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Trailers have one hundred and one uses. People just love tagging things along. Some are high tech while others are pretty scary looking, ready to fall apart at the next bend in the road.

Probably one of the most important, yet often overlooked components of the the trailer is its tires. Everyone expects the tires to be ready to work when they are. People can’t believe it when they get on the highway and the tire just explodes and disintegrates before they pull over and get to a complete stop. “What happened? I didn’t run over anything…these no good tires!”

Trailer tires just get a bum rap. But do they deserve it? I think not!

Lets consider the usual poor working environment for trailer tires:

Low air pressure – underinflated AND overinflated tires won’t carry the load capacity stamped on the tire sidewall.

Weight overload – trailers are frequently overloaded with your stuff. Remember to consider the “total” weight. Lets use a boat for example – the trailer, the boat, the supplies in the boat and don’t forget your coolers of beer as well!!

Weather checking – As trailer tires age they tend to start cracking on the sidewall surface. Tires will dry out in the sun, as they sit for long periods of time uncovered.

Age – Like you, tires don’t last forever. I constantly see people come to my store with an angry look on their face, holding a blown out tire, wondering why it had to happen to them? Then I inspect the tire and it’s at least 25 years old!

So take a few minutes, next time you’re on the move, and inspect your tires. You may prevent a whole lot of headaches on your trip. You may even save your own life…it’s that important!

Have a great week!

Brian

P.s. One last piece of advice. If you frequently travel long distances, best the best quality tire brand you can such as Carlisle. If you just do local short trips a few times a summer you can really save some money with import brands like Deestone. Also, other types of equipment used on pavement rely on hard surface tires like the Carlisle Industrial Trax, for its durability.