Pull Behind Trailer Tires

[Brian65]

I've got a CSC Escapade trailer. It has the 4.80-12 bias ply tires. Time for replacements. Currently they're a 4 ply B load range. Plenty for a trailer when loaded is under 500 lbs. Planning trip out west in June (1300 miles one way) Gonna be hwy speeds 70-75 mph at times. Question is how many have ran a 12" bias ply tire at those speeds for extended times? Would a radial be worth the extra $$?

 

[Gorilla]

When I had mine I was wearing out tires on trips like you describe about every 3 to 5 k miles. Never had a blowout and the pulled just fine.

 

[cycle7447]

I've got a CSC Escapade trailer. It has the 4.80-12 bias ply tires. Time for replacements. Currently they're a 4 ply B load range. Plenty for a trailer when loaded is under 500 lbs. Planning trip out west in June (1300 miles one way) Gonna be hwy speeds 70-75 mph at times. Question is how many have ran a 12" bias ply tire at those speeds for extended times? Would a radial be worth the extra $$?

Curious - how many miles do you have on these tires? If they worked well in the past, why not continue with them. I have to imagine CSC put a lot of thought in the tires they installed.

The other poster said he was getting 3 -5K on his trailer tires. I used to pull trailers, including a TimeOut camper. Never ever, got as little as 3-5K on my tires.

 

[Brian65]

Curious - how many miles do you have on these tires? If they worked well in the past, why not continue with them. I have to imagine CSC put a lot of thought in the tires they installed.

The other poster said he was getting 3 -5K on his trailer tires. I used to pull trailers, including a TimeOut camper. Never ever, got as little as 3-5K on my tires.

Less than 2000. Not yet to wear bars but be putting about 3500 miles on trip. All I've read about from tire manufacturers is run max air as stated on tires. Well when you put 60-90 psi in a tire that's got less than 500 lbs loaded on them, centers wear out rapidly. I've went down to 30 psi on them and after 100 miles at 60mph they were just luke warm. Didn't bounce around near as much

 

[pwhoever]

The other thing to remember is that many trailer tires especially the smaller ones are rated for only 65mph max. Several places out west have 80mph speed limits and if the trailer tires are not rated for that, you could have problems. Make sure your replacement trailer tires are speed rated appropriately.

And I agree that running max psi on these smaller trailers is way too much. It's the same principle as the rea tires many of us have in our trikes. They are designed for much heavier vehicles. They do much better with a lower air pressure. If you run the max pressure on the trailer tires, you get a lot of bounciness like you discovered.

 

[pwhoever]

Just to add, I've had really good experiences dealing with this place before.

12 Inch Trailer Tires - Kenda - GlobalTrax - Rainier

12 Inch Trailer Tires in great brands like Kenda - Globaltrax - Rainier. Best pricing and EZ Returns

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[Brian65]

Just to add, I've had really good experiences dealing with this place before.

12 Inch Trailer Tires - Kenda - GlobalTrax - Rainier

12 Inch Trailer Tires in great brands like Kenda - Globaltrax - Rainier. Best pricing and EZ Returns

recstuff.com

Ordered a pair of Taskmasters 4.80 -12 radials from etrailer. 81 mph rating. Wanted 4 ply for lower payload but could only get the 6 ply radials in that size. Never heard of these tires before but about 7 years ago ordered a pair of tires mounted on aluminum wheels from etrailer.

 

[Notgrownup]

I am partial to radial tires for trailers. That is what I have on my cheap Harbor Freight trailer now and it’s what is going on my currently being restored Escapade.

 

[pwhoever]

You learn something new everyday. I had never heard of 4.80R12 radial trailer tires before. I have heard of 145R12 radials that are supposed to be same size as the 4.80-12 bias ply. The reviews seem good. Make sure to do a follow up in these.

 

[Brian65]

You learn something new everyday. I had never heard of 4.80R12 radial trailer tires before. I have heard of 145R12 radials that are supposed to be same size as the 4.80-12 bias ply. The reviews seem good. Make sure to do a follow up in these.

Got new Trakmaster 4.80-12R installed. Only thing I don't like is they don't pop out onto rim like my old Carlisle bias did. They seated nice & mounted them by hand fairly easy. Yet to do road test with them. Speed rated to 81mph. 6 ply 990 lbs load.

 

[Gorilla]

Brian did you lube the tire bead with a soapy water before putting the tires on the rim? If not get some mix down around the rim bead and may I suggest that you remove the valve from the stem inflate the tire until the bead fully seats onto the rim. The tire bead is hung up on the rim bead edge and needs to get fully seated.

