So Tired of Tires

Ever get so sick of researching something that you just need to walk away. Travel Trailer tires recently fit into that category for me. I have become so tired of tires.

About two months ago I noticed a pretty good sized nail in my tire while chocking and inspecting the tires at home. Not knowing if it was very deep I pulled on it and without much effort it came out. It was really long and had entered the tire on a shallow angle. After looking more closely at the tread, I could see it did a lot more damage than I thought.

Damaged Tire

While the tire was not leaking you can see the damage was in a large section, proceeding all the way down to the belt. Putting a patch behind this damage would do nothing to close the gaping wound. It was apparent I needed a new tire. This is where my nightmare of research began.

There are so many forums out there with so many different opinions you can drive yourself crazy trying to determine what tire to buy. Just google “best travel trailer tire” and see what comes up. It’s a free for all of different opinions ranging from such subjects as the downfalls of Chinese tires to using light truck tires instead of trailer tires. Even across these subjects the opinions vary depending on the forum or article you read.

There are three subjects you probably never want to discuss openly on a forum; tires, tow vehicles, and extended warranties. These subjects, for some reason, hit a nerve in some people and they become like a religion with no gray area open for discussion. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a forum admin say that he didn’t want any more posts about tow vehicles, I could buy myself a pretty decent dinner. So do your own research but try to remove the emotion from any reviews you read.

One thing I knew for sure is that I was replacing all four tires. This decision was based on a couple of factors:

I didn’t want one new tire and three old tires on the trailer
I didn’t want to go with the same brand tire based on the reviews I had read on-line of some pretty horrible experiences.
My current tires had enough miles on them that I could justify replacement.

Now the hard part; what tire was going to be right for my trailer. I struggled for days reading about different trailer tires. I read about load ratings, speed ratings, rolling resistance, and traction. If I found a tire that seemed promising I’d go through multiple reviews. This was a very unsatisfying process because it seemed every tire had great and terrible reviews associated with it.

After becoming totally frustrated I decided my safest bet was to go with a travel trailer tire that I had the most experience with in the past. I know you are probably wondering what tire I recommend; I don’t and I won’t.

Tires are a personal decision based on the trailer you have and the load you carry. Suggesting a specific tire would be like telling you what travel trailer to buy, there are to many factors to consider. Believe me there are a lot of sites on the internet that can safely educate you on what you will need as far as technical aspects (load rating etc.), but then its up to you to choose a brand.

That being said the most important thing I learned in all my reading was that the most common cause of trailer tire failure was having the tires under inflated. The sidewalls of the tire cannot handle having low air pressure.

So, whatever tire you decide to buy, make sure you do your own research, even if it means you pull your hair out. Then make sure you keep your tires at the correct pressure and inspect them constantly. A blow out on the highway can mean a lot more than a flat tire. It can result in serious trailer damage.

Be Safe!