What Type of Tire is Best for Trailers and What Typically Causes Tire Failure

Question:

a fella told me that he no longer buys trailer tires on his trailers. hes buying truck tires, and he said they last longer and dont have the blowouts hes experienced on trailer specific tires. a trailer salesman also told me that the rubber compound has changed on all tires. now, they only last 4 or 5 years due to weather checking. is this true? do you have any info on this? i have an exis stock trailer. has 4 tires and a same spare. the spare has split along one of the tread lines-the tires are 4 years old, but the trailer sits outside all year. once a year, i have sprayed all the rubber on the trailer with armor all. thanks for any help. looks like you have a pretty good site.

asked by: Elton W

Expert Reply:

Tire sizes that start with LT can be used on trailers which stands for "light truck", but the best style of tire for a trailer is "ST" which stands for Specialty Trailer. For a very long time trailers tires have been recommended to be replaced at around 4-6 years. This isn't a new thing. It only seems short compared to car tires which wear out due to mileage faster since they are typically used more.

So the reasons trailer tires blow out is typically for three reasons. Exceeding weight capacity, exceeding speed rating, and/or underinflation. Most people don't realize that their trailer tires aren't rated for the speeds they want to go or don't realize that they need to keep their tires inflated to the max psi listed on the sidewall of the tire. Failure to do this will cause premature failure.

The Provider trailer tire part # PRG80235 that you referenced has a capacity of 4,080 lbs at 110 psi and has a max speed rating of 81 mph which is higher than most trailer tires.

expert reply by: Jameson C