[CDN SS]

Trailer tire question ....... I realize trailer tires dont last much longer than approx 5 yrs typically you dont wear tread out before they dry out and check badly etcetc ................ but I just noticed my Maxis LR "D" tries have checking on outside sidewall where it meets the tread l ..... inside looks brand new .....pbly from exposure to sun when sitting but one side is up against building all winter and it checked the same

has been suggested that I clean them too much with harsh cleaners like Spray 9 those cleaners take away the natural oils in rubber that keeps tire flexible ??? Yes I keep them nice an black / clean I did not think anything naturel about tires anymore .............anyway what do you guys use to clean tires that sit alot ....... yes inflated to max all the time, or is this the nature of the beast for tires that sit alot

 

[Bill Rose]

Bill, I clean the truck and trailer tires with a spray on foam cleaner called No Touch Tire Cleaner. I get it at Autozone. Never had a problem with it being harsh on the tires. The big question, how old are the trailer tires? If their 4 yrs old, I'd toss them, no matter what they look like. I also keep tire covers on the tires/keep the sun off them. Don't screw around with trailer tires. I've seen more trailer tires blow up than you would believe.

 

[CDN SS]

Hey Bill, yes I should be more diligent about covering tires .......these tires are 3 yrs old I have had trailer tires check before when old but they check everywhere not just on one side ......I will stop using the strong cleaners and just use stuff like one touch ........my trailer sits alot but when I use it, the trips are all 500 miles one way plus alot are 1000 mile one way trips

 

[Bill Rose]

.....another thing I started doing, I carry 2 spares. If one tire goes, often the one next to it is not gonna last long either. I've also been looking into tire monitors, for the trailer tires. It may be a little overkill, but with all the cash invested in the truck, trailer and the car, it might be a good investment.

 

[von]

Take the wheels/tires off and store them indoors in the off season.

 

[Alan F]

If one tire goes, often the one next to it is not gonna last long either.

This is so true.

 

[bigmachd]

First, by GOOD tires, not just the cheapest, buta bad batch of tires can come from any manufacturer, it just kills me to have to by chineese crap but sometimes gotta do what ya gotta do, and I do the same. We put new 10 ply radials on a 5th wheel camper few years ago and within a year they were checking, third year we blew two of them(Carlisle tires). On another note, I have a stock trailer that I bought from a neighbor farmer down the road over 20 years ago and it still has the same tires on it and no telling how old they are (bias 6 ply) and we stil use the trailer, it's 16x6 and I have loaded 11 moma cows in it before(well over12,000 pounds)and it only has 5200# axles, and they are stil goin, don't even remember what brand they are. And I saw something on tv( so it has to be true) the other day and there is a lot of natural rubber still used in tires still today, just mixed with a lot of other stuff to make it tougher and black. All stuff you're doing you should never have to replace tires, and you can come and take care of mine if ya want:yes:

 

[CDN SS]

Take the wheels/tires off and store them indoors in the off season.

Good idea Von. I think I will do that from now on ..... our winters pbly hard on tires that never roll for months been getting lazy in my old age

Yes good tires I have had GY Marathons they were crap on long runs blew a couple of those and Carlise they worse overall junk IMO for long haul hi speed
I use Maxiss ( not cheap I think they offshore too though ) on my other trailers too but rarely clean those .......... so nobody buys into this cleaning deal :noway: ....... I only carry one spare but I do carry a spare hub/ drum prepacked with bearings etc .......I have seen more guys cook bearings and break hubs lately ........

If there is a better tire out there I would buy it .........

 

[mino65]

Just had a trailer tire pop on me yesterday,about 3 miles from my home.must have been all the side streets and corners as it was low on air and most likely broke the bead.Now ,,what brand tire is everybody using as I am gonna buy 4 new ones and save the 3 old ones for spares.These tires are 4 yrs old by the way.

