found a new option for trailer tires not spoken of before

I stopped in my local tire dealer yesterday to discuss putting the Michelin ribs LT tires on my road warrior as do not want the factory china bombs on it. He was ok with that decision but asked me about Carlisle Tires. He came up with a tire that rates at 3960 lbs at 95 psi. So even at 80psi it would rate around 3400 lbs which is more than the michelin or the goodyear g rated with only 80 psi. This is an american company and the specialize in utility tires they do import tires made to certain specs. No guarantee that they are not made in china. They have 12 and 14 ply tires in this line. http://www.carlisletire.com/products/trailer/radial_trail/index.html

I have read so many posts on this site and many others but there has been no mention of this tire. Is anybody else running these tires and if so what are your thoughts. I have trusted this dealers opinion for a few years and have never had him steer me wrong, so I'm leaning towards these now. the price was just under $775.00 for 4 tires mounted with metal valves (to hold the TMPS caps), spun balanced and filled with nitro. So they come in cheaper than the michelins or goodyears. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Hello!

Carlisles have been around a long time. Big in motorcycle tires. My experience with them and RV's (they are made in China I believe) has not been positive. I think if you search some of the other RV forums you will find quite a bit about this brand of tire.

Best Wishes!

I know of them for cycles and lawn and garden equipment but I did not know of them having trailer tires. I did some research this morning and did find a few negative comments from a trailer owners. Most of the tire blogs I've read never mention carlisles and that is why I'm trying to find out if anyone else is using this brand. My dealer admits that some of their products come from china but go through a rougher testing process and must meet higher specs as per carlisles instructions. I'm mostly impressed by the higher weight rating but if others have had failures then I can still get the michelin ribs also.

I had Carlisles on our Popup camper many years ago and had several blowouts with them. Never again

Chinese tires are...well, Chinese tires. I don't think it matters whose name is printed on the side. Do you think there's a reason they are cheaper? Spend the extra few bucks and get the ones you don't have to ask questions about...Don

Re:tires
I have been doing research for new tires to put on my 2008 Bighorn 3055RL. I do not like chinese tires . Research has proven Goodyear marathon tires to be a disappointment(many made in China), Goodyear G614, I thought, was going to be the cats' meow, but have read too many blowups on them(so what if they are guaranteed). I am thinking about putting Michelin LT265/85R/16 on my fifth wheel, the same as my 2003 Ford F-350 uses as they are good for 3460 lbs. I believe,though they are half an inch higher and one inch wider. I have to check the clearance. I cannot see putting cheap tires or defective tires under a 50 or 60 K rig. I do not like to break down.

@ Thomas... My brother in law has marathons that were made in New Zealand, they are about 5 years old and look great. I inquired at Discount tire and they stated that they only sell marathons that are made in the USA, they don't sell enough trailer tires to buy & store in large quantity so they buy small and local (USA). Tires just seem to be a crap shoot, I had duros (bias ply) that were bad and replaced (warranty) with another set of Duros (steel belted) and they seem to be good so far.
I had Carlisle trailer tires on a big tandam axle boat trailer (large heavy boat) years back in South Florida and they were still in good shape when I sold it after 8 years. There's just no guarantee!

You couldn't pay me enough green to put Carlisle back on a trailer. As stated above if you check out other forums I doubt you'd find to many people recommending them.

I've had very good luck with the Maxxis tires.

I had Carlisle come on a sob fifer. Had a side wall blow after two years and less than 4k miles. Carlisle would not stand behind the tire even though I verified tire pressue and road speed to be correct. They were made in China also. Never again!

I have done a lot of research on many different forums and talked to a lot of people that sell tires for a living. It seems to me that you get exactly what you pay for. The lower cost tires (most of these are E range tires) are ok for the first year, but need to be replaced almost every year due to weather checking or heat build up causing the tread to separate. After 2 years they seem to be time bombs waiting to go off. Most information I hear about the Carlisle is they make a good boat trailer tire as they have a lot of sizes for thinner rims.

