Trailer Tires

[Levitation]

Trailer tires are a frequent issue for farmers and boat trailers. The consensus is that the quality of trailer tires has gone into the dumpster in the past decade.
There have been discussions on here about failing tires during trips. ROAM is one that comes to mind readily. Anyway, as my tires are entering the 5th season I felt it was time for some preventive maintenance. Discussion with the trailer factory was undertaken. They no longer use the tire that was on my trailer. He says that the RV world has a new tire manufacturer that they feel is markedly better
. The brand is RAINIER ST. It has been out a year and a half and field reports so far are good.
Anyway I just put 5 new Rainier ST on my rims. The clock is ticking and we shall see.

 

[knotflying]

Are these Goodyear tires?

 

[Brian B]

I just replaced my original bias ply tires with Carlisle Radials load range E. The originals were approaching the 5 year mark and although they looked fine I wanted new tires for towing to FL in Jan. According to the Carlisle catalog all trailer tires should be replaced after 5 years regardless of mileage. (5 years from manufactured not when they were purchased)
I was going to put Goodyear Marathons on but after reading numerous reviews regarding new tires blowing out I decided to go with a different brand, everyone complained about the Marathon tires that are made in China. The tires are marked Made In China. I found it nearly impossible to find a trailer tire completely made in the U.S.. Carlisle components are manufactured in the U.S. and assembled in China.
I also made sure I bought tires dated 2014. This was another go around with the tire dealer as initially they were giving me 2-2012 and 2-2014 tires. Tires are stamped with the week of the year and the year manufactured.

 

[Levitation]

**Are these Goodyear tires?**

Unknown to me Mike. I bought them through the LoadMaster Trailer factory and he had them drop shipped to me from the distributor. He claims many RV builders are going to this brand and this is now his standard tire. I'm thinking he sold them at his cost to me, as they were under a $100 apiece delivered.
http://www.loadmastertrailerco.com
Now these are load range D, not the E. We had a long discussion on this and he says that for the 15 inch wheel/axle they don't make an E range tire. I am assuming that since he does this every day he is more knowledgeable than I.
We did discuss going to the 16 inch wheel to get into an E rated tire but we came to the conclusion (after I measured the clearance) that the larger diameter tire was going to scrub the fender under some circumstances. I momentarily contemplated taking the grinder to the fender mounts to raise it up but that would remove the galvanizing, so opted to let that go for now. He also mentioned that doing so would raise the trailer another inch higher for launching - I do not see that as a major issue.
Rich gave me the heads up on the tire failure issues as he is now a pro at doing roadside tire changes :lol:

/

 

[knotflying]

Denny,

I can't find the brand on an Internet search, but the name Rainier came up under a Goodyear tire type.

 

[Levitation]

Yeah Mike. About the same here.
I do have one of the drop-ship tire boxes with the distributor name and phone, etc.
I was over at our second farm shop much of the day trouble shooting the turn signals, etc. on two grain wagons. When we finally cleaned up the horribly miswired harnesses I forgot to bring that info home. I was going to call the distributor and ask- but you are likely right.

You would have had the giggling fits over these wagon harnesses. The wagons are designed to be pulled in trains of two or more. So the lead wagon plugs into the back of the tractor and the following wagon(s) plug into a rear mounted jack on each wagon ahead so that all the caution flashers, brake lights, etc. on each wagon work simultaneously.
Well, besides the first plug going to the tractor being wired wrong, the rear end jack on that wagon was wired completely differently. On the second wagon the constant voltage line for the running lights was tied to the ground pin taking the tractor battery straight to ground. Loads of fun.