Re: General concensus on USA vs. China Tires?
How did this ever turn into a discussion of whether or not to use trailer or ST rated tires?
The OP asked if anyone had any experience with Chinese tires.
There is no written law that I know of banning the use of passenger tires on a trailer.
In general trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls and can carry more load.
The stiffer sidewalls also help to prevent sway but this is more noticeable on a trailer loaded closer to it's max rating.
If you boat and trailer weigh say 1,000 lbs, then you would never experience any advantage with an ST trailer tire. The main concerns of using a passenger tire on a trailer come when loading of the trailer exceeds or approaches the tire's max rating.
I run passenger tires on my 14' aluminum boat trailer, they ride softer, last longer, and I have a better selection of sizes. At under 800 lbs on the trailer, I'm certainly not over stressing the sidewall or ever going to experience any sway towing it due to the tires.
If I recall, those tires are rated at something like 1140 lbs each. Well over double what is required. The passenger tires smoothed the ride by a long shot, that trailer would bounce all over the road when I had even 4 ply trailer tires on it, now with the passenger tires it rides smooth and I'm sure the softer ride is doing wonders for the boat as well.
When it comes to Chinese products, what I find most of the time that they are a copy of the real thing, the issue is how well did they copy the original, did they cut any corners, and was the manufacturer worried about making it just look like the original or did they truly copy the product through and through.
So far it's been my experience that the biggest issue with most Chinese made tires is ozone and/or UV resistance. I've not had any fail on the road, but have had plenty get some pretty nasty sidewall cracks after only a year or two. The softer sidewall radial trailer tires seem to show cracks the earliest.
More often than not, you can only find the Chinese made tires, I've often been up against either using Chinese trailer tires or waiting for a store to order US made tires simply due to supply and demand. The average buyer wants tires for cheap, so that's what they stock.
All tires will age, all tires will eventually show cracks. I have a pair of Carlisle Trail USA tires on a trailer in the garage, they are dated from June of 2007, they have never been out of the garage. I put them on the trailer when I picked up that project boat and they've been sitting in a heated garage since. They are already developing sidewall cracks about an inch or two down from the tread corner. They have less than 40 miles on them and were installed in January of 2008. I've got a set of Towmaster trailer tires on my 19' boat, which sits outdoors, which were new in Aug of 2008, and they have pretty pronounced sidewall cracks showing. That boat is parked on a concrete pad next to the garage with a cover over the boat, and two RV tire covers. Those have about 400 miles on them. They will most likely not make it through next season as I suspect the cracks will start to leak air.
