Cheap Trailer Tires?

[kneedeep]

With all the post about the "Cheap New Tires" that all trailer builders are putting on equipment, why not buy good LT 10 Ply yourself and have them mounted/balances on the new rims at your expense?
I am sure a trailer dealer would deduct at least the cost of a new spare ($125) X 4 and sell you a trailer 'Tireless' without a wheel/tire warranty.

Most new trailer service tires are about $100 on line and I am sure dealers pay less for bulk sales. I would be OK with a $75 deduct for tires and furnish my own.
Good rims are about $40-$50 and lug nuts are about a buck each.

When I buy, Good LT tires on their rim or mine, doesn't matter which, is the way it will be or no sale.

BTW- looking at Kaufman( BBB rating 'F'- non member), Betterbuilt and Southern trailers, the latter 2 are local to me.

Any thoughts on my plan??

[2458n]

Good friend of mine was at a auction yesterday. He is a trailer dealer and keeps several people on the road year around delivering trailers. Frank was frank when he said that switching tires was more of a problem than he wanted to deal with. mount and dismount all took time and then he would end up with four new tires sitting around until the next tire price increases made them a bargain. When I worked at a Ford dealership a cab and chassis could be ordered without a rim and spare. Saved about 150.00. Trucks were always miss ordered and came in with the spares. The customer always ended up ,"paying", but went down the road without the spare thinking they had saved money.

[kneedeep]

maybe I should clarify my comments- I am not asking a dealer to do anything other than sell me rims, If it is too much trouble, then sell me a trailer without tires and rims. When I pick it up, he can mount my tires/rims on the trailer.
Most trailer builders only put 2 maypop tires on a trailer in production just to move it around and mount the "new cheap tires after it is finished.
I have been to 3 shops that build trailers and they have stacks of rims, tires and mounted tires for what ever is required.
I DO NOT want cheap tires on my truck, trailer(s), wifes car, lawnmower, tractor, boat trailer or my wheelbarrow!

[jeffsw6]

My thoughts are, ask the dealers near you if they can order a trailer for you with good tires. The answer might be yes for all of them. Seems like it would be a bit of hassle for a dealer to get you a trailer with no tires or rims installed. I accidentally forgot to order good tires on my new trailer. I will just use up the factory tires and replace them in a year or two when they wear out. No big deal.

[Gary Fowler]

Not all trailers come with maypop tires. Mine came with NEW 10 ply 16" tires. I think it all depends on the dealer. He can specify what he wants to save a few bucks so he can advertise a cheaper price. The unsuspecting buyer wont know that the used tires are automotive tires and not good for the axle rating of the trailer. See ad below. I ordered mine with brakes on both axles for $150 more and got it in 2weeks per same delivery schedule as before but customized to my order.

20ft Heavy Duty 20ft Car Hauler 12,000 GVW - $3095 (Porter)

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Date: 2012-05-23, 9:47AM CDT
Reply to: k9nnh-2974791784@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
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83in x 20ft - 6000lb EZ Lube axles with 1 brake axle - dove tail - 16in tires 10ply rated - comes with spare call 281-354-5600 Generate link codes HTML for websites & blogs (MySpace, eBay, LiveJournal, Craigslist and more) Clickable thumbnails

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[JimRB]

I got 4 new tires and rims from the tire and rim dealer an hour from the house. The kind of tire and rim dealer that supplies trailer and mobile home builders with tires and rims. I suspect that most trailer builders buy an assembly consisting of tire mounted on rim from a wholesaler. Having a guy spending time mounting a few assemblies a day is probably not cost effective.

[3930dave]

I picked up an older travel trailer a few months back. If it had larger rims, I probably would have gone with a good LT tire myself.

I know somebody who put MANY miles on passenger car tires on a race car hauler, they weren't even LTs. Not what Penske uses, I'm sure, but my buddy didn't have his budget !

As long as you don't haul through a jurisdiction where they are collecting taxes with the " Trailers must have trailer tires on them" game, LTs would be my choice.

Some dealers negotiate their trailer buys with a spare included, then pull the spare off to sell separately. In cases like this, you end up with whatever was in the package deal.

Rgds, D.

[clemsonfor]

I bought my trailer and did not pay for the tires or rims. Now they were used car tires on it, if i wanted new tires i would pay for them. but honestly they have lasted many miles and so have the "new" "cheap" tires on my boat trailer. I think its luck of the draw and do you check air pressures etc on your tires.

I also have driven tens of thousands of miles on "cheap" no name brand tires as well, never a problem with any of them. Keep you tires aligned and air pressures in check and you should be fine. Now if you put an undersize tire on you f250 and drive 95mph for thousands of miles on end yea your probably goging to experience a blow out. But i have had 3 sets at least that i can think of in the last 10 years and put over 100k miles that i know of on those 3 sets. I know i have had more than that but i just really dont remember those cars the mileages i put and the tires that i had when?

[ultrarunner]

Never a problem with my single axle trailers... tires are near indestructible.

The tandem axles rigs definitely stress tires more when turning.

Followed a guy out of the canyon yesterday... the narrow winding county road has many hairpins and switch backs... could literally see the tires pulled in opposite directions around every corner... been driving the same road with my single axle trailer and I don't even know it's there except for having to swing wide on the turns.

[K7LN]

The tire/rim situation depends greatly on which dealer is supplying the trailer. Slowly but surely, the liability issue is coming into the picture. It's getting to the point that some tire stores will not repair tires that are over 6-7 years old. So then, what is your trailer dealer going to do for you with liability in mind? Remember too, that trailer tires are made with different compounds to promote longevity for those that only put on a few hundred miles a year.