Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Trailer Tire Recommendation

I've got a 7,000lb car hauler that needs new tires. What are you guys putting on your trailers? Not interested in China-bombs.

Firestone transforce ht.

Hercules

Check them out.

You can also use heavy LT tires. They need the stiff sidewalls, Car and lighter LT's aren't stiff enough.

Trailer, or "ST", tires are considered a special category in the current global design standards of Tire and Rim. The major difference is that trailer tires are required to carry 10% more load than an equivalent P-metric size tire.

LT type tires are actually on a lower formula and would require a significant size or load change to meet the trailer load requirements.

In the design process, we evaluate what works best under trailer applications/conditions. We typically find that a narrower tread width and a shallower non-skid (tread depth) provides a better overall performance in a free rolling position. This is one case where wider is not better.

There are significant design differences with these tires and this explains why trailer tires are in a special
category. In addition, that is why we recommend using trailer designed or trailer specific tires in trailer towable applications.

Sincerely,

Steve McKay
Consumer Relations
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company


TRAILER-TIRE CONSTRUCTION
Commonly encountered tires are P (passenger car), LT (light truck) and ST (special trailer). While each tire series shares basic construction methods, such as bias or radial belts, a bead, tread plies and so on, the details vary meaningfully among the three. Considerations in designing tires used on trailers include the need to carry heavy loads, the relative lack of cornering loads, long duty cycles (the tires can be expected to sit for a year; then rotate for days on end during long trips). Furthermore, because the design of most trailer suspensions dates back many decades, ST tires are designed for as soft a ride as possible so they don't transmit too much shock to the trailer and its contents.
Trailer-tire sidewall stiffness is a compromise between P and LT designs. The desire for stiffer sidewalls is still occasionally cited as the reason for choosing a bias-belted trailer tire. While passenger-car tires are nearly all radials these days, ST tires are still available in bias-belted construction. Radial trailer tires are superior in all respects to bias-belted tires except in sidewall stiffness. Reduced tire heat, lower rolling resistance and softer ride are among the benefits of radials, not to mention extended wear. On the road, ST tires share some characteristics of passenger-car tires, but are closer to the design of light-truck tires. Trailer tires typically employ heavier steel or poly-ester cords and somewhat lighter sidewall construction than light-truck
TRAILER-TIRE SAFETY
continued
tires, and trailer tires typically run lower air pressures than their truck counterparts. This gives ST tires good load-carrying capacity; but with the desired softer ride. ST tires also have the advantage of rubber compounds that are specifically designed to resist deterioration from the elements, including sunlight and ozone, during extended storage.

for comparison
ST 225 x 75R 8PR
load cap 2540
psi 65
OD 28.3
SW 8.9
tread 9/32

LT225 x 75R x 15 8PR
load 2205
psi 65
OD 28.4
SW 9.1
tread 17/32

even if the LT tire was a 10 ply IT still wouldn't have the load carrying capicity of the ST

Good luck.

Hard to find a good US made trailer tire, may not even be possible anymore.

Avoid the imported Good Year trailer tires like the plague. BTDT.

Most of the big tire companies have factories in several countries. It's very difficult to know which plant a tire comes from.
Goodyear's Endurance is US made, I think, and some Carlisle. Carlisle has a couple factories in the US but they still make some in China.

A little research will tell you exactly where they come from.

Good to see Good Year build a US made trailer tire again. Been several years since I was dealing w the imported tires, decided right then to shy away from Good Years for the 18' trailer.

LT tires. An ST tire of identical construction would be RATED CAPACITY to carry 10% more load. Doesn’t mean it actually can carry more load.

LT tires absolutely fine, and rated for, trailer use.

ST tires fail (a lot) and generally have 65mph speed ratings. And are not rated for carrying passengers. Hence the higher capacity rating.

Interesting post on an RV site, with references to the DOT testing regulations. The testing for LT tires is much tougher than the testing for ST tires, hence the lower rating.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23225970/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1

Had horrible luck until I tried the latest Goodyears.

Hate to recommend them with the BLM shenanigans they pulled.

I hate to buy them with the BLM shenanigans they pulled!

On my SxS trailer I run 15" General Grabber 2 AT's

Occasionally haul my compact tractor on it too....

My pickup has 17" tires. I found some 17" wheels to fit my 4 horse trailer. When I replace the tires on the pickup, the old ones go on the trailer. It only gets 3 to 5000 miles a year and the tires will last until I wear out another set of pickup tires. They'll sun rot before they wear out.

Yep.

tirerack.com is a good site to do this. Select the make, model and size of the tire you're interested in and go to the specs page, it'll tell you what country that particular tire is made in.