Tires

[napanee_ted]

Sorry to bring the subject up again but I'am in need for some advice on replacing my trailer tires. The trailer is a KZ sportsman 28 ft long. It has China bombs on it now 205/75r 14 c and they have worn down enought that I think they need to be replaced. Any advice would be helpful

Thanks

[JIMNLIN]

Many, Many and the VAST MAJORITY of trailer manufacturers do not balance the tires on trailers since there is no real reason except to make one feel good to do so.

Larry

True this ...especially using the usual static tire balance machine that is used to balance our tow vehicle tires.

Which can actually make a tire/wheel and hub ass'y more out of balance depending on where those lead weights are placed on the trailers wheel.

Trailer leaf spring suspensions are very stiff and short 26" length leafs which act as a huge damper for any out of balance conditions on a new tire. Some folks point to a tire on a empty flatbed trailer jumping up and down at highways speeds. This is a faulty tire condition and no amount of lead weights will ever make it stop bouncing. BTDT when I was on the road. In my business we had no reloads back to the yard....so we pulled empty trailers back.

There are several reasons the industry over all doesn't balance a tire on trailer axles.

[amxpress]

Many, Many and the VAST MAJORITY of trailer manufacturers do not balance the tires on trailers since there is no real reason except to make one feel good to do so.

Sorry Larry,
I’ve yet to see any trailer manufacturer who balances their tires. Totally a cost factor. There is a reason to balance the tires, and not just to make you feel good. No need for me to expound as it would not make you feel good, and we wouldn’t want that...

[LarryJM]

Desert Captain wrote:

amxpress wrote:
You can't go wrong installing a set of Maxxis M8008 ST tires. They are available in 8 ply rating.
Be sure to have them balanced.

X2 though I cannot imagine buying any tire and not having it balanced. :h

:C

Many, Many and the VAST MAJORITY of trailer manufacturers do not balance the tires on trailers since there is no real reason except to make one feel good to do so.

Larry

[gmw_photos]

krobbe wrote:
I've had Kumho Radial 857 in 205/R14C load range D for several years now. Speed rating R(106mph), 65psi. Tire wear has been really good and they run cool. Bought thru Belle Tire special order (not cheap at $150). These are for commercial light truck, transporter, van and trailer per the manufacturer. Probably the only LT tire for 14's. I might buy again when needed if still available but will probably spend less with the GY Endurance. I have about 15,000 miles with no issues.
My other choice(which are installed on my single axle cargo trailer) is the GoodYear Endurance ST205/75/R14 load range D, speed rating N (87mph), 65psi. I have about 4000 miles on these and so far so good. A little more reasonable at $115.

I too have a set of the Kumho 857's on my travel trailer. Been on there six years, and about 50K miles, still have good tread.

Another 14" LT that is similar to the Kumho is the Hankook RA18

[72cougarxr7]

I would upgrade to a load range d for extra safety margin. I dont know the weight of that trailer, but that size trailer is usually pushing the weight capacity of a load range c.
I put carlisle radial trail hd on my trailer last year and like them, looks like they m a ke one in your size in a load d and the price is nice!
Carlisle radial trail hd

[krobbe]

I've had Kumho Radial 857 in 205/R14C load range D for several years now. Speed rating R(106mph), 65psi. Tire wear has been really good and they run cool. Bought thru Belle Tire special order (not cheap at $150). These are for commercial light truck, transporter, van and trailer per the manufacturer. Probably the only LT tire for 14's. I might buy again when needed if still available but will probably spend less with the GY Endurance. I have about 15,000 miles with no issues.
My other choice(which are installed on my single axle cargo trailer) is the GoodYear Endurance ST205/75/R14 load range D, speed rating N (87mph), 65psi. I have about 4000 miles on these and so far so good. A little more reasonable at $115.

[Lynnmor]

SkiddyMiller wrote:

Balance of the whole assembly, hub, wheel and tire is an often used selling point of the Centramatic wheel balancers. What do you think about using centramatics?

I like to actually balance things instead of depending on objects moving about at various road speeds. Before front wheel drive cars, many repair shops had on the vehicle balancing equipment. The tire was spun up to speed with an electric motor, a sensor attached to the vehicle triggered a strobe light showing where a weight was required. Try to find a shop that has one but they are rare. Here is a photo of my balancer:

[SkiddyMiller]

JIMNLIN wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:


X2 though I cannot imagine buying any tire and not having it balanced. :h

:C

If you ever checked the balance of your brake drums or checked your "balanced" assembly, then you would know why I balance the entire assembly at home.

