Tire age

[schuylski]

Found this report from a while ago. I didn't know tires had a manufacture date printed on them so you could figure out their age. And what a cryptic format.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Is 5 years about what you all put on your trailer tires?

[DOCDRS]

This is very interesting........

[KG's Supra24]

I dont think trailer tires are good for more than 4 or 5 years. I replaced all of mine this year on a 06 trailer after one blew. Had a buddy, also with an 06, have 3 of his blow.

[viking]

very eye opening stuff......thanx for the link. Made me go out and check all my rigs.

[Hoopskier]

Interesting, had me curious enough to go look. But won't be replacing any tires.

[smokedog2]

On my 10 year old Lund I blew a tire on my way to Norris Lake last year. this year I blew the other one. Both had LOTS of tred. This is the last year the current tires will make that trip on the 05 Moomba.

Both boats are stored indoors.

SD2

[zabooda]

Nothing new for me except the coding. Six years is a little early unless they have been on the shelf for awhile. About eight years is it for a tire. After six years, I regularly inspect the tread and sidewall. I had one boat tire where the thread started to separate after nine years. Last month, I put the unused spare on my Blazer after a blowout but I wouldn't expect it to last any longer than the others. That is why I rotate the spare if it is a full size matching tire.

[mmandley]

Intresting enough on the F150 i had before, it was an 06 and i bought it in Feb that year. In 09 i had to replace all the tires with only 30K on them because they were all dry cracked due to be driving so few miles on them.

I wasnt worried driving the truck around but when i pulled the boat i was realy worried because of the extra stresses on the rear tires.

Tread wear is a small factor in tire life.

Tire life espeacialy side walls is due to Sun exposure and beleave it or not the shiny looking goo we add to make them look pretty.

If you use tire treatments a lot to make the tires look new, that will generaly wear the tire out faster. Those all have checicals and they soak in the tire and dry it out.

I used that stuff every time i washed my F150 and the tires rotted out. When the tire shoped replaced them they said they see more tires with rotted side walls then aything else due to people adding the tire guu.

Now i dont use it on my truck or boat trailer, i just clean the tires up real nice and go with the flat black look. If im going to take pictures or show the truck and boat for some reason ill use the stuff and then wash it off the next car wash.

Im hopping my boat tires last another season though, my plan is to upgrade the wheels when it needs tires.

[rvette]

Got an 06 single axle and blew one this year. The tires had great tread and I always checked the air pressure before each trip. I usually take 3-4 trips a year traveling about 600 miles round trip.
Did notice slight dry rotting at the beginning of this year but thought it would make it one more year. Wrong!!
Boat stored outside during the summer and outside but inside a portable garage in the winter.

[mmandley]

Ahh 303 now that would work as a UV protectant and help the tires, never even thought about that. Wonder if it makes the tires shinny too?

[VA LSV]

Tire manufacturers blend UV protectant into the rubber compounds used for sidewalls. Never had any problems using tire shine products.

[rdlangston13]

Just blew the right front boat trailer tire. 4 new ones will be installed tomorrow

[deafgoose]

I now keep my trailer at the marina and only pull the boat out at the end of the season and have it winterized and stored at the same marina so I put less than 200 yards per year on my tires. :)

[E4NASH]

Just blew the right front boat trailer tire. 4 new ones will be installed tomorrow

This happened to me when I was bringing the boat home from storage the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I have a tandem axle trailer and one tire blew due to dry rot. Checked all the other tires and they were dry rotting as well. Had to go and buy 5 new tires...trailer didn't have a spare so I bought a wheel to go along with the tires...trailer still had the original tires on it from when purchased new in '05. Fun times...

[mnpracing]

Ahh 303 now that would work as a UV protectant and help the tires, never even thought about that. Wonder if it makes the tires shinny too?

yes 303 makes them shiny, but not obnoxiously so like some of the "wet look" products.

[dusty2221]

We blew one Sunday. Right Rear, and yeah, you guessed it, being in the rear it caught hold of the fender, folded the fender complelty in half. My spare was brand new, so now I'm buying 3 more new ones and hoping I can get the fender beat back to straight.

[rdlangston13]

i got 4 new carilse sport trails. 600 bucks later i made it home. hopefully i wont have to worry about it for a while now

[bergermaister]

I'm holding out as long as possible for new tires on the trailer which hopefully I won't regret. When I got new tires on my truck a couple months ago I asked if they had trailer tires and they did. $320 mounted and out the door for all four 205/75/14! I can't recall the brand whether it was Carlisle or Goodyear or ??? but it was a name I had come across before shopping around online and had gotten decent reviews.

This was at a 4 wheel parts warehouse. They have locations all over the lower 48. Anyone in need of tires may want to check them out. Last place I would have thought of for the trailer but that price is hard to pass up!

[kaneboats]

That sounds pretty darn good.

[mmandley]

Trailer tires have 2 main factors working against them for wear and tear, on tandems is the side ways drag the front axle gets when turning and everyones wear is leaving the boat outside.

I highly reccomend if you keep you boat out side that at the end of the season you treat the entire tire with a rubber compund that helps hold the moisture. This will slow the dry rot issues, and those that use the tire goo to make them shinny, well i hope its really good stuff. I stoped using tire goo on my tires after my F150 tires dry rotted with 36K and 3 years on them.

Another thing you can do and it sounds silly but i used to do this on ly old cars too that sat for months and months, keep the tires air up to reg pressure and eighter move the boat or jack it up and spin the tire to a new location for sitting. The same spot on the tire with no rotation causes uneven stress on the tire and can cause it to break down as well.

As for the boat i only use tire goo 1 or 2xs a year if the boat is going to a show. I keep her inside other then that and wash the tires when i wash the boat, so fare 3 years on the tires and no issues.

Im hopping to get the rest of this year out of the boat tires, as the truck will need new tires next spring and i want to upgrade the trailer to match the truck, or something close at least.

[zabooda]

I see my Michelins on my 2003 motor home are showing some sidewall cracking. It's a shame as it only has 10K miles on them plus at $300 a piece times six i am spending on average $200 a year to maintain tires. I will be looking for a tire that has a better longivity and I hear Toyo's do better.

[bergermaister]

My dad tows a big 36ft 5th wheel back and forth to AZ every Fall and Spring, going into his 10th year now. He runs michelins on both the truck and the trailer - nothing else. I guess he's compared different brands with other snowbirds and they all seem to think the michelings are the sh..t.

Said sitting in the hot dry sun is the worst thing for the tires. Even though he kept is covered all the time they still dry out and crack. Even with really good tread he's replaced them a few times with the thought of a blowout going through Death Valley in the back of his mind.

For a lighter duty or smaller boat trailer tire I can't say they'd be any better for the price.