Trailer Tire Question

[teecro]

And Trail America strikes again! I've only used them once, never again. I second Kenda load stars!

I will certainly check to see what brand of tires are on my boat trailer and what they look like as new... I will say that I'm more than pleased with the tires that came on my utility trailer as while it is better than 10 years old the Carlisle (?) tires that came with it are holding up very well...

[Soonertoon]

Take one to the dealer and see what they wanna do. You have to give them a fair shot at taking care of you. I wouldn't drive on me any distance especially in the heat. Buy the best you Can afford and change em out at least every three years.
Thank God my boats on a lift in a slip.

[C_M_25]

I have an update for those of you who are interested. I called the dealership this morning, and they politely told me they aren't a tire dealer but said the tire could be replaced under warranty from a tire shop who sells them. They told me to call around to a few places, and see if I could get it replaced. Meanwhile, they called the trailer manufacturer, and they said to send pictures, tire information, and date of sale then they would ship a new tire under warranty back to us. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully, they will send them.

On a side note, I could not find anybody who sells Trail America tires in my area. That is probably saying something in and of itself. I will take the warranty tire, but I may replace both at the start of next season just to be safe. Thanks for all your input everybody.

[fredeboy]

If you want to be safe change them now and keep the others for spares. Just saying

[NonHyphenAmerican]

I have an update for those of you who are interested. I called the dealership this morning, and they politely told me they aren't a tire dealer but said the tire could be replaced under warranty from a tire shop who sells them. They told me to call around to a few places, and see if I could get it replaced. Meanwhile, they called the trailer manufacturer, and they said to send pictures, tire information, and date of sale then they would ship a new tire under warranty back to us. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully, they will send them.

On a side note, I could not find anybody who sells Trail America tires in my area. That is probably saying something in and of itself. I will take the warranty tire, but I may replace both at the start of next season just to be safe. Thanks for all your input everybody.

Tractor Supply, Orschelin, Menards, Academy Sports all sell them around here. You could try those if you have one in your area.

[RonKMiller]

I've had good performance from Maxxis trailer tires - made in Taiwan. Their warranty is pretty good too; 5 years:

Subject to the limitations contained in this Limited Warranty, your new Maxxis tires are warranted under this Limited Warranty against failures due to defective materials and workmanship for a period of five years from the date of manufacture

I would certainly consider the Kumhos as well. I ran two sets of them on my Mercedes and was very pleased. My thought is they were 90% as good as Michelins - and at 60% of the price. The South Koreans have come a long way lately - Kia and Hyundai, LG appliances, etc. are now among the best in the world. The Japanese are pooping their pants!

[RonKMiller]

I have an update for those of you who are interested. I called the dealership this morning, and they politely told me they aren't a tire dealer but said the tire could be replaced under warranty from a tire shop who sells them. They told me to call around to a few places, and see if I could get it replaced. Meanwhile, they called the trailer manufacturer, and they said to send pictures, tire information, and date of sale then they would ship a new tire under warranty back to us. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully, they will send them.

On a side note, I could not find anybody who sells Trail America tires in my area. That is probably saying something in and of itself. I will take the warranty tire, but I may replace both at the start of next season just to be safe. Thanks for all your input everybody.

I can understand the dealer's viewpoint from a business perspective - but if I was the dealer I wouldn't have blown you off that easily - IF - you bought the trailer new from him.

Generally speaking if the Date of Manufacture of the tires on your trailer were up to a year old that's reasonable. More than that sketchy. Any older they should be considered obsolete and not suitable for sale as NEW. Just sitting outside unused and being subjected to UV rays and Ozone will cause them to degrade rapidly...

You need to make SURE you run them at max pressure all the time - tires do not like to get hot. I always check mine if they have been sitting - even for two weeks. When I'm towing I check them (and the wheels next to the bearing caps) at fuel stops with an infrared thermometer. It takes all of 30 seconds for peace of mind.

You are unlikely to have issues if you just pay a little extra attention to them. Oh yeah - keep them covered AND the weight of the trailer and boat off them when stored.

[teecro]

I can understand the dealer's viewpoint from a business perspective - but if I was the dealer I wouldn't have blown you off that easily - IF - you bought the trailer new from him.

This is exactly why I would have brought those tires right to the dealer for them to personally view and inspect; leave the boat in the water and drive the trailer to them or just bring in the tires & rims... Chances are that once faced with an angry customer and a rotten looking tire his viewpoint will be to take care of the customer..... If he still refuses to be of any assistance that is when you calmly look them in the eye and say "Now you do realize that I'm going to tell friends, family, coworkers; hell I'm going to tell complete random strangers on the street about how dissatisfied I am with my experience here!"

[C_M_25]

Actually, I think that maybe there is a misunderstanding in regards to the dealership. They didn't blow me off. They just said they don't have the facilities to replace a tire on a rim in their shops. They usually have to refer customers to a tire shop down the road and have tires replaced under the tire warranty. However, given the unusual circumstances, they called the trailer manufacturer on my behalf and worked out a deal. They said I could bring the trailer in, but they also said it doesn't matter as long as I send them pictures of the damaged tire because they were just going to take pictures of it. They actually saved me a 40 mile roundtrip and some vacation hours, so I'm pretty happy with how it worked out.

[teecro]

Actually, I think that maybe there is a misunderstanding in regards to the dealership. They didn't blow me off. They just said they don't have the facilities to replace a tire on a rim in their shops. They usually have to refer customers to a tire shop down the road and have tires replaced under the tire warranty. However, given the unusual circumstances, they called the trailer manufacturer on my behalf and worked out a deal. They said I could bring the trailer in, but they also said it doesn't matter as long as I send them pictures of the damaged tire because they were just going to take pictures of it. They actually saved me a 40 mile roundtrip and some vacation hours, so I'm pretty happy with how it worked out.

Good to know that your going to be taken care of... As tire shops are on just about every other corner whereas boat shops are only on every 17th corner.....

Heck I have to travel close to 9 miles just to the highway and town is either left or right another 15 to 20 minutes from there... We plan EVERY trip into town to exclude nothing....

[18pontoon]

I hadn't even put much thought into the tires on my trailer. Just keep them pumped up and bearings lubed. They are at least 4 years old and are definitely trail america... I will be doing an inspection tonight after the pictures seen here.