[buzzcop63]

We read so many reports from trailer owners that have experienced catastrophic loss of air in their trailer tires, blowouts! Discussions have gone on and on as to why tires on our trailers are failing and the reason most give is because they are made in China and are cheap tires.

The tire being brought in our DOT approved, they are rated according to standards they must pass so if these tires are meeting US standards then why are they not holding up? Lets take a look at what we expect and receive in our car and or truck tires, which we put on and seem for the most part to forget. Car and truck tries have PSI maximums above what we normally run in them, say your pick up has tires rated at 44 PSI at max and the manufacture of the vehicle has them running at 30 PSI front 33 PSI rear. Each tire on the pickup is said to have a max carrying capacity of 2,469Lb and the truck normally weights in at 5,560 pounds or less so the average weight on each tire is 1,390Lb or 56% of rated load. The speed maximum for this truck tire is listed as 118MPH.

Now think about what the trailer tire is being asked to do by the trailer manufacture. That trailer tire is being run at its max PSI to carry as much weight as possible. The speed stipulated on the trailer tire is max of 65MPH and that it what the tire is being run at, max speed and max PSI. The trailer tire has a limit to what it can carry and when you weigh your trailer and find that each tire is supporting as much as 70% of its max weight rating while your truck tire is carrying 56% of its weight, truck is running at 55% of its speed and the trailer tires are turning at 100% of their rated speed. The truck in this case is running 20% lower PSI then its max rating. The conclusion that I reach is that it is not the tires that are failing the trailer it is the trailer manufacture putting on tires that are being run at or close to their max specifications to keep the price down or make larger profits.

What I have also read is that the tires we have on our trailer when put on light duty trailers last for years and have few problems, why, because their specifications match up much closer to the tires on our trucks and cars for margins of safety far greater then what we get with our trailers. Think of taking your car or truck, loading it to its max weight and then some, running it at its top rated speed, how long would those tires hold up?

The facts and numbers were taken off my Tundra Bridgestone Dueler H/T P255/70R18 112T and Towmax Power King tires on my trailers.