 

[JJ'65]

Trailer tire question ....... I realize trailer tires dont last much longer than approx 5 yrs typically you dont wear tread out before they dry out and check badly etcetc ................ but I just noticed my Maxis LR "D" tries have checking on outside sidewall where it meets the tread l ..... inside looks brand new .....pbly from exposure to sun when sitting but one side is up against building all winter and it checked the same

has been suggested that I clean them too much with harsh cleaners like Spray 9 those cleaners take away the natural oils in rubber that keeps tire flexible ??? Yes I keep them nice an black / clean I did not think anything naturel about tires anymore .............anyway what do you guys use to clean tires that sit alot ....... yes inflated to max all the time, or is this the nature of the beast for tires that sit alot

Buy quality tires. Almost nothing except plants benefits from sun exposure. Clean your tires? Last time I "cleaned" a tire was when "whitewalls' were still fashionable; brillo pad does that real good. Spray or paint some kind of protectant stuff on tires? Silly. Got anything around like some kinds of electrical equipment that produces ozone? Rubber don't like ozone at all. My $0.02

 

[Calculated Risk]

My Goodyear Marathons are 13 years old on my enclosed trailer. I got to the track friday night and had a section of seperated tread. Put the spare on for the ride home, My next set will be a tire called "Load Star", I have them on my open trailer for 3 years now and there is zero wear so far.

 

[Bowtie for Life]

Tires weather crack from exposure to the sun. Cover with something to slow the process. Put them in a shop out of sun or cover with towels or something.

 

[engineguy]

I use Goodyear "trailer" tires. Keep them clean, inflated and covered from sunlight. For tire covers, I use the cheap tire covers that are available from Harbor Freight Tools and they will usually last a couple of years or so. The tires on my enclosed trailer are about 12 years old and they are in very good shape.
Someone mentioned wheel bearings in an earlier post. It is very important to check and repack the wheel bearings on trailers, at least every couple of years or so. Ever see a trailer at the side of the road, jacked up? Chances are pretty good that a wheel bearing fried itself. I speak from experience . . . . .

 

[bigmachd]

an old trucker friend of mine used to say," Boys, grease is cheap", and back then we thought he was full of it, now some thirty years later I know that he was correct, grease is cheap, I have grease buddy, or bearing buddy, depends on the brand, and keep them greased to the point that grease slings out onto the wheel and trailer sometimes, "Grease is cheap".

 

[Philip]

Just removed a set of 4 Load Star tires from my open car trailer. Date coded 2007, same as the date on the trailer. Never cleaned them and kept air pressure right. Still had 50% tread, no cracking or checking, they were replaced because I just did not trust them any longer running on the super heated highways in Arizona. Trailer is parked outside in full sun, but is used regularly to haul cars, about 10-12 times a month on average.

I feel the ST bias ply (D series) tires last longer and wear better than the ST radials.

 

[Bill Rose]

Trailer tires can rot from the inside out. They may still look good, but after 4 yrs they are risky. It's a must keeping the sun off them, and it's also a good idea to have the tires balanced. They will vibrate like a car tire if they're not balanced, and that can be hard on the bearings.

 

[mino65]

My orig. Tires are loadstar,thats what the trailer came with new.i was looking at the goodyears at tirerack.anyone use them??

 

[CoolBlueGlow]

I usually stay away from snake oil, but in this case, I believe one can make a case that trailer tires are a good place to consider using pure nitrogen. Properly installed, pure dry nitrogen drives out residual Ozone, which is present in normal atmosphere used in a typical air-breathing shop compressor setup.

According to commonly available research from reliable sources in the tire and rubber industry, residual ozone levels of 1ppm are capable of causing ozone checking. (Bandag, Goodyear, et al) typical sea level Ozone concentrations of are .03 -.08 PPM AT ONE ATMOSPHERE.

Trailer tires are often inflated to 3-4 atmospheres, which increases the density of air in the tire, and therefore increases the total base PPM of O3 inside the closed space...a subtle but significant distinction.

To retard O3 damage, Modern tires are often, but not always impregnated with anti-ozonant compounds, which leach to the surface of the tire during operation, where they oxidize and form a protective layer against ozone exposure.

The mechanical action of tire use is the active agent which assists in moving this anti-ozonant compound to the surface of the tire during its life cycle. Thus, tires which sit are more susceptible to O3 checking than tires which are operated. (e.g. Trailer tires, classic car trailer queens, etc.)

