New tires for 13' Scamp

[karen lm]

I have a 2000 13' Scamp trailer and the info I have tells me to use 13" B Radials. Has anyone used C or anything else. I am having lots of different advice from tire stores.
Thanks

[Loren G. Hedahl]

There's a whole lot of advice on tires just about anywhere you can imagine.

Some advise using only tires specifically rated for trailers. Some say tires for light trucks are better. And some, such as I take notice of all the tire failures these groups report and just use the inexpensive car rated tires.

The ones on our Scamp are size P185-80X13 carrying the Dayton brand name. I had a couple of more reputable tires, both brand and application type develop large lumps and tread separation on a weekend. This was noticed on an early Saturday morning in a small northern California coastal town and these were what was available without waiting for several days.

We've traveled extensively since that time, now that we are retired and have had no tire problems. I know some strongly feel this is the wrong way to go, but these tires are round and hold air. When one of these attributes ceases to exist, I will then make another tire buying decision. It very well may be the same decision.

[Tom Trostel]

I replaced my Goodyears Marathons after one delaminated on our last trip. I went with Maxxis 8008 from Unser Tire.

http://www.gripston.com/collections/maxxis...CFdga5wodCnePiQ

Tom Trostel

[DayTripper]

JMHO ............. For decades I have always run inexpensive car tires on small and/or light trailers and I have never had a single problem because of my choice. In fact my egg is going in Monday to remove the new trailer tires that came with it and I will be installing car tires in preparation for my 2500 mile trip next month.

[Larry&Carrie]

Hmmm--I guess I'm not the only one that uses passenger tires on my trailers. I do make sure the load rating is more than sufficent for the gross trailer weight. But, I obtain mine from the local wrecking yard 'cause they're pre-tested.... Larry

[Loren G. Hedahl]

John & Larry -- we must be kindred spirits of some degree!

You see, I always get 40,000 miles and sometimes close to 60,000 miles on a set of tires on my car or Blazer. I've been trying to understand why all the problems are occurring with tires specially designed for trailers. The only two reasons I can come up with is they may be of a substandard quality since they are a sideline for tire manufacturers and/or people are running them with way too much pressure.

On my 16ft Scamp, before I painted it there was a factory decal that read: "Warning, maximum pressure is 22 psi." The original tires were size B78-13 nylon cord bias ply. If you note the posts, many folks are running 50 - 60 psi! I run my 185-80X13's at 30 - 32 psi. Each time I stop I walk around the rig and with my calibrated pinkie, test the pressure and temp of the tires on both tow vehicle and trailer. Usually the rear tires of the tow are the warmest. I also test the hub temperature.

So I still scratch my head wondering why anyone is still paying good money for specialty tires that aren't as good as standard car tires.

[D Tharp]

Keep writing in I need new tires so and have be thinking of car tires.
16 Ft scamp.
Dave

[Raya]

This doesn't really have to do with whether one uses car tires or trailer tires, but on the subject of pressure, doesn't one go with the recommendation of the tire, not the trailer? I guess I always thought that whatever recommendation was on the trailer (if there was one) pertained to the original tires, but not necessarily to subsequent (and different) tires

Raya

[Larry&Carrie]

This doesn't really have to do with whether one uses car tires or trailer tires, but on the subject of pressure, doesn't one go with the recommendation of the tire, not the trailer? I guess I always thought that whatever recommendation was on the trailer (if there was one) pertained to the original tires, but not necessarily to subsequent (and different) tires

Raya

Yup--- I run the passenger tires real close to the manufacturer's max pressure. I check them cold. (they will be higher when warm-especially in 100 degree weather). That way, less sidewall flex is experienced. That 22# rating, like Loren said, was for them old passenger nylon stuff. That's about all the pressure they would hold.... Larry

[Perry J]

I have been wondering if I was missing something by not using trailer tires on my trailers.
This thread answers that question.
Before I sold my Boler I replaced the tires on the ground with auto tires. I have never bought a {trailer tire} in my life and never had a flat tire or blow out.
I have towed travel trailers all my long life. I guess I will continue to run auto tires on my trailers.
It would seem that the only people posting about tire problems are the ones running Trailer tires.
I just got a great buy from my credit union on a 2007 17' self contained Coachman. It looks like new other than the tires are very weather checked. I guess tomorrow I will buy some light truck tires for it.
Thanks,
JP

[DonDeutsch]

I thought it was a bad idea to use radials on trailers. Not enough stiffness in the sidewalls and it causes trailer sway. Thoughts?

[Raya]

There is a group of folks who trailer a certain brand of smaller sailboat who favor passenger radials. These boats/trailers weigh about 1150# and 2000# all up (two different size boats in the line up). The people who favored the radials (engineers included, FWIW), felt that they got better tire life, and that the load was much less bouncy (the trailers had leaf springs, and bouncing is hard on the fiberglass mile after mile).

Their thought was that with such a (relatively) light load, and with the center of mass being so low (the boat has ballast, so most of the weight -- if not the windage -- is very low), that the stiffer sidewall of a trailer tire was not needed for handling/sway purposes, like it would be on a heavier or more top-heavy trailer load. So they were able to safely utilize the benefits of more selection, better longevity (tire failure not being too safe), and less bounce.

This was just their opinion, of course.

Raya