Kenda Karrier Tires review

[indybp57]

Thought I would offer up my comments on Kenda Karrier Loadstar ST tires in case anyone is ever interested. You never see them mentioned in all the China bomb threads here, which I guess is a compliment. I'm not promoting the tire, just reporting my experience with them.

They came stock on my 2013 Roo 183. The size is ST205/75R14. If I'm reading them correctly the date code is 4811 (we purchased the Roo in June of 2012 but it is a 2013 model so that sounds about right). My total trailer weight is around 4000 pounds road-ready so I am way under the total weight rating of 1760/tire. They are made in China like most other ST tires these days. I always keep them covered, inflated to 50psi, and limit towing speed to around 60mph.

Last week on our trip from Indianapolis to Minnesota we experienced a blow-out on I-70. It blew out the tread and not the sidewall. We don't think we hit anything but not really sure. We put the spare on (original Kenda spare) and continued on our trip, accumulating another 1100 miles without incident on the other tires. As I mentioned the tires were the originals that came with the Roo when we purchased new in 2012. The tires had about 11000 miles on them when the blow-out occurred.

So while no-one can be happy about a blow-out, I admit I probably pushed them a little too far (6 years/11000 miles), so I can't really blame that on crappy tire quality. In summary I would say they are pretty good tires for the $$ and I was pretty happy with them. They still have plenty of tread on them and no weather cracking that I can see. Pep Boys sells them for around $80 and I've also seen them on E-trailer. I haven't seen them any place locally except Pep Boys.

Having said all that, now that we are home I'm going to order a set of Maxxis from Discount Tire and go that route, but for no other reason than they seem to have the most loyal following and I can afford them. If I had to go with another brand I would certainly consider the Kendas again.

[Asrabbit]

I have had three sets of Kenda Karrier tires on different trailers going back to 2004 and never had an issue. I had a Fleetwood 2004 that came from the factory with a set and I replaced those with another set. I have no idea if they are any good or not, but again no issues so far. I bought one set from Etrailer not mounted. When the set arrived, one was smashed down flat. I figured there was no way that thing could be mounted, but somehow it worked out. I called Etrailer and they told me many of them come in that way because they are setting in the container on the bottom of the pile. I figured it could not be good for the tire, but it worked out somehow.

[charles l]

I have Kenda on my tow dolly. Puny little tire only 145 st 12 with about 8500 miles so far. They are 12 ply and I run them at 75 psi cold. I would say I am impressed so far. The passenger side is wearing a bit due to road crown on that side. I will replace them with the same tire probably at 20,000 miles or 3 years for safety reasons.