5yr old tires with lots of tread left.. replace anyways?

Joel_CA

Member
Sep 15, 2013
112
Norcal
Boat Info
1998 Bowrider 210
Engines
5.0 Mercuriser/ Alpha 1
Back May 2015, I had a set of 5 (including spare) 205/70/14 Carlisle Radial Trail RHs installed on my trailer. The lake I frequent is around 10miles round-trip. Add a couple of adventures to further lakes, I'd guestimate that I've probably put less than 3K miles on them altogether. It's been a trouble free 5+ years. My boat is stored indoors in my garage so the tires don't see the sun all day long, but they have been bearing the weight of the boat the entire time. I'm concerned if I should replace them next spring. I've read that tires should be replaced at least every 5 years regardless of miles. Any insight or suggestions should be appreciated.
 
Only replaces them if they are dry rotting. The tread is probably still good.
 
All rubber tires get hard due to age.
It *MAY* be fine next year and the year after but it may not.
Do you want to find out?
 
I found out the hard way, splitting a tire. Caught it before I was stuck on the side of the road (felt a weird vibration) so my advice is replace.
 
The RV dealer I worked for says replace at 3yrs, they may look good, but typically they are cheap tires to begin with.
 
Agreed, 4-5yrs is about all you will get out of trailer tires that sit around. If you are only making the 10mi trip then might be worth the risk for another year or so but I wouldn’t do many highway miles with older trailer tires. It is relatively cheap insurance to change them out. A blow out at highway speed can induce a nasty fish of the trailer and boat.
 
AAA with RV and trailer coverage good for 200 mile tow is $200 a year.
I got new tire on rim for our jet boat for $125. If you buy one a year your tires will always be good. Trail is tandem.
I put trailer on jack stands when not in use from September to April. Seems to help tires last longer.
 
A tire failure at speed can damage much more than just the tire. I had the tread delaminate from the core, kinda like you see on big rigs, and it took out my trailer fender/lights, bent the fender mounting brackets on the trailer and scratched the side of my boat enough that I had to wet sand it out. Just something to consider.
 
A tire failure at speed can damage much more than just the tire. I had the tread delaminate from the core, kinda like you see on big rigs, and it took out my trailer fender/lights, bent the fender mounting brackets on the trailer and scratched the side of my boat enough that I had to wet sand it out. Just something to consider.
Was the damage covered by your insurance.
Strange stuff boat insurance. We do remote rivers in out jetboat. Insurance will pay if we loose the boat but will not pay to rescue it.
 
Purchased a boat with three year old tires. Owner lived about 15 minutes from the launch site. I knew there may be trouble on the way home so I checked air pressure, brought good jacking equipment, and a friend to follow and watch the tires. On way home about 75 miles into the trip, first tire blew out. About 25 later, the second tire separated.

Carlisle tires are Chinese made and are not passenger car rated.

Your call. I would replace them without hesitation.
I only replace my trailer tires on my boats and camper with Goodyear Endurance tires of one load range higher than spec with steel heavy duty valve stems - blowouts suck and can ruin your boat, trailer, and a fishing trip. Call me paranoid.
 
Clarification - when I say “not passenger car rated”, I mean they are built at less than passenger car standards to begin with, since they are only trailer rated. Combine low standards with Chinese made, you get very low standards.
 
I wouldn’t do it.... if you are running 10 miles at a time....just have a backup plan... if you are willing to change a tire on the side of the road to save $600 then do it...if not spend the money
 
Geez...didn’t realize you have a 210 and a double axle trailer .....run the piss out of those tires you are good...
 
It's not "bad" to change them as PM, but I wouldn't do it just on that variable alone. Look at the sidewalls... look between the treads... "some" light cracking could be OK, but the judgement on that really needs to be done based on experience. Without that experience, I would say that if you see cracking, then go ahead and replace.
 
I called my insurance provider. If I have a tire fail and it destroys the fender my deductible is $400. If boat is damaged it is repaired with deductible of $400. If the boat and trailer are destroyed I get the agreed to value in my insurance policy. If a miss a few weeks of boating and a vacation too bad. Good tires are worth it.
 
My favorite thing about trailer tires is that they can look brand new perfect and still fail catastrophically. Anytime the temperature outside is over 90*and your speed is 70mph or higher you better watch out. I had a brand new Goodyear marathon throw tread without warning.

Every tread separation I have experienced has occurred under the above stated conditions. Don’t believe a 75mph speed rating on crappy Chinese tires.
 
I have to say, I have been lucky and never replaced a trailer tire that failed. Many of them up to the 7-8 year old mark when the boat was sold, for 30 years of boating. Every boat friend I have leaves the tires on for up to a decade, not one has had a failure. To be fair, we probably all only tow a few hundred miles a year here in Pa. So, there are plenty of folks that just leave them be and are fine. Now, will your experience be the same - who knows, and I am not recommending it, just offering up that millions of trailer tires don’t fail even after getting very old - like everything else, no one writes an internet post that says “towed the boat today with my 10 year old tires and nothing happened”....
I will say, see if you can convert your tire size to a LT rated tire with the same or more load capacity, and they will be a significantly better tire for not much money difference, and most certainly will last much longer.
 
I see that the OP posed his question on the 30th and never returned for the comments.
 

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