 

[Brian65]

Brian did you lube the tire bead with a soapy water before putting the tires on the rim? If not get some mix down around the rim bead and may I suggest that you remove the valve from the stem inflate the tire until the bead fully seats onto the rim. The tire bead is hung up on the rim bead edge and needs to get fully seated.

Yep lubed with tire prep lube. They're still holding air

 

[pwhoever]

Brian did you lube the tire bead with a soapy water before putting the tires on the rim? If not get some mix down around the rim bead and may I suggest that you remove the valve from the stem inflate the tire until the bead fully seats onto the rim. The tire bead is hung up on the rim bead edge and needs to get fully seated.

Good catch! I agree, the bead has to be fully seated or it can be a major hazard.

 

[Gorilla]

Brian yes it will hold air until either it has a heavy load on the tire that it will flex and will force the bead of the tire off the small area of the rim or you hit a significant bump or pothole that makes the bead pulls off the rim surface. The bead NEEDS to be seated all the way on the rim.

 

[ISP-FL]

I've never pulled a motorcycle trailer behind any of my motorcycles, but have towed a ton of miles pulling everything from triple axle 5th wheel toy haulers to 30 foot campers.

What I have learned about any trailer tire over the years is that the less PSI you run the higher temps you will get on your tire. I use a TPMS on my trailer tires so I can monitor not only the PSI but the internal temps. If a tires temp gets over 180 degrees it could blow, if it gets close to 200 degrees it will blow.

I have watched the numbers on my monitor rise significantly when running out west in the summer's heat. I might see an increase of 20% in PSI and temps well over 130 to 140 degrees. When I see these numbers getting too high I will slow down to maybe 65 or 68 mph.

 

[Notgrownup]

I just came back from a 1250 miles ride pulling my converted HFtrailer with 12” radial tires on it. I run about 23-25 lbs I the tires and I don’t see any adverse signs of wear yet after a total of about 4500 total miles on them. I look at the sidewalls to make sure I don’t see any flex or bulge when loaded and I feel pretty confident that the psi’s I use is quite adequate.

 

[Brian65]

I just came back from a 1250 miles ride pulling my converted HFtrailer with 12” radial tires on it. I run about 23-25 lbs I the tires and I don’t see any adverse signs of wear yet after a total of about 4500 total miles on them. I look at the sidewalls to make sure I don’t see any flex or bulge when loaded and I feel pretty confident that the psi’s I use is quite adequate.

That's reassuring. I got a CSC trailer with new radials. Pulled it about 60 miles at 55-75 mph one day when temps were in lo 80s. Had 35 psi in tires. Checked temps a couple times and readings not even 100 degrees. Had 80 lbs in trailer.

 

[HDUSA1]

I've never pulled a motorcycle trailer behind any of my motorcycles, but have towed a ton of miles pulling everything from triple axle 5th wheel toy haulers to 30 foot campers.

What I have learned about any trailer tire over the years is that the less PSI you run the higher temps you will get on your tire. I use a TPMS on my trailer tires so I can monitor not only the PSI but the internal temps. If a tires temp gets over 180 degrees it could blow, if it gets close to 200 degrees it will blow.

I have watched the numbers on my monitor rise significantly when running out west in the summer's heat. I might see an increase of 20% in PSI and temps well over 130 to 140 degrees. When I see these numbers getting too high I will slow down to maybe 65 or 68 mph.

I’m a retired IDOT engineer and I had outfitted my truck with a pavement temperature gauge when I was working. I used it primarily in the wintertime to know when pavement temps were dropping below freezing to better time salt spreading.

Interestingly in the heat of the summer, it was amazing how hot pavements got in the sun. On a freshly paved asphalt road that was still black, it wasn’t uncommon to see a 50-60 degree higher pavement temperature than the ambient air temp. Out west in Arizona where 110 degrees isn’t uncommon, it’s easy to see why there are so many “road gators” along the road.

 

[Phu Cat]

I bought a pair of replacement tires for Ma's golf cart. What a bear they were getting mounted. Finally had to take them to a tire store and it took 2 men about a half hour to mount them. When I originally ordered the tires there was an option of buying tires already mounted on wheels. As much trouble as these tires were to mount next time I'll go the already mounter route.

 

[Gorilla]

Yep good idea there. Your in luck just finding someone to mount them without buying from them.

 

[pwhoever]

I ran into similar situation with the front tire on a John Deere lawn tractor. I actually couldn't get the old one off to start. Luckily there is a auto repair place 2 blocks from the house. They told me no problem to do. Got old one off and new one mounted and only charged me a couple bucks to do.

It seems like this smaller tires are just real difficult to do diy.