When to replace tires

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by itat

If your financial situation means you don't have the money right now, I would at least get them inspected by a professional tire shop and treat them with some 303 Aerospace Protectant.

I wouldn't recommend putting any protectant on old tires if they've never had anything like that put on them over the years.

My experience putting protectant on old stuff has always seemed to accelerate the decomposing process.

[GLBCamper]

Anyone with experience buying tires from eTrailer (or any online seller), how or where did you get them installed? I assume my local tire dealer is not going to want to install something purchased somewhere else. And not all tire centers are equipped to work on trailers.

[bob213]

The cost of new tires will be a fraction of the cost of the damage a blowout can cause. I would suggest going online and finding the very best price for the tires you want. Print it out and go to America's Tire Store or Discount Tires(same company) and ask them to match price. BIL just found tires on Walmart's website that was extremely cheap. America's Tire matched it.
GLBCamper...
America's Tire
63553 N Hwy 97, Bend, OR 97701
Phone: (541) 617-0156

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by GLBCamper

Anyone with experience buying tires from eTrailer (or any online seller), how or where did you get them installed? I assume my local tire dealer is not going to want to install something purchased somewhere else. And not all tire centers are equipped to work on trailers.

I've bought all my 5er tires on line and had no trouble with installers. Many sites have arrangements with local installers and quote their prices on line. I buy from simpletire.com, and they, like most, ship directly to an installer. Never a problem. When I switched to Sailun S637T, my usual installer took delivery but said they were too heavy for his machines. It was all very pleasant. He helped load them on my truck and I used another local guy across the river. I should note that I never take my 5er to the tire shop. Easier for me to remove the tires and take them in. The tire shops seem to welcome this sort of business, since they don't do any jacking and lug turning.

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

My view on tires and timing belts:

By choosing to stretch out the replacement interval, you are not saving that much money, and you are operating the item in the part of its lifespan where it is most likely to fail. Sort of Russian Roulette with 3 chambers loaded.

Let's say that a set of tires is $600 and you choose to use them for 7 years rather than the recommended 6 years. You are saving about $100 by using them for that extra year, and taking a greater chance of accident damage, injury. etc. in the thousands of dollars. Bad odds in my book.

X2--Tire & timing belt failures are not pretty and they can kill you. I've noticed that Sailun warrants the S637T (commercial tire) for 6 years, but I will likely change at 5 years. I and friends have suffered too many blowouts on other brands of old tires tires with "like-new" tread and good looking sidewalls.

[c3prret]

Just got 5 205/75r14 Goodyear Endurance for $524 out the door last weekend. Took the tires off and took them in. The price included military discount.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

"I know what you're thinking. "Did he put those tires on six years ago or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as those are Goodyear Endurance, the most powerful tires in the world, and would blow your wheel wells clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"

Larry

Larry loves this movie even more than I do.....and I thought I was a fanatic.

[007matman]

I've never had issues getting trailer tires installed if I take them in there. However, finding a shop that's willing to jack up the trailer can be a challenge.

Last set I bought came from Costco. When I purchased them.theybsaid no issues installing them. However, it took me two weeks (and an escalation with the manager) to get them installed.

Basically, one guy (the manager) said no problem.. his worker bees didn't agree. Eventually, they installed them but it wasn't fun dealing with that.

I have Greenball Towmaster SS's and have been very happy. I only had to replace two this time due to faulty bearings that ate the inside edge of my tires. I probably have about 20k on the original set and they're doing great.. Costco had no problems with the first set and purchase.

TPMS is not something that I have and have been doing fine. I just keep an eye on the tire pressure and check it every couple of trips (and before every major trip). We have been to the Grand canyon, all over the SE and up to the upper Midwest two times already. I think I paid somewhere around 150 for two mounted and balanced.

[jtesta1]

Tires are pretty cheap considering what peace of mind is worth. The most important thing to get are tire pressure monitoring system. New or old tires need to be constantly monitored for pressure and temperature fluctuations.

[Jakieboy]

Markharmon - If your tires are made in China and are 6-7 years old, replace them right away. We have had several catastrophic tire failures with these "China Bombs" that resulted in significant, and costly damage to one of our travel trailers. None of the failed tires were more than 4 years old.

