Give me the low down on tires

[taandctran]

I dont if this is tru for SkidSteer tires but I know when you go Off Rodaing or "Wheeling" in a Truck you are supposed to lower the air pressure to 10-15 psi. It helps get better traction and lowers the risk of puncture. But you better air back up when you hit the pavment!!!

[Gofor]

Several things:

House trailer axles are lousy for tire wear. The wheels are not designed for continuous or high speed use and they are almost impossible to balance and to align straight.

The tires on the front axle wear the most because they receive the worst abuse. 1st: because most of the weight is on them if the trailer is properly balanced for tow, and 2nd, they take the brunt of all road deformities as they are the first to hit it.
By the way, if you have brakes on the trailer, they should be on the rear wheels of a tandem axle.

Bias ply usually run cooler on a trailer as less rubber is on the road. Radials are made to deform like a caterpillar track to increase traction (more rubber is in contact with the road). More contact also means more friction, which means more heat.

From the pics, it looks like the trailer axle is deforming (top of the wheels sloping inward) under weight. This is putting all the stress on the inner edge of the tire. I saw this a lot when I was building boat trailers, when the weight was more than the axle was rated for. I would expect that if you look at the axle with the trailer loaded, you will see it bowing down in the center.

Make sure the axle bearings are well lubed and in good condition. Worn or loose bearings result in more friction, more heat, faster tire failure. Same goes for the spring shackles and axle pivots.

For what its worth

Go

[jeff...]

Great input so far everyone please keep all the hint's and tips coming - I'm learning alot. The trailer is a tandem axle with a set of Dexter Trorflex 5500lbs axles. I really like the axles and lubing is easy with the ez-lube system. Anyways I'm 99% sure there is nothing wrong with the axles. If I'm hearing correctly bias ply tires is the way to go.

Thanks

[JimD]

My usage is a lot less than yours but I plan to install passenger car radial tires on my boat trailer soon. It gets used so little that there is plenty of tread on the tires but the sidewalls show checking I think is indicative of breakdown of the material. They are about 18 years old. My daughter blew out a tire on the interstate a few weeks ago that had similar looking sidewalls. Years ago I blew a boat trailer tire that was in similar shape. My typical trip is about 8 miles to a nearby lake and I have a spare but I still do not like the look of my tires.

My logic for radials is that they are cheaper, have less rolling resistance, and are more readily available. I will get ones with similar diameter and heavy enough load weighting (my boat is less than 2,000 lbs and the wheels take 14 inch tires so it is not too hard to find something). I've read that the trailer may wander a bit more since the sidewall construction is more flexible but my SUV handles the boat well now so I think I will be OK even if it's a bit looser.

Again it's a different application but I've had good luck just buying the cheapest tire Walmart sells for my vehicles. Front wheel drive cars (my kids and wife) wear out front tires quickly regardless of the brand/mileage rating. I got 70,000 miles on my old SUV on a set of inexpensive Walmart tires which I think is good. The last couple we bought were from Pep boys which I doubt is better - may be worse. The car is old, however, and gets little use, it's our spare. It's front wheel drive. When I get around to doing something about the boat tires, I will just check the adds and look for something inexpensive. They will probably dry rot too before I wear the tread off.

Jim

[jeff...]

Been talking to several tire guys - one who has been a tire man all his life with well over 40 years experience gave me the best advise of all of them. He asked me a bunch of questions and basically came to the conclusion that if I want to expect any kind of longevity out of my tires I should upgrade to 16" rims / go with 10 ply BIAS (load range F) Tires. He made a comment about radials should not be allowed on trailers carrying any kind of weight because the tend to shift a lot in the side wall area resulting in what you see in the pics of this post. He also said the 15"s are getting hard to come by but 16"'s are a dime a dozen. So basically I'm going to be upgrading when I get some cash. He wants me to find some used 16" rims and said he would warranty my tires for 2 years if I buy tires from him (no questions asked) - I like that it builds a good relationship

Thanks everyone

[scsmith42]

Jeff, I think that your tire guy is giving you some GREAT advice. Scott

[JimmyC]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Been talking to several tire guys - one who has been a tire man all his life with well over 40 years experience gave me the best advise of all of them. He asked me a bunch of questions and basically came to the conclusion that if I want to expect any kind of longevity out of my tires I should upgrade to 16" rims / go with 10 ply BIAS (load range F) Tires. He made a comment about radials should not be allowed on trailers carrying any kind of weight because the tend to shift a lot in the side wall area resulting in what you see in the pics of this post. He also said the 15"s are getting hard to come by but 16"'s are a dime a dozen. So basically I'm going to be upgrading when I get some cash. He wants me to find some used 16" rims and said he would warranty my tires for 2 years if I buy tires from him (no questions asked) - I like that it builds a good relationship

Thanks everyone

Did he tell you a two year warranty after you told him that you might be moving back to Illinois?

[jeff...]

Originally Posted by scsmith42

Jeff, I think that your tire guy is giving you some GREAT advice. Scott

I failed to mention that you must have talked to the same guy - It was like I was listening to you tell me almost the exact same things but it was a completely different guy. Now that's just down right spooky, the power of Scott Smith's long arms all the way up here in N. GVille county

Listen Ya'll - all you got to do is drop Scott's name (Scott Smith) in a jedi mind trick sentence and you get moved to the front of the DL renewal line. Seriously it works and besides - It fits right in line with CPR #6 "You don't know what you can get away with until you try."

Thanks

[Bas]

Originally Posted by jeff...

Listen Ya'll - all you got to do is drop Scott's name (Scott Smith) in a jedi mind trick sentence and you get moved to the front of the DL renewal line. Seriously it works and besides - It fits right in line with CPR #6 "You don't know what you can get away with until you try."

A friend of mine went out to eat, after the waitress brought the bill he took out his Staples Easy button, pressed it, and asked "Now how much does this cost"

But I'll give the Scott Smith method a try!

(wave hand) Travis - Scott Smith is telling you to give me your 37" wide belt sander.

[scsmith42]

Originally Posted by Bas

But I'll give the Scott Smith method a try!

(wave hand) Travis - Scott Smith is telling you to give me your 37" wide belt sander.

Bas - there are limits to my "power", and I think that with this request you just exceeded them...

[jeff...]

More info on tires / worth a watch ---> http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Thanks