Help with New Boat Trailer Tires

I blew a tire on my boat trailer a few weeks ago. It also took out the whole fender along with the fender mounting brackets. Several of the Fender parts are still on back order. I decided on getting 2 new tires and keeping the best of the two on there now as a spare ( I think the one I had as the spare is almost if not new ) I keep hearing different opinions on if true trailer tires are any better than a standard car tire. Interested in hearing opinions from those here. What brand of tire would you all recommend? If it matters at all the tire size on it are: 205/75 R14 and 215/75 R14. I believe the 215/75 was the spare I had prior to the blow out.

I had a heavy boat on a single axle trailer a few years back that ate a couple off brand trailer specific tires so fast I thought I had a trailer axle problem. I had good year trailer tires put on and they wore great for a few years and sold it with them on there.

I use the Goodyear Marathon trailer tires. They dumped the marathon and now have the endurance. Heard its not as good as the marathon was but still the best option. I did a quick search and the Goodyears are only available right now in the 215/75R14. They are in the D load range and that will help if your old ones were just C load range. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk tires more. I also can get them for you if you get down to the north metro.

Alagnak Pete wrote:

I had a heavy boat on a single axle trailer a few years back that ate a couple off brand trailer specific tires so fast I thought I had a trailer axle problem. I had good year trailer tires put on and they wore great for a few years and sold it with them on there.

Was the Goodyear tire a Trailer rated tire or a auto tire? The old joke on Goodyear tires was the name was correct – Good for a year. I know some people who will not use any other tire than goodyear these days.

Take some time to compare capacity ratings between a ST trailer tire like the Goodyear Endurance, and the passenger car tires you are thinking about.

https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-selector.aspx

HRG

Attachments:

1. Goodyear-endurance.pdf

I’ve still got the factory tires on my Ranger boat trailer that came with it in 2015. I had them inspected last year and they were both still good. Have yet to use the spare, although I did replace both valves that had a slow leak on each tire in 2019. The tires are Carlisle Radial Trail.

I would not hesitate to take John Rasmussen’s advice. He offers good suggestions on tires.

I looked and the 2 tires on the trailer and the blown tire are all C rated. if I had plans to keep this boat and trailer I’d probably go up to a D rated, but at about 1/2 the cost I think a C rated tire will be fine. found a great deal locally on 2 Goodyear Towmax tires. May go with them

I would go to Discount Tire and get trailer tires there, they always treat me right.

For auto vs trailer tires I know a few people that have had auto tires on their trailer and the bead popped loose when cornering.

gimruis wrote:

I’ve still got the factory tires on my Ranger boat trailer that came with it in 2015. I had them inspected last year and they were both still good. Have yet to use the spare, although I did replace both valves that had a slow leak on each tire in 2019. The tires are Carlisle Radial Trail.

I would not hesitate to take John Rasmussen’s advice. He offers good suggestions on tires.

Thanks for the kind words. Me and Fishthumper have been discussing options. He shared he is getting rid of it soon so we talked about other economical options instead. Still stand by what I said about the Goodyears, Carlisle is another decent option though.

Back when I was trailering everywhere I would always mount Goodyear radials. They were always good for me, always.

fishthumper wrote:

found a great deal locally on 2 Goodyear Towmax tires. May go with them

Just to be accurate, Goodyear does not make Towmax tires. Towmax is a China-made tire under the Power King brand.

HRG

I put on 4 Atturo tires a couple years ago. D Load Rating and L (75mph) Speed Rating. Discount Tires / Rogers had to order them from Chicago warehouse.

Been happy with them – just another option.

Pete

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishthumper wrote:</div>
found a great deal locally on 2 Goodyear Towmax tires. May go with them

Just to be accurate, Goodyear does not make Towmax tires. Towmax is a China-made tire under the Power King brand.

HRG

That’s good to know. Thanks for the Info.

I put goodyear endurance on every trailer I have – fantastic tire in my opinion. Year 4 on my travel trailer and they look new and have nearly 10,000 miles on them…including several trips over 700miles one way. Speed rated to 81mph and one load range higher than the cheap factory tire is a confidence booster and I tow at 70-75 usually with no issues. Run them at max pressure to prevent heat generation and sudden failure.

Adam Steffes wrote:

Run them at max pressure to prevent heat generation and sudden failure.

This is always key with trailer tires

Car tires and trailer tires are made differently. Trailer tires need much stronger sidewalls than passenger tires.

Anything below an Endurance tire is budget China stuff. Endurance is a jump in quality. Other options to go higher, but in most cases it’s not warranted based on cost. I have Endurance on the bass boat trailer, utility, atv trailer, construction trailer and so on. On the trailers I run WI to Colorado, I balance the tires. For the utility ones I use around the farm I dont

I was told by pomps tire and Bauer tire company That trailer tires will only last 3 to 5 years no matter how much tread. Just blew my second tire on the 5th year.. ordered a new set from discount tire and paid the extra 11.00 dollars to warranty tires down to like 3/32 give or take. Will see how that goes if they go longer than 5 years..

Tire life is only limited when stored outside in uv light. We have tires on 40 year old trailers that have been stored indoors their whole life that still work, they just sit for 10 years between uses. Keep them out of the sun and extreme temps and they will last a lot longer than 3-5 yrs

Rubber will also suffer from age not just uv damage. There is no way I’m gonna trust a 40 year old tire let alone 15 year old. No offence meant, just not gonna happen if I’m making the decision.

I am pretty sure tires are only road legal for 6 years, the dot goes by the date stamp that the tires have on them.

If you are buying trailer tires you had better weigh your boat with the trailer and get an idea what you have for weight before buying trailer tires. Most people can find a scale somewhere near there residence where they live and some scales are free. Start putting gas, and gear and whatever else you carry and the weight goes up in a hurry. Figure that out, and then you can get the right load range tire to put on your trailer for hauling. I have “D” range tires on my Ranger trailer and they are Goodyear Endurance tires. I really like them. Two points that are important with trailer tires. 1) Make sure you use “TRAILER TIRES” , and that is it. No truck tires on the trailer. 2) Spend the extra money and “BALANCE” your tires on your trailer. They will ride better and last longer. My 2 cents on that. If you don’t believe me, walk around the boat parking lot and look at all the square and uneven boat tires on trailers. Most people don’t know what they’re rig even weighs. Good luck !!!