I ran with Maxxon tires that came new for a year on my Cyclone, due to my fear of damage to my trailer and for safety due to my heavy weight (over 15k trailer weight most of the time), I switched to Michelin XP ribs, I loved the Michelins untill I ran over a cut -off T post fence pole damaging the sidewalls of 2 tires. I noticed that the sidewalls showed some evidence of dry rot after only 2 years and I keep them covered while parked. I have also read several reviews of the Michelins reporting this weakness. On my work trailers I have always run Goodyear G614 tires with great luck. I took a sawzall to a worn out 8 year old G614 tire and saw no dry rot effects or separated treads and this was a heavily abused tire.

I know money is tight, it is with me, after very little thought I decided to change to the Goodyear G614s on my Cyclone. The way I see it is that 1 blowout prevented will be worth the cost of the G614s. The peace of mind I get thinking about my wife driving behind me on premium tires is woth every penny.

IMHO if you only are pulling once or twice a year for a short distance, get the cheaper tires and replace them every other year. If you are pulling a lot of miles get a premium tire.

This forum has a lot of smart people with a lot of experience, I noticed early on that the long time operators run with the American made premium tires which holds a lot of weight with me.

Good Luck

Maxxon tires? Are they trying to confuse people by using a variation of the name of a reputable company which is Maxxis tires?

So what Travel trailer rated tires are made in the USA? My DURO's that came with my North Trail are cracking within a year of ownership. My North Trail uses ST205/75-14 tires. They are bias ply. If I go with radials I will need to purchase five tires. I went to my local America's Tire today. They had Goodyear Marathon's in stock. I asked the clerk if they were made in the USA, his answer was yes. I asked to look at them. Sure enough right on the sidewall "Made in China". So I ask again what company sells a tire rated for my trailer made in the USA? I can't find any. Carlisle tires used to be made in the USA. Not anymore, that's probably why some people have had good luck with them, because they were made here and not in China like they are now.

Carlisle is one of the oldest and largest ST tire manufacturers.

Carlisle ST tires are required by the manufacturer to be aired to the maximum amount of pressure found on the tire's sidewall. (page 7 of the reference below). So they cannot be manipulated to any other pressure ranges such as found on other tire manufacturer's inflation charts.

http://www.carlisletire.com/product_care/trailer_tire_service_guide.pdf

Carlisle ST tires have one of the shortest warranties in the industry - 2 years.

http://www.carlisletire.com/warranty/warranty.pdf

The Carlisle ST radial trailer tire has a high complaint list at SAFECAR, here is the basic web page to get to the tire complaints.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/index.cfm

Those are just the ones that customers took time to file. I'm sure the real world list would be tenfold larger.

TireHobby

bar20 said:

So what Travel trailer rated tires are made in the USA? My DURO's that came with my North Trail are cracking within a year of ownership. My North Trail uses ST205/75-14 tires. They are bias ply. If I go with radials I will need to purchase five tires. I went to my local America's Tire today. They had Goodyear Marathon's in stock. I asked the clerk if they were made in the USA, his answer was yes. I asked to look at them. Sure enough right on the sidewall "Made in China". So I ask again what company sells a tire rated for my trailer made in the USA? I can't find any. Carlisle tires used to be made in the USA. Not anymore, that's probably why some people have had good luck with them, because they were made here and not in China like they are now.

Click to expand...

bar20, Yes Marathons are made in China but supposedly to Goodyear US Specs. Are they any good? I don't know. I have heard good things and have also had a positive experience with Maxxis trailer tires. They are made abroad but not China.

Had a Marathon wipe out my wiring and fender skirt on our Yellowstone. Nearly new and failed at slow speed 10 miles into a trip. Wont buy anymore but I do have them (10 ply) on a 22 foot GN utility trailer and they holding up.