Trailer upgrades

[Degolyerent]

I just wanted to share a couple of things that has made trailer hauling a lot less hassle as I haul one many miles per year.
The best thing was to get away from trailer tires and go to LT tires, mine are 16", and I use a bias ply tire and get good life from them. I am sure a radial would get more life but they are expensive to be replacing if I run over stuff on job sites.
The next was to go to LED lights, I have had no replacement bulb problems since and it has been 4 years. I put LED running lights on the front of the fender so i can see if my light connection is good in my mirrors, in case the connector gets knocked loose for some reason. I also soldered all the wires and put extra grounds for the brakes.
I would like to have disc brakes but maybe on the next trailer I will.
John

 

[moriboy]

Totally agree with you on the tires. Trailer tires are JUNK! I also have my trailer tires balanced which helps with tire and bearing wear.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on tires. I have been in the trailer business for 20 years now part time. I tow well over 100 trailers a year. I have rules now from that experience. I broke one last week and kicked myself for it after 2 miles.

Rules

1. No Bias Tires. The are junk. Radials only, fully inflated to max PSI and balanced.
2. No Mobil Home axles, wheels, hubs, Ect. Including Bud Wheels. Tough to center and are Junk!
3. No Pintle hitches. Broke this one last week pulling a Mini Ex. Hate them. Slop beats truck and transmission.
4. High pressure Metal Valve Stems only.

My experience, about 10,000 miles a year towing loads in excess of 10K says radial Trailer Tires inflated properly and replaced every 5 years max will out perform ant other tire. I've tried LT tires with no luck. To add to that no tire shop in my area will mount anything on a trailer wheel other than a LT tire. They will also not touch a tire older than 6 years old other to dismount. LT, P, ST tires, it doesn't matter. 6 yrs old they are junk!

Chris

 

[Degolyerent]

Bias ply trailer tires are junk. The problem I had with radials was working in places with cul-de-sacs the tight turns would separate the belts and they cost to much for that to be happening. I was doing concrete construction in subdivisions hauling tractors and excavators. That I did for 20 or more years.
I am now doing work with my equipment, Bushhogging and clearing etc. and haul 10k-12k pounds everyday which translates to 15-20 thousand miles per year. I haul in some back road type areas such as power line right of ways and woods roads etc. and have to replace tires due to damage and that is why I use a bias ply tire, and a LT tire serves me better. I also balance the tires.
I think the newer radials may not have the problem of separation of the belts but the ones from years ago have me problems.

 

[ultrarunner]

I too have excellent results with bias ply tires... so good that I have not had to buy replacements in decades.

Tow every week... and except for the small box trailers with radials... they all have 10 or 12 ply bias ply tires some are even tube type.

Don't know why tires from from decades ago can last the test of time and so many new trailers have tire issues.

Got a buddy into old military vehicles... he is still running stuff on WWII tires... simply amazing.

All my trucks run Michelin and other modern cars run Continental and Goodyear and no complaints...

I do agree on metal valve stems... too many issues with rubber stems... never use to have issues but several times they have let me down.

 

[Redbug]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on tires. I have been in the trailer business for 20 years now part time. I tow well over 100 trailers a year. I have rules now from that experience. I broke one last week and kicked myself for it after 2 miles.

Rules

1. No Bias Tires. The are junk. Radials only, fully inflated to max PSI and balanced.
2. No Mobil Home axles, wheels, hubs, Ect. Including Bud Wheels. Tough to center and are Junk!
3. No Pintle hitches. Broke this one last week pulling a Mini Ex. Hate them. Slop beats truck and transmission.
4. High pressure Metal Valve Stems only.

My experience, about 10,000 miles a year towing loads in excess of 10K says radial Trailer Tires inflated properly and replaced every 5 years max will out perform ant other tire. I've tried LT tires with no luck. To add to that no tire shop in my area will mount anything on a trailer wheel other than a LT tire. They will also not touch a tire older than 6 years old other to dismount. LT, P, ST tires, it doesn't matter. 6 yrs old they are junk!

Chris

I agree with Chris. Speaking from experience, that tire age is crucial and metal valve stems are made for high pressure, the rubber ones will only handle up to about 40 psi. I have had blowouts on tires 7 years old and now change them whether they look good or not.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I had not heard of this 40 psi limitation. So I looked up valve stem specs on several web sites. I didn't see a reference to 40 psi. The most common valve stem is rated at 65 psi, that is the usual tubeless snap in type, several different types for various types of wheel. Then there is a tubeless snap in type rated at either 80 or 100 psi, with a metal barrel, I think it is only installed in steel wheels. Finally there is the metal clamping type rated higher yet. I went out and looked at my dump trailer which has 16 in LRE tires (Chinese) and steel wheels. It has the 80 psi rated metal barrel snap in type. My pickup has LRE Michelin tires on aluminum rims and has the 65 psi rated snap in stems. The trailer tires are always at 70 psi. The pickup tires (front) are at 40-50 depending on load, the rears are at 40-70 depending on load. I used pretty much the same configuration on trailers and pickups for over a decade with no issues. I have had 15 in LRC trailer tires blow at any time/age. But the LRE tires seem to be pretty reliable at least under my use which is not consistently max load.

 

[dieselscout80]

I agree with Chris. Speaking from experience, that tire age is crucial and metal valve stems are made for high pressure, the rubber ones will only handle up to about 40 psi. I have had blowouts on tires 7 years old and now change them whether they look good or not.

You can get rubber valve stems rated for high pressure, but you are correct most are rated at a lower psi.

If you get load range E tire you should get the high pressure versions.

 

[Redbug]

Here you go:

Tire Tech Information - Tire Valve Types, Components & Uses