Towing vehicle tire longevity??

wilnis · Feb 18, 2011

Hi-I have an 04 Dodge 3/4 ton diesel P/U as a tow vehicle for primarily a 2 axle stock trailer, and twice a year, a 4 horse trailer. 70,000 miles, 80% towing miles. Truck came with 17" E rated BFG tires on steel wheels and I picked up a set of the same E rated tires on aluminum wheels and rotate them fairly regularly.
My question-I've read a few sites that say tires should be changed every 5-6 years no matter what the tread depth. Lots of qualifiers, including roads driven on, how much air pressure kept in the tires, towing, garage kept, etc, and I'm wonder if there is any consensus on this site about this recommendations as many of you do way more towing and have way more experience than I do? As both sets of tires are 7 years old, and both have 50% left of their tread, should I be getting new tires??
Thanks for your time and opinions. Bill

JD3520Turbo · Feb 18, 2011

If they are 7 years old, then I would stop rotating them, and wear one set out at a time. After that, I would not keep 2 sets of tires, because it takes to long to wear them out and they get old on you.

Some things to consider:
Are there any repairs in these tires? If so, I would be looking at culling those from the herd. They could have gotten moisture in the steel belts and caused rust and fail.

Are these tires outside all the time, or are they in a shed or garage? The sun will negatively affect tire life.

How much gravel do you run on? Also, if you do run gravel, are the tires looking chipped up or do they show signs of stone drilling? If they do, then you might want to consider some new ones. The reason is that if you get stone drilling, then that means that rocks have drilled down to your steel belts, and moisture has set in and can cause rust, which can weaken the structure of the tire. If you don't do much gravel running, then you are probably ok.

How many miles do you drive this truck in a year?
From the sounds of things, you don't have much tongue weight on this truck most of the time, unless you have a gooseneck horse trailer. I think of a horse trailer as a bumper hitch type of trailer. IF that is the case, then you are not stressing these tires out very badly at all.

Also, what pressures are you running in these tires? Hopefully not 80psi. Unless you have a very heavy stock trailer, you won't need 80psi in the tires. If you have a goose neck trailer that has a loaded weight of around 14,000 to 16,000 lbs, then you might want to air the back ones up that much, but not the fronts.

Those are things to consider. The one thing you don't want to do, is to be worrying every time you drive. If that is the case, then get new tires. Peace of mind is a valuable thing. Also, try to eliminate one set of tires, so you won't have so many tires to deal with.

Hope that helps a little.

JESSE1 · Feb 18, 2011

I personally wouldn't run tires that old. I have a dual tandem flatbed trailer that had 5 year old tires that looked brand new. Hauled a load of hay and one of the tires blew out. Put the spare on and had another tire blow out with the next load. I bought eight new BF Goodrich Commercial TA 235/85R16 to replace all of them and kept one of the old tires for a spare. Some time later looked at the spare and realized the tread had separated from the carcass, and this was on the spare rack and not touching the ground. Don't take chances with old tires even if they look like new.

Diamondpilot · Feb 18, 2011

Me personally, would not use them. I have flats like crazy with the most odd ball stuff. I had a trailer hitch ball in a rental car a few years ago puncture the tire. I had a dogs tooth in one, kitchen fork, wheel stud, nails of course, tree branch, ect. You name it I have had it in my tire.

I also have my fair share of trailer tires fail. Had 3 of the 7 tires including the spare fail on a 2 year old trailer in 2 months time.

Now for tire wear on a 3/4 and 1 ton truck. I have owned 5 and never gotten more than about 35,000 miles out of a set of tires. I do lots of heavy towing but rotate every other oil change.

Chris

slowzuki · Feb 18, 2011

I live in a colder less sunny climate, never had much trouble with tires or trailer tires failing from age. They last and last up here. I've got two trailers (off road only now) that have tires from the 60's or earlier and are still fine.

On the road I've worn a few out, but usually ruin them from under inflation or overloading. Handful of flats, never seems related to age.

JESSE1 · Feb 18, 2011

I think what kills most tires is UV rays. They would probably be more intense further south.

clemsonfor · Feb 18, 2011

Id run them but not on the interstate at 80mph. if around town i would not worry, but i would wear one set out first like said. You can try and sell them on c list they will prolly still bring $200-300 set if there that good then you dont have to worry. How can anyone have a set of tires last that long anyway? Maybe if you bout 80K mile michalins for your brand new honda car that never leaves town but i never get more than say50-60 k out of tires. But i dont buy the $400 dollar per tire 80K mile michalins either. My vehicles are older and have slop so i would be wasting my money on those type tires as they would wear uneven anyhow.

wilnis · Feb 19, 2011

Thanks for your replies. I'm buying new tires next week as I do alot of towing, even though all but two 1000 miles trips a year with a gooseneck are with a small bumper pull, but blow outs are a PITA to deal with. Thanks again. Bill

crazyal · Feb 19, 2011

I run the BFG all terrain KOs on my Tundra and after 5 years there isn't the slightest sign of cracking and at the rate of wear I doubt I'll be buying new tire for at least another 5 years. I think lesser quallity tires wouldn't last but BFG makes so real good tires.

radioman · Feb 19, 2011

Diamondpilot said:
Me personally, would not use them. I have flats like crazy with the most odd ball stuff. I had a trailer hitch ball in a rental car a few years ago puncture the tire. I had a dogs tooth in one, kitchen fork, wheel stud, nails of course, tree branch, ect. You name it I have had it in my tire.

I also have my fair share of trailer tires fail. Had 3 of the 7 tires including the spare fail on a 2 year old trailer in 2 months time.

Now for tire wear on a 3/4 and 1 ton truck. I have owned 5 and never gotten more than about 35,000 miles out of a set of tires. I do lots of heavy towing but rotate every other oil change.

Chris

you sure have an oddball of luck with tires.:confused2: