What size tire...yadda yadda, trailer edition

Stuck with a conundrum.

I've been going through my prep for this year's big honkin road trip (I like to take one each year) and I noticed that the knobbies on my trailer aren't looking so knobby anymore. They're coming up on 5 years of age, so they're due for replacement.

They came from factory with the very odd size of 235/75R15s, Westlake CR857 or somesuch. And for such a weird tire, I liked them. They helped the camper float through some gravel and sand (whenever the brakes weren't dragging, pic related. )







The only place where I can find a direct replacement is eTrailer, who wants $330 a piece for them. That's friggin ridiculous.





Meanwhile, I am considering these Carlisle's as a more reasonable alternative:



They are sightly smaller, more fuel efficient I'm sure, but more importantly, they don't look cool. My camper is about to wear a pocket protector and knee high socks, and that kinda sucks. But in all seriousness, I'm mainly worried about performance in sand/mud/gravel.


On one hand, it's job is to follow, so does it really need knobbies? I just want it to not sink or sway. I once pulled a utility trailer down a mud road, and it was doable as long as I occasionally squeezed the brake controller to keep it in line, but if that road had a sightly worse camber than it already had, I might have gotten into trouble. With this camper, the old tires always tracked exactly where I wanted them to without having to think about it.

Does anyone have experience with taking a dedicated trailer tire off road, and how did they do? Do you think these Carlisle's will perform reasonably ok through gravel/sand? Will they look too nerdy to run?

 

I'm thinking you should probably bite the bullet and get the same tires then, even though the price is a little crazy. Less worrying about what the trailer will mean a funner road trip

 

Do you have a Walmart near you?
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...2ahUKEwj73O_at_zzAhWWiGIKHaPdALsQoIYIegQIARAc

 

Nice. Need a D or E load though.

 

Match the tire size and LOAD rating that is on the trailer. Inflation pressure is extremely important to maintain.

Do you really need a lugged tire for a trailer? Your not transmitting any power or direction control thru the trailer tires.

I'd think a basic straight ribbed tread would suffice and help the tracking of the trailer.

FWIW, I've had problems with Carlisle tires. Suggest to look at GoodYear, Michelin.....stay with the leaders in the tire industry. I had 2 new Carlisle tires fail within 100 miles of each other, only 1 spare. This left us stranded on a very busy interstate between Houston and San Antonio.

 

Do you remember the specs on that tire? I've read reviews that the radials in a C1 load had a reputation for delaminating but the D radials and above were supposed to be pretty solid.

Trailer tire reviews are tough to sort through though, there's always at least one that overloads or overheats, then blames the new tire for exploding.

 

No, don't remember the tire details. This was about 10 years ago.

We were on a trip from WI to San Antonio to visit my folks for Christmas. Put 3 new Carlisles (balanced) on the Coleman Santa Fe folding camper before the trip. Pulled full maintenance on the hubs and brakes. Checked tire and hubs at each stop for heat issues. The first tire failed just past Houston. Installed the spare. The second failed less than 100 mile later.

Anyhow, managed to find a temporary tire to limp the rest of the way to San Antonio. No driving experience can match crawling along a TX interstate trying to maintain 40 mph and trailer sway at faster speed........ Next day, went to a local Goodyear store. Let them evaluate the failed tires.......ended up getting 3 more new tires, Goodyears. Ran the camper for another 5 years.....then it was stolen. Never had another tire problem.

My follow up research showed me that Carlisle trailer tires are known for problems. Our particular problem was separation of the tire carcass.

I ended up buying 7 tires for that particular New Tire change. 4 of the tires were thrown away. Expensive, frustrating, white knuckle lesson.

 

Kind of a bummer. Camper definitely lost a few cool points today.

On the plus side, I took a quick 5 mile run to go top off the propane tank, and it felt like it lost some weight. Tires might pay for themselves in the mpg boost alone. I'll have to see how they do in soft terrain, though.