Trailer tires…what the…

[sd455dan]

I was trying to figure that out this morning, bought the trailer new in '11 and this is the second set of tires. I think six years ago? Not totally sure.

Here's some pics I grabbed this morning as I was leaving for work. Bad ones, the one with cracks is how the one with separation looked before the drive and doesn't seem any worse on that one. The good ones look fine.
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This is a long shot but happened to me.

I hauled a bit over the max weight rating of my trailer and the trailer tires were a size larger than spec. Had some dips in the road from construction and tore the tread off somewhat like the pic.

It occurred to me that when I went through the dips the truck felt like I had hit the trailer brakes, I hadn't .
Then it hit me the front and rear tires tread were in contact when the trailer compressed with the load and since they are rotating different directions the tires basically tried to tear off each others tread. It only happened on the right side of my trailer. Do your tires get fairly close once fully loaded?

No more ST trailer tires for me on the fifth wheel trailer. Sticking with LT E's from now on.

 

[sea2summit]

This is a long shot but happened to me.

I hauled a bit over the max weight rating of my trailer and the trailer tires were a size larger than spec. Had some dips in the road from construction and tore the tread off somewhat like the pic.

It occurred to me that when I went through the dips the truck felt like I had hit the trailer brakes, I hadn't .
Then it hit me the front and rear tires tread were in contact when the trailer compressed with the load and since they are rotating different directions the tires basically tried to tear off each others tread. It only happened on the right side of my trailer. Do your tires get fairly close once fully loaded?

No more ST trailer tires for me on the fifth wheel trailer. Sticking with LT E's from now on.

Interesting.

Heaviest thing I usually haul is my big tractor which is slightly over 8k still well below max capacity. Last time it hauled near max was in ‘17 and that probably wasn’t much more than 9k. Can’t imagine the trailer weighs more that 2-2.25k, I can push it around my yard by hand because it’s dang near balanced with the ramp it has.

 

[sea2summit]

Could be age. I change my trailer tires every 4 years, 5 max.

I would agree because they are old except the other side looks fine.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

So I’ve never seen this before but pulled the trailer out yesterday to tow the small tractor to a job. Tires on one side perfect, tires on the other side both cracked really bad, not like dry rot, there was a line where I could see slight tread separation. I had already committed to the job so decided I’d take her as far as she’d go then road the tractor from there if I had too. Also all backcountry dirt roads so slow traveling and no traffic….still hated to be “that guy”. Long story short it made it there and back but I lost half the tread on one and a couple chunks out of the other. Anyone have any ideas what would cause one side to do that? Stored out of direct light mostly shaded so not like one side gets more exposure there. Checked pressures and everything was normal so not over pressured somehow. I use this trailer several times a month and didn’t see anything on my last walk around so was shocked last night.

Question part two, what’s everyone’s go to trailer tire? Bonus points for a recommendation made in USA. 225/75R15 load range D.

Since they are both cracked on one side I would guess that something was sprayed or spilled on that side of the trailer, fuel, solvent, anti-freeze, weed killer. Is the rubber in better shape on the side of the bad tires that faces the trailer? Was there ever a burn pile made on that side of the trailer in the area where it was parked?

 

[xrjohndeere]

So I’ve never seen this before but pulled the trailer out yesterday to tow the small tractor to a job. Tires on one side perfect, tires on the other side both cracked really bad, not like dry rot, there was a line where I could see slight tread separation. I had already committed to the job so decided I’d take her as far as she’d go then road the tractor from there if I had too. Also all backcountry dirt roads so slow traveling and no traffic….still hated to be “that guy”. Long story short it made it there and back but I lost half the tread on one and a couple chunks out of the other. Anyone have any ideas what would cause one side to do that? Stored out of direct light mostly shaded so not like one side gets more exposure there. Checked pressures and everything was normal so not over pressured somehow. I use this trailer several times a month and didn’t see anything on my last walk around so was shocked last night.

Question part two, what’s everyone’s go to trailer tire? Bonus points for a recommendation made in USA. 225/75R15 load range D.

My trailer tires did the same thing. A friend of mine who sales tires said most trailer tires come from China. They expect them to last about 5 to 6 years before they start separating. He said he sees them like this all the time. He said when you by tires to check the manufactures date so you don’t get new old tires. I always thought a new tire that was stored properly and never used was still a new tire. I guess this isn’t the case anymore.

 

[BnRidge]

This is the tire I pulled off of a spreader that had been stored, untouched, since 1969. There is a date stamp on the side, 1954, army surplus. Both tires hold air, and have minimal checking. The side walls are so stiff, the air pressure read zero when I first put the air compressor to it, yet when towing, they didn't bulge much at all.

 

[3Ts]

Also could be an 'overheat' condition that causes this type separation. Maybe brakes on those overheated?

I bought 5 new tires for my trailer, the one that was mounted as the spare never touched the ground, yet it is the one that had the tread separate in only a few months. The other 4 are still mounted on the axle and the trailer is sitting on those tires several years later.

 

[amhicks21]

I had a set of tires on a 14k equipment trailer that did exactly what your picture shows there. It was quite a while ago and i cant remember the name of the tire but they came new with the trailer and the trailer wasn't that old. had every bit as much tread left as yours. when it was all sorted out, we could only conclude that they were a junk brand tire. Since then Ive run 14k trailers with 8-10k loads on them almost daily for over a decade and haven't seen that since. I honestly think the rubber compound was just way to hard and started to crack and separate from the bands rather than flex. They wore abnormally well until they started falling apart.

 

[nisaacs]

Every time I need tires, I buy Hercules. Truck, car or trailer and have good luck with them. Most are made in USA. They are a medium priced tire, the economy tires will go bad real fast, like you describe. I just bought a used horse trailer with that size so I will go with these, they are 12 ply.

Hercules Tires Commercial

This is what happens with cheap oem tires, only 3 years old. They blow out just parked. I went with Hercules H901's, LT235/85x16, 14 ply.

 

[Gord Baker]

Air Pressure is the most important as it is obvious in the photo that the left one has been run with lower pressure. Overloading is another cause of failure. Sunlight is the next enemy to tires. In Ontario, trailer tires must be factory marked as TRAILER use only. Broken internal structure (belt) causes isolated failure and tread abnormalities. Dates of Manufacture are shown on most tires produced. Beware off-shore Tractor Lug tires. Fewer Lugs on same size causing 'road rumble' Count them before you buy. Poland brand guilty of this for a couple hundred $ cheaper on large tractor tire.