Age of ST tires

[thewhitehat]

I mounted a new set of Maxxis on my trailer back in 2013. They were manufactured in the 10th week of 2013. I don’t take many trips and most trips are 150-300 miles one way. Mostly the trailer has been stored under cover in central Texas. The tire tread still looks pretty new and there are no cracks, but was wondering how old I should allow them to get before replacing again. They are ST tires. Discount Tire says six years is the limit, but Goodyear and some others say 10 years. What do y’all think?

[Canonman]

Here is some information from a recent article in Popular Mechanics:
"Tires do degrade over time and that process is called dry rot. Oils and chemicals in the rubber compound start to evaporate or break down because of UV exposure. The rubber loses its flexibility and begins to crack at the surface, and the structure becomes more and more brittle (think of a really old rubber band), leading to sidewall damage and eventual failure. And we're not talking "Oh, I'll just fill it up and drive on it"; this is a complete loss of function. You might even see tread start to separate. It's good practice to replace tires as soon as you see signs of dry rot, to prevent blowouts and the subsequent loss of vehicle control. Even if there are no signs of rot, the industry standard is to swap out tires before they hit 10 years old, and some tire companies recommend replacement as early as six years after manufacture."
I'd say a new set of skins is not only warranted due to age, but cheap insurance against the PITA of having to change a flat on the road. Not to mention the incidental damage a blowout at 60+ mph can cause. I'm also a big proponent of adding a TPMS. Nothing like having complete peace of mind that all is good while traveling.

[JMiller]

New tire time.

[mfifield01]

Personally, I wouldn't go past 5 years on trailer tires. Vehicle tires tend to last longer.

I had a blowout on a single axle boat trailer and it was not fun. The tire was 6-7 years old. I typically towed it 10-20 miles. It blew about 5 miles from my house.

[CWtheMan]

Trailer tires are different. Look alike but very different.

Years ago, probably the first well known ST tire manufacturer published numerous documents on the WWW. Discount Tire jumped right in there and made the meat of those documents part of their spiels about ST tires. They gave credit to that manufacturer.

Among the topics was expected life expectancy for ST tires in general. They, the manufacturers seem to all go along with that very first estimate of 3-5 years.

When you look at a lot of warranty information for tires manufactured specifically as ST tires the period of coverage will average out to the 3 year mark. Some are as low as two years from date of manufacture and others that are new to the market may be 6 years from date of manufacture.

IMO, when just considering age, the culprit is fatigue. For me , three years is max, from time of first use.

[RobertS]

A couple of weeks ago I towed down to Ocala Florida so high heat should not have been an issue. I bombed 5 trailer 225 tires. I do use a tpms system for trailer tires. 4 were Goodyear Marathon tires (China made)four years old. One of the spares that popped was a Loadstar that was about 8 years but stayed in the trailer as a spare
Now going to try Goodyear Endurance USA tires
Robert

[slow]

If you accept the claim/argument that ST tires degrade 10% per year in their capacity due to deterioration, then your 6 year old tires have ~54% of the capacity of when they were new. Not sure how much reserve tire capacity you had when they were new, but it is most likely you are on borrowed time already and have been very lucky.

[RobertS]

Yeah probably was as I had not had an issue with the Marathon tires. I wasn’t aware of the 10% rule. I am in the high side of capacity. 10,000 GVW 8,900 scale weight
Robert

[sourdough]

Yeah probably was as I had not had an issue with the Marathon tires. I wasn’t aware of the 10% rule. I am in the high side of capacity. 10,000 GVW 8,900 scale weight
Robert



Robert my trailer is 10k gvw as well. It came with LRD tires (mine were 225/75r15)? Did yours? If so get the LREs this go round, you need them IMO. Have made a big difference in my towing experience.

[RobertS]

Mine came with LRD also and I guess I have been lucky has have towed allot of miles throughout USA. Yesterday I bought USA made Endurance LRD E but only have the miles back from the dealer. Next trips for this will be Florida in April and Indiana in May.
Robert

[notanlines]

No matter the brand, when dealing with ST rubber, four years at the max. If your tires have the word 'King" in the brand, two months max and head to your favorite tire company and get rid of them. Nope, I'm dead serious!