I just mounted a set of Goodyear endurance tires on my arctic fox, these are American made and way heavy. If you are in the market skip all the Chinese maypops and check these out.

They haven’t been around very long....but are getting good feedback. After enough bad publicity with the “China Bomb” Marathons....Goodyear finally “stepped up to the plate”! memtb

My utility trailer has tandem axles with 12" tires. It's hard to find decent tires that small. Goodyear doesn't make them.

I also replaced the Chinese tires that came on my TT with the Goodyear endurance tires. Can't really tell a difference in the ride but my confidence level is way higher. I do not want to be on the road having to change a tire. Good luck in your search.

Have a set on my utility trailer they have seen solid so far!

I like my Maxxis tires.

I have the endurance as well. So far (1 year, 5,000 miles) so good. Carlisle sucked bad and the Maxxis were good until they weren't. They all went bad at 4 or 5 years old with good tread. I hate to say it, but replacement every 4 years is probably the best course of action.

Carlisle used to be good, I will try the Endurance. I would rather buy American.

the trailer tire store

https://www.etrailer.com/Tires_and_Wheels/Taskmaster/TTWAS15B5SM.html

I am switching to LT tires. Can actually get them in 14” too - European commercial van tires.

Maxxis 10 ply.

number one rule ,never buy a trailer with small tires. 14" and up only. I find the more you use a trailer the better the tires hold up. they tend to dry rot fast when not being used.

I replaced all of the tires on my TT this year with these Goodyears. I can tell a difference, as the factory ones were C range and these are D range. When pulling it, I get less side to side wobble. When setup, everything feels more firm with less movement from the tires. We will see how they do this summer on some trips.

I put Carlisle Radial Trail RH 205/75-15 on my 7500# tandem utility trailer and I am happy with the wear I am getting. These tires are high speed rated at something over 80 MPH if I remember correctly and at the time that seemed important to me. Running tires at 75 to 80 MPH that are only rated to 65 MPH seemed to be unwise.

I understand they have a new version called "HD" that is designed to last 10% longer.

I agree. However, I built a 6x10 utility trailer with tandem axles and 12" tires. The plan was to have the tires under the bed without having to have wheelwells and I wanted it to track with the pickup. It works very well that way. The bed is only 22" high for easy loading. The tandem axles cost a little more but they make it ride easier and double the weight capacity. The trailer weighs 1100lb and I've had close to 3k of hay on it lots of times.The biggest problem is finding good quality 12" tires for it.

I hate those tiny 8" tires used on small trailers. I had them on a boat trailer and switched to 12's.

I built a trailer from a different perspective. I started with the tires. In California, the auto wrecking yards were overflowing with donut tires when I was building, and yards would even give them away free. Mounted on rims of course, and ready for use. Since they were under far less load then they were designed for, and fit car sized spindles mounted directly to the frame, I stacked up about a dozen free wheels, and never used them all.

I put brakes on mine even though they aren't required here. Idaho's trailer brake law is nuts. Most states require them on trailer weighing 2k or more loaded. Idaho only requires them on trailers 1500lb or more EMPTY. Mine weighs 1100 so I don't need them, even though I can load it to 4k gross. I could have built it with stronger axles and springs and still kept it under 1500 so I could load 6k or more and still not need brakes.

Replaced both my travel trailer and my tandem boat trailer with the new Goodyear Endurance tires. Awesome!

I was losing at least one trailer tire per hunting trip until I looked in the rear view mirror while I went over a cattle gate at 45 m.p.h.

The trailer was going 4 feet in the air.

I slowed down for cattle gates and have not lost a tire since.

Light utility trailers around my place get cheap car tires, they all suck just like trailer tires and the sun kills them way before the miles do. Hay trailers, stock trailers, and car haulers get COOP HiWay 10 ply bias trailer tires. Expensive name brand trailer tires are a waste since %95 of the time they rot before they’re even broke in.

On tandem axle trailers, the tires get dragged sideways a lot in tight turns. The stiff sidewalls on real trailer tires, or on LT's, will hold up better than car tires, whether bias or radial.

35' Jayco Eagle, came with Goodyear china bombs!! Replaced them immediately with 10 ply Maxxis tires. No issues now for the past 5 years. About time to replace them, will look at the new Goodyear's, but will probably buy Maxxis again. Second 5th wheel with them and no issues at all.

I was thinking of the marathons, didn’t realize this was a new offering. Reviews look awesome.

That is my impression as well.

Bearing in mind that I myself have not hauled a trailer in slmost 60 years, when my Dad put me to carrying limestone flats from the county work farm to build walls, I have been looking into the alternatives. Everybody here is more expert than me!

I did this month buy a used trailer that seems in decent shape for the price, so I’m putting my toe in the water. Clearly there are a few replacements needed, the first of which are all new tires.

It is a tandem aluminum 14’ cargo trailer (the body V front adds another couple of feet as does the A-frame) that I plan to use bringing furniiture and tools from my parents’ old house in Ohio to here in New Mexico, then for hauling the dogs around and later this summer for camping.

Hopefully, I can bring it to Armijo Springs in August.

There do not seem to be very informative manuals on trailers, and the best on maintenance seem to be the Airstream books. All of those say you cannot count on the tires you get on a used trailer, as they are all likely bad, especially if over five years old. Think of trailer tires as consumables that age out (or rot) far sooner than vehicle tires.

Frankly, with that in mind and replacing all five including the spare, I’m looking at price points and finding the best deals at Walmart and Costco, where one 205/75 15 in. can be found for around $45-55, plus mounting, some even with wheels (I don’t see the need for more wheels.)

Fresh tires I undestand, but the seller from whom I bought the trailer took it all over the country hauling his sidecar motorcycles for competition in events like the Pike’s Peak race. He used the off-brand tires like Carlisles and managed just fine.

I plan to switcch from bias tires to radials in buying new tires, since most trailer builders seem to use radials these days. For the above price range, I can get 6 or 8 ply radial tires, which for a light aluminum tandem cargo trailer (Featherlite at 1950 lbs. empty) should be fine.

What do you think?

FYI, I can order five ST205/75R15 8-Ply Trailer King II ST Radial Tires online, delivered free to my closest
Walmart store for installation on my wheels by June 5, for a total of $219.35.

Naturally, the reviews by prior buyers are self-justifying, but that seems true of all buyers these days. The tire specs look good for my 1950 lb. aluminum trailer with tandem 3500 lb. axles.

In the past this trailer was used for hauling several sidecar motorcycles and gear simultaneously, so nothing I put in it is likely to exceed that, I think.

I though abut trying ST225/75R15 10-Ply Trailer King II ST Radial Tires for a few bucks more ($51.36 each), but I wonder if that really suits my needs any better given my intended use.

Norm

No matter what, I carry a spare spare.

In case anyone was wondering, a tire is date stamped for when it was made. That's not saying it didn't sit in a warehouse for 18 months before it was sold, though.
Somewhere on the sidewall will be something like 'DOT 2315'. The DOT indicates it's a DOT specified code. The 1st 2 digits are the week of the year, the last 2 digits are the year. So, 2315 would have been made in the 23d week of 2015.

Understood! Two of mine date from 2016, but the other two, well worn, date from 2012 and the spare (the only radial) does not even show a DOT number anymore.

I figure it just makes sense to get all replaced with the same kind of new radials, and maybe ones with more plies.

Norm