Boat trailer tires

I know this topic has been discussed many times, but don’t remember the recommendations. I need new boat trailer tires. Goodyear marathons used to be the go to tire. Then the comments were they were now being made in China and were junk. Have heard Carlisle tires are junk too.Any recommendations? Bought a couple of Hirun brand a couple of years ago. Junk. One of them the steel belts let loose already with about 1500 miles on it. A friend of mine has been running car radials on his trailer. I am nervous about doing that. Help

I was in your predicament a few years ago, I was looking for U.S. made tires and found the Carlisle USA trail and so far so good. granted i’m only pulling a 16′ boat

goodyear now makes a trailer tire called the endurance heavier load rating in the same size tires as marathons and are made in the usa!!! just put 4 on my trailer and love em so far

hookem wrote:

Bought a couple of Hirun brand a couple of years ago. Junk. One of them the steel belts let loose already with about 1500 miles on it.

Anytime I hear someone say they had new trailer tires that were “junk” and failed prematurely, I have to ask: Are you SURE you bought and had the tire with the right load rating installed? Did you actually LOOK at the sidewalls AFTER installation?

It would be very, very easy for a tire store employee to go to the stock rack and grab the right size, but then fail to look at the load rating and put on the right size but a tire that’s the wrong load rating.

Also, in general, boat owners almost never know the real weight of their rig. In fact, I doubt 5 in a 100 actually know the real life weight of their rigged boat with a realistic fuel and gear load. So most people are just guessing when buying tires, with the predictable results.

I’ve had Hi-Run under a 4200 pound (real weight) pleasure boat and ran then until the sun got to them after about 5 years. No issues.

Replaced with Goodyear Marathons. No issues.

So either I’m really lucky and ran 8 of these “junk” tires for years with no issues or maybe other factors are in play with the guys who are blowing tires all the time?

Grouse

Checked out the Goodyear endurance. Does not come in 13″ rim size. The Hirun tires I bought from my brother in law who owns a Goodyear dealership. Told me there is no warranty on them. ????They were exact size for size replacements for what came on the trailer when new. He said he’s had good luck with them. I’ve never ran them under inflated. Someone on a travel trailer site talked about Maxxis tires. Anybody know anything about them?

Got a buddy in MO a bass guy running maxxis and he loves them. I personally am running the new Carlisle HD D 8 ply rated tires for both a 21′ bass and a 2025 MX. All running great. Go to AR from CO at least 3-4 times a yr and run to UT in the heat had been having tire separations at least once a yr going too fast for the old style trailer tires they are only rated for 65mph . The new HDs are rated for 81 mph. The new goodyears are suppose to be rated to 87 mph. Will try them next time I switch one of the trailers over.

I put a set of Maxxis tires on the spring of 2016. I don’t put on huge miles but 3-5 trips to LOW, many trips to Pool 4 and Mille Lacs per season in addition to shorts runs to Pool 2 and other small area lakes.

So far i am pleased with the tire.

I was researching/buying tires last fall. The only Carlisle tires I found made in the USA were bias ply so they were out as I make a few fairly long trips so was only looking at radicals. Saw lots of good reviews about maxxis but they were out of what I could afford to do. I ended up going with ranier and went up to range d tires (as mentioned above) i disxovered my boat is a bit heavier than i thought. So far a few short runs and then the 400 mile one way run to Kab. and back this spring, no issues so far, but a pretty small sample size.

I did notice a LOT of the guys online badmouthing this or that tire were on camper trailers and I can only imagine how overloaded 95% of those were for the tires they had on.

FYI In the hopes of saving an Ido member a few bucks…

Just received a tire sale flyer from Fleet Farm.

Click Here

I looked at the load rating on my tires. They are load range c. Rated for 1480 lbs. each tire. Don’t know if I can get the 13″ in load range d, but will be checking that out. The Hirun tires are made in China. Time for some research ????

hookem wrote:

I looked at the load rating on my tires. They are load range c. Rated for 1480 lbs. each tire. Don’t know if I can get the 13″ in load range d, but will be checking that out. The Hirun tires are made in China. Time for some research ????

There were quite a few out there in D (mine are 175 80 r13) depending on what brands/$ range you are looking for.

Carlisle, period for me. Have them on six trailers. Two are dual axle trailers, one a car hauler and one a Lund Pro V. Have had good year’s, not impressed at all. If the boat sits, which most do over a winter, I’ve had very good results with Carlisle tires in all conditions. They are designed for the different life of a trailer vs a vehicle tire. Weight is a huge factor too, likes already been mentioned, bump up from what you think you need.

I have Carlisle on my boat trailer. They have been on for a year and a half and so far have been good (I feel like I should find some wood to knock on). Only thing I’ve noticed is that when they sit for a couple weeks the first half mile or so driving it seems like they flat spot a little. I can see the boat vibrating a little. After they warm up though it goes away. From what I was told there are good Carlisle and bad Carlisle. The cheap ones the tread will separate sometimes I guess.

I’ll be buying a new set this winter. Thankfully there are some new options that look really good with higher load and speed ratings.

Carlisle Radial Trail HD (~$50 on Amazon; made in China)
Speed rating M (81mph) or L (75mph)
13″ – 14″ with load range C or D
15″ with load range C, D, or E
16″ with a load range E or F

Goodyear Endurance ($108 at Goodyear, made in US)
Speed rating N (87mph)
14″ with load range D
15″ with load range D or E
16″ with load range E

I will have to look into the Carlile load range D tires

I’m going on 4-5 years with my Marathons – a blessing as the originals didn’t last that long.

What sucks with trailer tires, you often don’t get signs they are going bad till they do – then fenders, lights and other damage comes. At least that’s been my experience. How long to leave them on is always a question.

I’m going to look into these. I like the made in the USA thing – and the sales pitch is a good one. I like the higher speed and weight ratings as well.

Goodyear Endurance ($108 at Goodyear, made in US)
Speed rating N (87mph)
14″ with load range D

I got the marathons and they are still a great tire. pulling a fiberglass boat and no signs of wear

2x Maxxis tires. Needed tires several years ago. Did lots of research. Maxxis was the clear winner. RV trailer people can have thousands in damage with a blowout. Maxxis was the tire of choice. Discount tire sold me mine.