New Tires for UHaul

[Camper Dave]

Now that I've got my new UHaul rims, does anyone have any recommendations on a good tire for it? My guess would be a ST175/80 or ST185/80. Then a bias or radial ply?
Can anyone suggest a brand? It seems there are no "good" reviews on any tire in this size, so what have you had good luck with?

Thanks, Dave

[mary and bob]

We have put about 10,000 miles over the last 3 years on a set of Carlisle trailer tires with no problems. I'm sure others don't like them, this is just our experience. We also load fairly heavy, bikes on rear, tongue box at least as heavy as a propane tank, no appliances or water inside.

[mary and bob]

We have the Sport Trail ST 185/80D 13 tire

[Carol H]

I have used a few different brands of ST tires and not noticed any big differences between brands in regards to length of life or tire failure. Do prefer the radials in regards to ride & handling over bias though.

[MC1]

Hi Dave. Generally speaking the radials will out perform the bias tires anyway you want to compare so suggest going with radials.

Also beware that ST tires are the lowest grade of tire made and compared to P or LT tires, for a variety of reasons, have a higher failure rate.

[Camper Dave]

Mary and Bob: The Carlisle were the ones that I was thinking about.

Carol & MC1: What is the difference in performance? On motor vehicles I understand the need to balance traction, rolling resistance, tire life and tread patterns depending on your needs. I am new to trailers and I am still at the "I guess it just follows the car" stage.

[mary and bob]

My major tire experience is all with heavy truck & trailer tires, mostly 22.5 size. For my personal vehicles I go to the local shop that I deal with, tell him what I need, and go by his recommendation. I don't shop around, I don't buy tires online. My guy treats me right so I'm loyal to him. I'm running 12" Carlise's on two other campers, a boat trailer, and a utility trailer. No problems. That's all I know about them. No doubt there are equal or better tires out there, but Carlisle has worked for me. One exception, our teardrop has Nokia's.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Camper Dave

Mary and Bob: The Carlisle were the ones that I was thinking about.

Carol & MC1: What is the difference in performance? On motor vehicles I understand the need to balance traction, rolling resistance, tire life and tread patterns depending on your needs. I am new to trailers and I am still at the "I guess it just follows the car" stage.

Dave... traction, rolling resistance, tire life, etc will all be better with a modern radial tire. You would also find a bias ply tire on a car or trailer will tend to follow the ruts in the road making them less stable.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Camper Dave

Mary and Bob: The Carlisle were the ones that I was thinking about.

Carol & MC1: What is the difference in performance? On motor vehicles I understand the need to balance traction, rolling resistance, tire life and tread patterns depending on your needs. I am new to trailers and I am still at the "I guess it just follows the car" stage.

Dave... generally speaking traction, rolling resistance, tire life, etc will all be better with a modern radial tire. You would also find a bias ply tire on a car or trailer will tend to follow the ruts in the road making them less stable.

[Camper Dave]

Thanks for the help, folks.

I will be going to the tire shop tomorrow.

[Jared J]

Radials, and the highest load range you can get, IMHO. The ride might be a hair rougher, but I've found huge improvements in longevity.

[2yax2go]

We used Maxxis ST185/80 13 Radial on our Scamp. They had the highest payload ratings at the time. We ordered them from Inman Tire & Feed, they came in the same day. Make sure to have them balanced and install steel stems.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Camper Dave

Carol & MC1: What is the difference in performance? On motor vehicles I understand the need to balance traction, rolling resistance, tire life and tread patterns depending on your needs. I am new to trailers and I am still at the "I guess it just follows the car" stage.

Well its been awhile since I made the switch from bias to radials but I do distinctively recall it was on a long 4000 mile trip when I made the change and I did notice right off the bat that the trailer seem to pull a bit easier and smoother. I was pulling with a smaller tow vehicle at the time so it may be now that I am pulling with a large tug that itself has much larger tires S&M type tires I may not actually notice much of difference but would still stick to the radials regardless. Base on experience am not buying into the longer longevity of radial tires on a trailer as a reason to switch though.

As others have said just make sure you get ones with decent load ratings though.

[RogerDat]

Radials and more expensive brands of tires do offer an upgrade from the bias ply and less expensive brand.

One thing to consider is how many miles you will drive in the next say 5 - 7 years. Tires on trailers often age deteriorate from the inside rather than wear out the tread. You will probably want to replace them at that age irrespective of the current tread depth.

Long trips and lots of miles you will get more benefit from the better tires than someone that takes mostly a few shorter camping trips every summer.

Radials cooler and less rolling resistance is an even greater benefit in hot climates and all day highway driving. I know if we get our act together to go to the grand canyon my getting too old bias ply are going to be replaced with radials. If all that is planned for the next few years is 150 mile trips up north, maybe not so inclined to spend the extra money.