so I've just noticed the trailer I purchased has standard car tyres and not the extra load bearing 8 ply's you'd expect. They were mega
dirty when I bought it and went on good faith as the previous owner had used it for many years towing Classic mini's. Whilst it maybe ok I'm
not happy as if pc plod did pull me I'd be illegal after a quick snoop .
My question for the masses is ... Budget trailer tyres or branded? I've found budget 155 13's rated to 670kg at £36 plus the usual taxes or
the other extreme of £105 each. My outlook is that a budget tyre is still rated and type approved so good for a limited use item like a trailer but..
Such a difference in price!?!
I welcome your opinions before I splash the kids penny bank.
I just went for £43 a tyre for 14" rims, so at the budget end. I figured the same, you aim not to test their handling or braking capabilities but take it as read....
the budget tyres are fitted as standard to many caravans i have run them for years but i do replace them at the recomended 5 years as generally you will never wear them out
I work in a tyre shop, and we very rarely supply "branded" trailer tyres.
Pretty much all of our customers are happy with budgets, I can`t remember the last time I saw one that had failed.
The 'brand' tyre was a maxmiler and a silly price. Cheapest ones sounds good to me .
Cheers all
As far as I know there is no requirement for extra load or 8 ply tyres the regs seem to state that suitable load rating tyres should be used.
Where does the 8 ply bit or extra load come from?
Cheers!
quote:
Originally posted by mazie
The 'brand' tyre was a maxmiler and a silly price. Cheapest ones sounds good to me .
Cheers all
Assuming that the tyre is rated for the load, it'll be legal, no matter how many plies.
On the subject of quality though, what are the risks with trailer tyres?
I have been a passenger in a car towing a caravan that had a blowout. If the driver hadn't realised what had happened, we'd not even have
noticed immediately.
I have also towed a smallish, but heavily loaded trailer (lots of beer from France) where the bearing failed and we lost the whole wheel and hub
(brand new units they were too!) and the main effects were me catching sight of something bounding away into a farmer's field and the trailer
dropping down on one side.
Both events were at speed on dual-carriageways and neither upset the handing of the tow vehicle at all.
I don't know whether this is typical or not, so I'd be interested in other people's experiences.
During the season i do many 1000s of miles towing and use budget tyres on my Brian James but bit them after 4 years. Tbh they are always barely worn
but the trailer sits barely used for 6 months a year and this is more damaging than using them imho.
I paid about 44 quid each inc vat fitted iirc
I too go on tyre load rating rather than specifically trailer tyres. My trailer is home made (many years ago) so not plated, the tow hitch is rated at
30cwt so I consider it a 1.5 tonne trailer. As its a single axle the lowest load index tyre I can fit is a 98 (750kg). As it has 14" wheels the
tyres it gets tend to be van tyres, its currently got 102 load index (850kg) tyres that came off a P100.
For most of us it will be age and sidewall damage that will be the reason for changing a trailer tyre rather than the tread wearing out. Just make
sure they are correctly inflated to avoid over heating and blow outs.
My brand new Brian James Clubman trailer came with plain 155R13 car tyres.
My little 4'x3' camping trailer that I use to cart stuff to the tip has one tyre that has cracked around the side wall entirely due to the
sun's rays. I've just replaced that tyre, for safety's sake.
Can you get covers for tyres? Especially little trailer tyres?