Tire replacement schedule

[BoomerSooner]

Just recently had a tread separation on my trailer, so I replaced both tires (9 years old). What is the recommended interval for replacing the tires? My boat is in the garage if it is not at the lake. NO WAY am I ever going to wear out the treads. I probably put about 1500 miles a year on them. When I'm storing it during the winter, should I jack up the trailer and rest it on jack stands to minimize wear on the tires, sitting in one place for 7 months, holding up 2000#?
Thanks

 

[robert graham]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

After a couple of tread separations on the interstate by tires that "looked" fine, I decided to just replace mine every 3rd year. For a couple of hundred dollars I can have some peace of mind going down I-95 at 75MPH towards Florida. I'm confident that if you put your trailer up on jack stands that it could help prevent flat-spotting your tires and contributing to bubbles or tread separations, but I'm still going to replace mine every 3 years! When my tires were showing their butts on the interstate a couple of years ago, I pulled into a tire place at an exit and one tire actually exploded right there, the redneck tire guy came over there and said,"looks like you're gonna need some tires". A bit dangerous as well as embarrasing!...

 

[ufm82]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

No schedule- tires are wear items and should be replaced when they show signs of wear. That being said there are things you can do to minimize the wear and get maximum life out of your tires.
I believe that the main reason trailer tires die early deaths is exactly what you mentioned- long periods of sitting with weight on them. We leave the boat in one spot for 6 months and then off we go to the ramp. The tires may flat spot, have sidewall issues or belt issues from sitting still all that time. I went through a period were it seemed I never got more than two years out of my tires despite buying "good" tires. A few years back I started putting the trailer on stands when it was in the driveway and I even go so far as to take the tires off the trailer and store them in my garage during the winter. I also cover them while the trailer is sitting in the driveway to keep the sun off them.
Proper inflation, proper alignment, balancing and many other factors come into play when getting the longest life out of your tires. I watch people scrub curbs, smack potholes, dogtrack down the road and other things that kill tires and then they wonder why they don't last.

UFM82

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

No longer than 6 years regardless of wear.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

The Department of Transportation recommends 6-8 years from date of manufacturer or any sign of damage, whichever come first.

 

[dutchdog]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Putting a tire conditioner (such as tire black) will help keep the tires from drying out and failing. Be sure to do the whole tire is coated. My camper tires are 4 years old and still going strong.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Putting a tire conditioner (such as tire black) will help keep the tires from drying out and failing. Be sure to do the whole tire is coated. My camper tires are 4 years old and still going strong.

Tire conditioner does nothing at best. At worst. it may actually make your tire fail earlier becuase it contains solvents that affect the rubber of the tire.

 

[riptide09]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Get some of those tire covers you see on RVs. I got a few for $18 each at the local RV place. Use them when parked. It keeps the sun from beating down and the UV rays from destroying the rubber.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

The original poster said his trailer is stored in his garage. Probably not a whole lot of sun beating down on it in there.

One of the big problems with trailer tires is that they are not used much. Tires have waxes added to the rubber to protect them from ozone. These waxes are constantly brought to the surface as a tire flexes during use. In a lightly used tire the ozone eats away the wax and begins deterioriating the tire. It dries out the rubber and reduces its' flexibility (leading to tread separation) even though you don't see any cracks. Nothing you can do about this process, it's just a natural part of tire aging, kind of like gray hair!

Among the factors that influence tire performance is how recently the tire was crafted. Just like Budweiser beer, tires bear a "born on" date. Imprinted on one or both sidewalls is an alphanumeric code of a dozen or so letters and numbers that begins with "DOT." Tires produced starting in 2000 have a four-digit birth date code at the end of the DOT number. The first two numbers indicate the week, and the last two the year. So, for example, a DOT number ending in 0205 means the tire was produced the second week of January 2005.
This date is important because rubber deteriorates with age. A tire that's been in service for five or six years should be replaced regardless of tread depth. Cut a year or two off that for vehicles that are not garaged during the day or are run in areas of high ground-level ozone.

From:

http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying101/GripOnTires

A little more info on trailer tires here:

Speed

• All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
• As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.
• The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.

Time

• Time and the elements weaken a trailer tire.
• In approximately three years, roughly one-third of the tire's strength is gone.
• Three to five years is the projected life of a normal trailer tire.
• It is suggested that trailer tires be replaced after three to four years of service regardless of tread depth or tire appearance.

Mileage

• Trailer tires are not designed to wear out.
• The life of a trailer tire is limited by time and duty cycles.
• The mileage expectation of a trailer tire is 5,000 to 12,000 miles.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTrailerTireFacts.dos


and here:

3 to 5 years is the average life expectancy of a Trailer Tire. After three years you should consider replacing your Trailer tires with new ones even if the tires have adequate tread depth left. After five years Trailer Tires are considered worn out and should be replaced.​

http://www.boatwheels.biz/trailer_tire_poster.pdf

Tires, like other rubber products, have a limited service life. Over time, a tire's internal structure degrades, reducing adhesion between the belts, which in turn facilitates tread separation. This internal degradation occurs regardless of tread use and wear. It is invisible and cannot be discerned, even by tire experts, without destructive testing.

From:

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4187033/The-invisible-danger-of-aging.html

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Very interesting post by 45Auto. I'd always heard that after 5 years, you're on borrowed time with trailer tires, but that certainly confirms that it isn't just an old wives tale.

Back to the OP, I have to ask one question: How often are you checking your tires for proper inflation? Could underinflation have been part of the issue, perhaps, or did you check the tire pressure shortly before the failure?

Grouse

 

[jeffnick]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Nice bit of info, 45Auto.

I switched to passenger radials on my boat trailer because of problems with ST tires. I put over 40,000 miles on the first set. You don't have all the cautions and conditions with passenger tires that you do with ST tires. Just make sure you've got the gross load covered with a little margin if you use car or LT tires on your boat trailer.

Another interesting thought. The ST fanatics claim that trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls and many still claim bias tires are the only way to go. And we regularly hear about problems with irregular tire wear of ST tires. I wonder if there's any correlation between the stiffer sidewalls transferring slight alignment problems to specific areas of the tread, vs a radial with flexing sidewalls that likes to have a nice flat footprint? I had problems with irregular ST tire wear that disappeared when I went to passenger radials.

 

[dutchdog]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

Tire conditioner does nothing at best. At worst. it may actually make your tire fail earlier becuase it contains solvents that affect the rubber of the tire.

I put conditioner on all my tires and have never blew one out. I replace them when the tread wears out. I have a set of trailers tires that are oner 7 years old and still haven,t had any problems with them. Hope to get another few years out of them. Probably will if I put conditioner on them.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

I put conditioner on all my tires and have never blew one out. I replace them when the tread wears out. I have a set of trailers tires that are oner 7 years old and still haven,t had any problems with them. Hope to get another few years out of them. Probably will if I put conditioner on them.

Penny wise...pound foolish! There are people on here that claim to drive on 20 year old tires...doesn't mean you should do it.

 

[freeisforme]

Re: Tire replacement schedule

While it may not be right, I'm not a wealthy man and I simply replace mine when they need it, if they look too badly dryrotted, they get changed. With today's tires, they seem to dry rot faster than they used too.
I've gotten 15 years out of some, and less than two out of others. Keep the sun off your tires when your parked, don't use tire dressings or solvents and keep them inflated properly and you'll get the most from them.