We bought a new 2016 Cardinal fifth-wheel with tires that looked just like Goodyear Marathons, and within less than a year we found huge sidewall bulges on two of the tires on a camping trip that was fortunately not far from home. We cruised on home at no more than 45 mph, and replaced the OEM tires with Goodyear Endurance tires the next day. Made in the USA. So far, so good after more than 10,000 miles of towing.

[SailorSam20500]

Research I've done on tires came out with the following:
1. Some vehicle/tire manufacturers recommend replacing tires at 5 years from date of manufacture (not install).
2. Others recommend an annual PROFESSIONAL inspection of tires starting at 5 years from DOM and replacing based on the examination.
3. Almost unanimously, on a travel trailer, the tires WILL age out long before you run out of tread.
For me, I'm planning on replacing at or before 5 years.

[Vince and Charlette]

The time between tire replacements is inversely proportionate to the cost of your camper!

[TheWolfPaq82]

I know this will drive some people crazy, but on our 1987 Jayco popup....it still has the original tires. Would I take it on a long trip ?? Hell NO. 11 miles to a local CG...ok...I would. They were always covered and treated every winter and they are showing cracking and really should be replaced now. Our 2007 Jayco TT, still had the original tires on it when we sold it in 2017. Granted...new owner looked at date and stated he'd put new tires on it first thing and it didn't bother them at all. I see years as a factor, but I see mileage as a bigger factor. Just me...being me.

[CHICKDOE]

there was a post earlier where somebody stated he had five tires delivered. i assume one is the spare tire. how do the rest of you treat the spare tire? if you get a new matched set of 5 do you rotate them so that all 5 actually get used? do you leave the new tire spare alone and never use it? do you buy 4 new ones and save the best of the ones you take of as the spare? what if the new tires are a different make than the ones you are taking off?

[spock123]

My spare tire on my Silverado is seven years old, it’s probably rotten. I’m buying new tires soon, I’ll keep the best tire as a spare

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by Jakie-Boy

Markharmon - If your tires are made in China and are 6-7 years old, replace them right away. We have had several catastrophic tire failures with these "China Bombs" that resulted in significant, and costly damage to one of our travel trailers. None of the failed tires were more than 4 years old.

We bought a new 2016 Cardinal fifth-wheel with tires that looked just like Goodyear Marathons, and within less than a year we found huge sidewall bulges on two of the tires on a camping trip that was fortunately not far from home. We cruised on home at no more than 45 mph, and replaced the OEM tires with Goodyear Endurance tires the next day. Made in the USA. So far, so good after more than 10,000 miles of towing.

DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ONLY CHINESE TIRES AGE OUT IN 5 OR 6 YEARS.

Everyone should know that all tires age out, including US made tires and other quality tires. You will hear contrary anecdotes and opinions, but nobody provides a legitimate basis to suggest otherwise.

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

there was a post earlier where somebody stated he had five tires delivered. i assume one is the spare tire. how do the rest of you treat the spare tire? if you get a new matched set of 5 do you rotate them so that all 5 actually get used? do you leave the new tire spare alone and never use it? do you buy 4 new ones and save the best of the ones you take of as the spare? what if the new tires are a different make than the ones you are taking off?

For me: "use it or lose it."

Because all eight of my previous tires were shot and I had no suitable spare, I bit the bullet and bought 5 new Sailuns. I suspect when mine age out, my cost/risk analysis will cause me to buy 5 new tires. Unlikely I can ever justify the risk of relying on an aged out tire for my 500 mile trips. If I only did short hauls at low speed, maybe.

Everyone's cost/risk is individual.

[Markharmon]

Ok so the reference to "do you feel lucky punk" got me. The $8k damage from blown tire. The change tire on side of highway...yea wouldn't want to do that. But the real convincer is 4 new tires are only $311. So not worth the risk. I'll be getting new next week. Thanks everyone for your opinion.

[Markharmon]

load range C or D? Which is the better tire?

[Slow Moon]

Originally Posted by Markharmon

load range C or D? Which is the better tire?

My opinion is that for trailer tires virtually always the higher load range is the better load range. That would be LR "D."