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Old tires?

waynefi
Explorer
Explorer
How can I tell if my tires are getting old? They have about 30000 mi on them. The tread still looks OK. The sidewalls look OK, but I don't really know what to look for. These are Karrier Loadstars.
rPod 195
formerly Rockwood MiniLite 1809S
Tacoma V6
32 REPLIES 32

All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Explorer
I donโ€™t take major chances with my TT tires. Not fancy brands, but over capacity for the max load they would ever see. Convesly, my small utility trailer 8 inch tires stay on until they pop or they dry rot so bad that I have to fill them more than once a month. Both are currently about 15 years old, and spare is about 25. But it only goes on short local runs mostly low speed.
1999 R-Vision Trail Light B17 hybrid
2006 Explorer Eddie Bauer
2002 Xterra rollinโ€™ on 33โ€™s
1993 Chevy Z24 Convertible
Lives in garage 71,000 miles

Terryallan
Explorer II
Explorer II
drsteve wrote:
Terryallan wrote:
waynefi wrote:
There's another way of looking at this. If a tire fails in 3 years of normal use, it was defective anyway. Age had nothing to do with it. If it's still OK after 3, you got a good one. Keep it for 3 more.

I'll admit that 8 might be pushing it.



Not so. ALL of my TT tires blew in their 4th year. That is why I won't allow 4 year old tire on my TT any more. Not even on the spare rim.


You have had the worst luck of anyone with TT tires.


It is not great, But I have talked to people with worse luck. A fellow I know puts new tires on every 2 years, no matter what. And to be honest. I'm tempted myself.

And I know people who never worry about their tires, and have never had a flat. Just walk by, kick them, load up and go. Don't even own a pressure gage, or compressor.
Terry & Shay
Coachman Apex 288BH.
2013 F150 XLT Off Road
5.0, 3.73
Lazy Campers

drsteve
Explorer
Explorer
Terryallan wrote:
waynefi wrote:
There's another way of looking at this. If a tire fails in 3 years of normal use, it was defective anyway. Age had nothing to do with it. If it's still OK after 3, you got a good one. Keep it for 3 more.

I'll admit that 8 might be pushing it.



Not so. ALL of my TT tires blew in their 4th year. That is why I won't allow 4 year old tire on my TT any more. Not even on the spare rim.


You have had the worst luck of anyone with TT tires.
2006 Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab 2WD 6.0L 3.73 8600 GVWR
2018 Coachmen Catalina Legacy Edition 223RBS
1991 Palomino Filly PUP

twodownzero
Explorer
Explorer
deltabravo wrote:
Here's my old tires

I changed them out to Goodyear Endurance


Good choice. I just bought a set of the same tires.

deltabravo
Nomad
Nomad
Here's my old tires

I changed them out to Goodyear Endurance
2009 Silverado 3500HD Dually, D/A, CCLB 4x4 (bought new 8/30/09)
2018 Arctic Fox 992 with an Onan 2500i "quiet" model generator

Terryallan
Explorer II
Explorer II
waynefi wrote:
There's another way of looking at this. If a tire fails in 3 years of normal use, it was defective anyway. Age had nothing to do with it. If it's still OK after 3, you got a good one. Keep it for 3 more.

I'll admit that 8 might be pushing it.



Not so. ALL of my TT tires blew in their 4th year. That is why I won't allow 4 year old tire on my TT any more. Not even on the spare rim.
Terry & Shay
Coachman Apex 288BH.
2013 F150 XLT Off Road
5.0, 3.73
Lazy Campers

waynefi
Explorer
Explorer
There's another way of looking at this. If a tire fails in 3 years of normal use, it was defective anyway. Age had nothing to do with it. If it's still OK after 3, you got a good one. Keep it for 3 more.

I'll admit that 8 might be pushing it.
rPod 195
formerly Rockwood MiniLite 1809S
Tacoma V6

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Wayne, on one hand, yes you got lucky. On the other, you got kinda lucky.
There's real truth to the replace every 3-5 years theory. (3 years is excessive IMO, but there's actually a guy on here who changes his trans fluid every 500 miles too, so....)
I've had china bomb trailer tires last as long as your's. I've had 4 year old tires blow treads off them. Have had 10 year old tires that worked fine still, got beat on and then blew up in the driveway.

Bottom line, I personally wouldn't go more than 5 years, but loading, wear, care, heat all play a part in tire life. Knock on wood, I've never actually lost a tire in the winter when weather was cold and I tow almost as much in the winter some years as summer.

8 years, 30k, yeah buy some new ones. FWIW, I have the same tires as you on both of our tandem axle trailers. 14" Rims. Kenda Karriers have dun gud so far. I'd buy Karriers again based on my experience with them thus far.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
wiskeyVI wrote:
What about using a good Light Truck Tire, load range E?


IF they existed, this may be a good option, but 14" heavy LT tires don't exist and 15" are few and far between if at all available anymore, last I checked.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
waynefi wrote:
I must be really lucky, since I've gotten almost 8 years and 30000 miles out of a pair of cheap Chinese tires.

It helps that the trailer is light, and when I'm not camping it is parked in a shady spot.

I'm surprised that so much of this is about years, not miles. I don't replace car tires after 3 years, I look at miles and tread.


My cheap chinese trailer tires are 9 this year. I too have a light trailer, I stay close to home, and I only go down 2 lane roads at no more the 65 MPH. I think I will run them another year. Unless, I do a long trip then I would replace them.

Redterpos3
Explorer
Explorer
I learned the hard way. 7 yrs is the MAX! Replace at 6 to be safe, is my mantra now!
The Travelin' Terrapins!
2016 Ford F-350 SRW;CC;4x4;172WB;6.7PSD;34,000m
2011 Nash 27T 12,995m
2013 Yr1 30nts 3150m
2014 Yr2 52nts 3365m
2015 yr3 25nts 2260m
2016 yr4 46nts 2500m
2017 yr5 24nts 1720m
2018 yr6 4nts 30m

prichardson
Explorer
Explorer
Highway (auto & LT) tires are manufactured to different standards than ST tires.
Both will age out. I have yet to be able to dependably get more than 4 years on STs; but have no problem getting 8 to 10 on highway tiers.

drsteve
Explorer
Explorer
My 2003 Jayco (that I purchased new) came with a set of Goodyear Marathons. They lasted for 13 years.
2006 Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab 2WD 6.0L 3.73 8600 GVWR
2018 Coachmen Catalina Legacy Edition 223RBS
1991 Palomino Filly PUP

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
valhalla360 wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
In 3 years a ST tire has lost 33% of its strength.

None of mine ever made it 2 years.


Can you provide a source?

Going back to traveling with my family as a kid, never had any tire fail at 2yr...you must be incredibly unlucky if every tire fails by 2yr.
Discount tire and Carlise, for your sources... I am sure there are more.

As for my bad luck.... That ended when I made the jump to LT tires in 2006.
Not a single tire problem since then. I no longer give my tires much thought. They just flat out do the job.

When I ran STs (several sets, as I was slow to get the message) I treated them like fine china. Did everything but have a rabbi bless them. It was no use.
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW