Trailer tires.

[Lou C]

I hope you bought new tires for her!

Agreed, 10 years is really the reasonable max time to use tires for, even if they look great outside, who knows what the inside looks like. I have a set of General Grabber AT2s on my oldest Jeep that are turning 10 years old, they probably have like 20K miles at most on them, they look like new, no cracks but still. So probably will go with another set of those. This is the second set of the same tire that I got 10 years out of, I had them on my 2007 Grand Cheorkee as well.

 

[bruceb58]

very few
the ramp is 3/4 of a mile from my house, the farthest I will tow it is to the 'glass shop who does work for me once in a while, he's down in Lindenhurst LI so round trip it's like 22 miles or something like that. I know, I can just stick with the bias ply Kenda Loadstar K550s I have always used. We are surrounded with water here on Long Island so not much of a reason for long distance towing.
The jack, impact gun etc, is because of the gravel/dirt lot at the beach, and the ramp itself, I like to be prepared! Ramp is a lot better than it used to be but still. That's one benefit of the bias ply tires I use, the sidewalls are stronger than the same size radial most of which only have a 2 ply polyester sidewall, whereas a Load Range D bias tire has 4.

I fail to see the reason you care a whole lot about tires. You could put the cheapest tires on there.

 

[bruceb58]

The guideline from most tire companies are to replace at 6 years from tire manufacture date. In the case of Michelin 10 years from manufacture date is is their absolute maximum.

 

[Pmt133]

I've noticed on vehicles around the 5 year mark the driving characteristics are severely changed from new. That's about as long as I get out of tires on my daily though. Start getting the "squeal" even on mild turns on off ramps. Last set went 130k miles though so doing them every 4-5 years isn't much a problem. The Corvette ages out though. And the 55 has tires older than me on it but not my car, not my money.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I've noticed on vehicles around the 5 year mark the driving characteristics are severely changed from new. That's about as long as I get out of tires on my daily though. Start getting the "squeal" even on mild turns on off ramps. Last set went 130k miles though so doing them every 4-5 years isn't much a problem. The Corvette ages out though. And the 55 has tires older than me on it but not my car, not my money.

What tires did you get 130k miles out of?

 

[Pmt133]

What tires did you get 130k miles out of?

Michelin defenders. Expensive but seem to be one of the few I get my money's worth out of. Had a set of hankook tires on my 04 that went 110k too. Religious about rotation every 10k or so and keep the alignment tight.

 

[Lou C]

I've noticed on vehicles around the 5 year mark the driving characteristics are severely changed from new. That's about as long as I get out of tires on my daily though. Start getting the "squeal" even on mild turns on off ramps. Last set went 130k miles though so doing them every 4-5 years isn't much a problem. The Corvette ages out though. And the 55 has tires older than me on it but not my car, not my money.

I think that's common, the rubber is starting to oxidize and dry out and becomes stiffer, so you lose grip. Especially noticeable in wet conditions.
Same thing with the bellows on an I/O boat, the rubber starts to get dry and stiff and then you start seeing the small cracks forming in the folds.

 

[Lou C]

I fail to see the reason you care a whole lot about tires. You could put the cheapest tires on there.

Even with only local driving, safety, esp with a single axle trailer. Yeah I know most people don't even think twice about any of this, they don't know that the trailer is overloaded, the brakes don't work, etc. Boating is stressful enough without having trailer problems to add to it. Funny thing the guys at the boat yard always comment on my trailer, because it's one of the few that they see where everything works, tires are relatively new, brakes work, all rollers are in good shape etc. The do a lot of bottom painting so they notice stuff like that.
The tires I'm using now and will probably continue to use are among the least expensive but not the cheapest. Kenda Loadstar K550 bias, about $140 each in 225/75-15. Each set I have used, I get about 6-8 years out of them before I start to see cracks. That's when I change them. Probably could use them longer though because bias tires are not as susceptible to tread separations as radials can be.

 

[Pmt133]

I think that's common, the rubber is starting to oxidize and dry out and becomes stiffer, so you lose grip. Especially noticeable in wet conditions.
Same thing with the bellows on an I/O boat, the rubber starts to get dry and stiff and then you start seeing the small cracks forming in the folds.

Yeah. On those michelins it was like a switch. Went down hill quick but were still very good. Just no longer great. I probably could've went another 10k on them as I replaced them with about 4/32 of tread left but I had a long trip coming up and wanted new rubber for it.

I've had lesser brand tires on other vehicles and they got very hard and dry rotted quick by comparison so I'm not complaining.