Exactly...in fact one of my truck tire dealer would not balance a trailer tire/wheel off the trailers axles. A complete waste of your money and may even make any out of balance even worse depending on where the lead weights were added in relationship to the imbalanced trailer hub.
Most city tire stores down the street don't have enough experience with trailers (rv and non rv trailers) to know tire issues on these type vehicles. All they know about tires is my car/truck tire have to be balanced and apply that to a trailer with leaf spring suspension.

Balance of the whole assembly, hub, wheel and tire is an often used selling point of the Centramatic wheel balancers. What do you think about using centramatics?

[Atlee]

mosseater wrote:
I'm on my second set of Maxxis 8008's, and I have been very pleased with them. I also had my axles aligned and have been running balancing beads for several years. How much effect those two things on tire performance cannot be underestimated. But, the original tires were Kenda, and I'll never buy another one. I bought on line and tires were two years old when received, so pretty good for the price. The last thing I need when camping is mechanical issues, tires, brakes, springs, etc. Have been very satisfied with Maxxis performance.

The only trailer tire I've had that failed was a Maxxis 8008. Was a 14" version on a 21 foot Skyline Koala. The steel belt broke. I was lucky, I noticed it while parked. The steel belt had broken.

I was lucky a) I had to stop and use the trailer's bath room, b) The business parking lot I stopped in was covered with a white powdery substance, c) it was the front right tire, d) I came to a stop with the correct portion of the tire showing, e) I happened to notice the tread pattern outlined in white was strange looking.

Only maybe the center couple of inches of the tread were covered in white dust. From the tread shoulders in to about the center 2 inches of the tire tread, were not touching the surface. The other 3 quarters of the tire was covered in white powder from tread shoulder to tread shoulder.

This was in southern South Carolina on US-17. Put the spare down on the ground and continued home to Virginia. They had a fair amount of miles on them, so I just replaced all of them with the then new Carlisle HD's. The tire dealer said the steel belt had broken.

Don't know about now, but those old Maxxis M8008's were limited to speeds no greater than 65 mph. The new Carlisle's were rated in the 80's, not that I would ever think about driving that fast. I just feel the higher rating gives extra margin of safety from heat damage.

[JIMNLIN]

Lynnmor wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:


X2 though I cannot imagine buying any tire and not having it balanced. :h

:C

If you ever checked the balance of your brake drums or checked your "balanced" assembly, then you would know why I balance the entire assembly at home.

Exactly...in fact one of my truck tire dealer would not balance a trailer tire/wheel off the trailers axles. A complete waste of your money and may even make any out of balance even worse depending on where the lead weights were added in relationship to the imbalanced trailer hub.
Most city tire stores down the street don't have enough experience with trailers (rv and non rv trailers) to know tire issues on these type vehicles. All they know about tires is my car/truck tire have to be balanced and apply that to a trailer with leaf spring suspension.

[mosseater]

I'm on my second set of Maxxis 8008's, and I have been very pleased with them. I also had my axles aligned and have been running balancing beads for several years. How much effect those two things on tire performance cannot be underestimated. But, the original tires were Kenda, and I'll never buy another one. I bought on line and tires were two years old when received, so pretty good for the price. The last thing I need when camping is mechanical issues, tires, brakes, springs, etc. Have been very satisfied with Maxxis performance.

[CALandLIN]

napanee ted wrote:
Sorry to bring the subject up again but I'am in need for some advice on replacing my trailer tires. The trailer is a KZ sportsman 28 ft long. It has China bombs on it now 205/75r 14 c and they have worn down enought that I think they need to be replaced. Any advice would be helpful

Thanks

I've been waiting to see if you would do a follow-up post with more info. Since you haven't I'll just say this; If your trailer is a post 2015 model it's very likely your OEM tires did not have very much in load capacity reserves. Therefore, the best upgrade would be to go with a LRD in the same designated size as listed on your trailer's certification label. Change the valve stems - all steel recommended - and insure your wheels are rated for the 65 PSI necessary to gain full load capacity from the LRD tires.

I would estimate that more than half of the ST tire manufacturers carry that tire size in a LRD.

[xteacher]

We replaced the 14 inch Trailer King tires, load C, on our 2017 Keystone Bullet 248rks (28'10" total length, 5100 lb. dry weight) with Goodyear Endurance, load D tires. I also had them balanced. Believe it or not, some tire dealers do not think trailer tires need balancing. Thankfully, my tire dealer, Discount Tire is more informed. I can definitely feel the difference when towing.

[BC4277]

For my two cents worth, I just put 22,200 miles on a set of GY Endurance tires. In the two years that I had them, they didn't lose a pound of air. I just replaced them with another set of GY. The thread was down to 3/32" and I didn't want to worry about driving in the rain with that little thread.

Considering your TT is almost 10' longer and 1,500 lbs. heavier than mine, I would look into upsizing your wheels & tires to 15".