Failure of anti ozonants, or removal of them from the surface of the tire with aggressive cleaners, or simply their absence (for example, in low cost economy tires, aka "trailer tires") can all accelerate ozone checking, which is the root cause of so-called rubber "dry rot". Excessive O3 levels INSIDE a tire are equally capable of causing O3 damage, from the inside out. This is one reason the inside of many tires are coated with a wax-like surface treatment - to retard internal O3 damage.

So, unless your trailer tire is known to contain specific anti-ozonant compounds (now common in automobile and truck tires), it is possible that your atmosphere-filled trailer tire is somewhat more susceptible to internal ozone attack than other tires.

Pure nitrogen properly installed greatly reduces eliminates the possibility of internal dry rot caused by trace ozone which can be present in normal atmospheres, (especially industrial/urban locations where tire shops often reside)

IMO, cheap insurance for trailer tire integrity.

Keith

 

[CDN SS]

I usually stay away from snake oil, but in this case, I believe one can make a case that trailer tires are a good place to consider using pure nitrogen. Properly installed, pure dry nitrogen drives out residual Ozone, which is present in normal atmosphere used in a typical air-breathing shop compressor setup.

According to commonly available research from reliable sources in the tire and rubber industry, residual ozone levels of 1ppm are capable of causing ozone checking. (Bandag, Goodyear, et al) typical sea level Ozone concentrations of are .03 -.08 PPM AT ONE ATMOSPHERE.

Trailer tires are often inflated to 3-4 atmospheres, which increases the density of air in the tire, and therefore increases the total base PPM of O3 inside the closed space...a subtle but significant distinction.

To retard O3 damage, Modern tires are often, but not always impregnated with anti-ozonant compounds, which leach to the surface of the tire during operation, where they oxidize and form a protective layer against ozone exposure.

The mechanical action of tire use is the active agent which assists in moving this anti-ozonant compound to the surface of the tire during its life cycle. Thus, tires which sit are more susceptible to O3 checking than tires which are operated. (e.g. Trailer tires, classic car trailer queens, etc.)

Failure of anti ozonants, or removal of them from the surface of the tire with aggressive cleaners, or simply their absence (for example, in low cost economy tires, aka "trailer tires") can all accelerate ozone checking, which is the root cause of so-called rubber "dry rot". Excessive O3 levels INSIDE a tire are equally capable of causing O3 damage, from the inside out. This is one reason the inside of many tires are coated with a wax-like surface treatment - to retard internal O3 damage.

So, unless your trailer tire is known to contain specific anti-ozonant compounds (now common in automobile and truck tires), it is possible that your atmosphere-filled trailer tire is somewhat more susceptible to internal ozone attack than other tires.

Pure nitrogen properly installed greatly reduces eliminates the possibility of internal dry rot caused by trace ozone which can be present in normal atmospheres, (especially industrial/urban locations where tire shops often reside)

IMO, cheap insurance for trailer tire integrity.

Keith

Hmmmm interesting .........that is kinda what I was asking in this thread .......could one of the causes of checking be other than old age and or exposure .......sort of same response I got from my tire guy with reference to the "overcleaning" he says I do on my tires and part of reason they showing checks so soon ....... who knows ?

I know I need to cover the tires better when it stored for long times ....but maybe something to this overcleaning

We all use our car trailers differently ....IMO those of us who haul long distances at at least 70 mph for hours without stopping, tires take a beating even when properly inflated etcetc my experience is they will break down after 4-5 yrs wont wear out but tread separation and of course checking Goodyear Marathons dont have a good track record if you haul fast and long with 7000lbs plus ........... if you have 16" wheels then way better quality tires are avaialble and they will last ...but it seems most 15 " trailer tires are all made offshore and most "brands " are all from same plant .......for me so far Maxiss D or E LR have been the best 15" trailer tire FWIW

 

[Bill Rose]

Interesting stuff. It would explain why 5 yr old trailer tires, that look new from the outside, with maybe 7000 miles, on them, are coming apart from the inside out. The original 4 yr old tires I pulled off my trailer last year, were "dry rotted" inside.