USA by our domestic tire makers.....and yes we had the same problems with them even then.

Right now looking around the net at the many different trailering websites the best bang for the bucks in a 15" ST D or E is the Providers. They've been on the road since the '10 era and are the first of the new gen higher speed rated ST tires. They started out in the equipment/flatbed trailer industry in '10 and made the grade on time and miles of service.
I just replaced four ST235/80-16 E on one of my 10k car haulers. The tires were OEM = 9+ years old and 25k+ miles. Bought them from Amazon for 102 bucks plus tax and free shipping to my home. Had my truck tire dealer mount them for 24 bucks.

Another option is sell the 15" tires and wheels on CL and buy two 16" trailer wheels and go with a LT225/75-16 E at 2680 lbs per tire and enjoy 7-8 years of trouble free service.

Chinese tires don't care how new or old they are when they blow. Brand new tires have blown between the manufacturer and the dealer. I've seen spares blow that have never been on the ground and some never blow. It's a real **** shoot. You gotta have some gambler in your blood if you're going to run Chinese bombs. If you can get an LT tire that would be best. If you can't then get the Goodyear Endurance, which is made in the US.

Grodyman wrote:
Cheaper tires and replace every 2 years, or Goodyear Endurance that cost nearly 3x as much, and replace every 4-5 years?

As one who has had a stock Chinese manufactured tire split for no apparent reason I'd say the right solution is a set of Goodyear Endurance, which is what I went with. :B No way do I ever want to be stuck on the side of a busy highway with a blown trailer tire. :(

I am contemplating going to the 16 LT tire. How about a budget LT225 75R16E, something like a Corsa from Discount? I don't really want to spend the $$ for Michelin.

Gman

I would stick with a known good LT E tire line and know it to be recommended by the tire maker for trailer position use....and more importantly the tire has years and miles to back up a good service record.

Two commercial grade all steel carcass tires like the...
Michelin XPS Rib tire.
And the Bridgestone R238. Both are the holy grail in a 16" LT E.

Poly carcass tires;....
Firestone Transforce HT
Goodyear Wrangler HT
Cooper Discoverer HT 3
BFG Commercial T/A 2

These are LT tires that their mfg I (and others) have emails from their mfg stating they recommend them for trailer service.

I would stick with a LT225/75-16 tire at 29" diameter. Just be aware taller tires like the LT235/85-16 (32" dia) can have a negative affect on braking performance.

JIMNLIN wrote:
The OP looks to have a 4500 gvwr single axle trailer...or 2250 lb capacity per tire. Now add 15-20 percent reserve capacity and he's looking at a ST225/75-15 load D tire at 2580 lb capacity.
The 15" LT D Wranglers have a 2080 lb capacity....not a good fit for that single axle trailer.

...snip....

You're right Jim, I had not looked at the trailer in his profile to see it was a single axle. The load capacity of the Wrangler tires I mentioned would total less than the axle rating. Not a good match.