 

[dingbat]

Michelin defenders. Expensive but seem to be one of the few I get my money's worth out of. Had a set of hankook tires on my 04 that went 110k too. Religious about rotation every 10k or so and keep the alignment tight.

Just had a third set of Defender 2 on my daily (Civic) last week.

Got 63k out of the last set. Put upper 50k’s on the previous two sets.

I quit rotating tires on this car. For whatever reason, the tires have worn pretty evenly naturally on every Honda I’ve owned. Rotating does nothing but generate tire noise.

 

[Pmt133]

Just had a third set of Defender 2 on my daily (Civic) last week.

Got 63k out of the last set. Put upper 50k’s on the previous two sets.

I quit rotating tires on this car. For whatever reason, the tires have worn pretty evenly naturally on every Honda I’ve owned. Rotating does nothing but generate tire noise.

My girls corolla wears evenly as well to the point I also don't rotate them. I only really notice on my truck the outside edges on the fronts wear down a little quicker from turns where the rear stays straight.

I could probably do without rotations but they more or less sync up with every other oil change and the trucks already jacked up for that so why not.

 

[Jeff J]

Tires will generally let a person know when they are going bad and should be changed. A person just needs to actually look at them now and then. I am not a tire guy but I have disassembled and reassembled a lot of tires over the years and never saw one that was in worse shape on the inside than the outside. The insides will degrade slower than the outside simply because there is no sunlight in there. If a person is really concerned about it, they can service them with nitrogen. Personally, I wouldn’t waste the money unless maybe I had a show car that isn’t going to see any use.

I would like to have a good scissor jack. I carry a small floor jack because the scissor jack that came in my F150 is crap. It only saw a couple of uses before it started to bend. I also carry a couple of boards to set a jack on because jacking anything on a dirt shoulder isn’t good. Jack bases tend to be small and usually sink and/or lean when the weight gets on them. That reminds me, it’s always fun to jack on a slope too. The majority of my flats while driving were on the original 4-ply tires that come on my truck in 2008. Crushed rock roads were not kind to them. The 10-ply Coopers I use now are much better.

 

[dingbat]

I only really notice on my truck the outside edges on the fronts wear down a little quicker from turns where the rear stays straight.

The OE GY Wranglers aged out and where replaced. Guessing these Defenders will too since we average 7K miles a year on the truck.

Dealer rotates the tires every 5K as part of the oil change package, but running up and down the island 3 weeks a year at 20 psi doesn't do them any good....lol

 

[FLATHEAD]

The Kenda Karriers arrived and are on the trailer. Tomorrow I head to the lake.
Glad I got new when I did because I found a small nail where the head wore down from the road in one of the old tires.

 

[bruceb58]

Just had a third set of Defender 2 on my daily (Civic) last week.

Got 63k out of the last set. Put upper 50k’s on the previous two sets.

I quit rotating tires on this car. For whatever reason, the tires have worn pretty evenly naturally on every Honda I’ve owned. Rotating does nothing but generate tire noise.

Defenders are the only tires I use. When my Rivian's Pirellis wear out by the end of this year, Defenders are going on the car. Same goes for my 3/4T GMC truck.

 

[Pmt133]

What came on the GMC? Our 22 had the older LTX A/T2 and thought they were decent. (Would have replaced with defenders though)

I replaced the defender LTX M/S on my 19 with the newer defender LTX M/S 2 and think I liked the old style better. These do have a bit of tread noise but performance wise are a notch better across the board just as michelin says they are. I drive a lot so the noise is mildly annoying. Nothing like an AT tire though. But it's there.

The OE GY Wranglers aged out and where replaced. Guessing these Defenders will too since we average 7K miles a year on the truck.

Dealer rotates the tires every 5K as part of the oil change package, but running up and down the island 3 weeks a year at 20 psi doesn't do them any good....lol

When I'm down in obx they get aired to 18 psi and stay there for the week. I hear you on that.

I average 20-30k a year or so so I do usually wear them out though.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I generally use cooper at3 discoverer on my truck. I get a good ride decent longevity and traction when I need it. I get in the mud, dirt and gravel a lot when I hunt and fish, not to mention snow. But I doubt I’ll ever drive my current truck in the snow. Was new last summer and I managed to not use it at all this winter once the salt and brine hit the roads.
I have alternative transportation for that.

 

[bruceb58]

What came on the GMC? Our 22 had the older LTX A/T2 and thought they were decent. (Would have replaced with defenders though)

They are Goodyear Wramglers.

Haven't decided if I will get Michelin Defender street tire or at AT tire again.

This vehicle is only used for towing my travel trailer so probably not necessary to get at AT tire. My Rivian tows my 7000# boat from storage/lake/storage.