New trailer tire warning

[Norca]

I got two new tires for the trailer this week,
I called ahead to see if theyhave them in stock, the salesman says no but he can have them the next day.
So I go to pick them up on Thursday.
Thanks to this forum, I know I should check gbe manufacturing date, and that tires should be changed after 5 years.
To my surprise one tire is already 4 years old, the other is1 year.
They checked with the distributor, and I got another 2014 tire.
If I could wait, I could get 2 2015 tires in 3 weeks but due to work I can not wait that long.
So the moral of the story is check the manufacuring date on new tires and if possible call and ask for recent tires, then give them time to order from the manufacturer.
I wonder how many think they have new tire when actually they are 4-5 years old and mabe even dangerus?

[Russ]

Good info.

Could you remind me how to check the mfg date?

[Tomfoolery]

Look for the "DOT" followed by a string of letters and numbers. The last 4 numbers are the date code - the last two are the last two digits of the year it was made, and the two before that are the week. So "DOT XYZY ABCD4215 would be the 42nd week of 2015.

[Norca]

Some information here:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=11

With pictures

[bahama bound]

All my trailers I only use maxxis ,my 5th wheel camper to boat trailers.,I can not stress enough how bad the Chinese trailer tires are !!!! Maxxis are fabulous,never had a issue ,tried a bunch of others ,bought a new set of carsile tires and literally had 4 blow outs in 500 miles !!! Do your research,my tandem axle trailer came with duro tires and I had a blow out in the first couple of trips .switch all to maxxis .i cant imagine what a stock single axle trailer tire goes through .

[horatio]

im wondering how fast you guys are driving while towing ? ?

[seahouse]

I find it is much tougher to find recent tires in Canada. The turnover is just too slow, they have to guess at how many to order and warehouse without undershooting too much, plus they tool up and produce certain tires only once a year (or more).

I phoned around in the US and had to buy my last pair of motorcycle tires there (I'm not too far from the border); exact same brand, manufacturer and size of tire. It was sure less convenient and cost not too much more (the monetary exchange rate was better than it is now) and they were nearly 2 years newer. (The extra age makes a bigger difference on a bike than cars and trailers though).

I also wonder how many tire blowouts (some definitely are) are a result of improper (too low) inflation pressure (it should be in the neighbourhood of 65 or maybe 85 psi, IIRC). A hotter climate makes tire failure more likely too.

[frede]

My old tires where made on the 12th week of 2003. So I ordered a set of 10ply Maxxis M8008 ST Radial tires from simpetire.com for my trailer. They can not get the date codes until an order is placed, so just make sure to order them over the phone and let them know of any date restrictions you may have. I told them I didn't want any over a year old. They called back in less than 15 minutes and said they had a pair that were manufactured on the 28th week of 2015.

[mrron_tx]

I had a friend who worked for the tire company with a little old lady throwing a tire through the window many years ago. He told Me that code and I use it every time I buy tires. That same company sold My Brother some nine year old "new tires" We went back and My Bud changed them out . these tire places know , but just don't care and only want to move inventory. Imho.Ron

[sailboatmike]

Not so sure if its the brand or the manufacture date of tyres is as relevant as making sure your tyres are rated for the speed and load you will be putting on them and of course the pressure you run them at whilst towing.

I see many USA based owners are running tandem axles, but I have never seen anything about using load sharing suspension. not using load sharing suspension can unevenly load the tyres and axles causing bearing and tyre failure, for example if your tow hitch is low at the front then the front axle and tyres are taking the majority of the weight and of course this would be opposite for the a high hitch.

Having a set of spring per axle does not distribute the load evenly between the two axles and sets of tyres.

Down here in Australia we would generally use light truck tyres on our trailers as they are rated much higher for weight loading and the police are red hot about pulling drivers over and checking trailers for correct load rating and checking that against the cars rated towing capacity especially when you have a 26 foot boat on the back it draws a lot of attention and the police know all the hot spots that people will be trailing their boats too for holidays and lay in wait for the unsuspecting.

[Tomfoolery]

Having a set of spring per axle does not distribute the load evenly between the two axles and sets of tyres.

Unless it's an equalized suspension, which is the only way I see it done here with leaf springs, including three or more axles. Equalized leaf spring suspensions allow the axles to 'walk' over bumps, and will share the load equally, even with the coupler too high or low.



But that's not the case with elastomeric torsion suspensions, and in fact, manufacturers like Dexter don't recommend using them with even three axles, for a variety of reasons. One is coupler too high or low, and another other being when traversing uneven ground, one axle will inevitably end up carrying almost the whole load, like when going over speed bumps. If you need three axles, putting the whole load on one is a pretty heavy overload, and you'd do that three times in a row as each axle takes the load and the others get light.

[BOAT]

troll warning
I noticed that when i was in Canada everyone drove American cars - I almost got the impression that Canadians like American cars more than Americans do - but I did not get the same feeling about tires - there seemed to be a problem with tires from just about everywhere - why is that? I would think that in a country where you can pick up the latest American car model in nothing flat would have a good selection of tires? Canadians drive a lot, right? It just seemed so contrary over here where every American seems to be enamored with anything Japanese - Cars, Tires, what's next, Japanese boats? I guess I don't understand because I have never owned a Japanese car or tire in my entire life so I don't get what the big deal is. I think the Canadians must be smarter about cars.

What kind of cars do they drive in Australia? (Never been there but I sure would like to go! Can a MAC make it to Sydney?)

[sailboatmike]

Many of the Chevs you drive are Australian cars that are just rebadged from General Motors Holden to Chevy.

Toyota are the highest selling cars over here mainly due to the huge number of 4 x 4's they sell, they have a second to none reputation for being strong rugged, easy to fix and reliability which they pretty much live up too.

With the current trends in cars being able to tow much lower loads I cant see their slender lead being eaten into or overtaken in the car market as they make the biggest tow load vehicles

As for sailing to Sydney, Im sure it could be done, I mean why not, some of the boats that cross the Pacific Ocean you would swear are not seaworthy, coming further south to Melbourne could be an issue some nasty water out there if you have ever seen the Sydney to Hobart you will know what I mean.

Personally I would give Sydney a miss Queensland and Melbourne are the places to visit in Australia

[RobertB]

I see many USA based owners are running tandem axles, but I have never seen anything about using load sharing suspension. not using load sharing suspension can unevenly load the tyres and axles causing bearing and tyre failure, for example if your tow hitch is low at the front then the front axle and tyres are taking the majority of the weight and of course this would be opposite for the a high hitch.
Having a set of spring per axle does not distribute the load evenly between the two axles and sets of tyres.

On the other hand, most of us add a 2nd axle rated the same as the original axle - both capable of independently carrying the full weight. In this case, uneven loading does not matter. It becomes a way to control trailer sway and adds a factor of safety if there is a blowout. I have never regretted adding the second axle and view the performance of the 4-wheel independent suspension as very satisfactory.

[kurz]

here in Europe in the "small trailer range" I can just see the elastomeric torsion suspension system. I think as long as the level of the trailer stays horizontal to the car there should be no problem. The system seems to have very much load in reserve. So there are no informations on broken axles and tyres every day...