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Random Quote: Neccessity is the Mother of invention. Hunger is the Father.
The capacity might be the same, but they are not designed the same. Trailer tires are of a different compound and have sturdier sidewalls (and a few other differences).
As in buying marine engine parts, stick with the properly designed trailer tires too.
I HAVE NEVER TRYED IT ON A BOAT TRAILER BUT ON MY CAR TRAILER I HAD GOODYEARS RADIAL CAR TIRES SINCE 1994 AND JUST RPLACED THEM THIS YEAR THEY WERE WIDER AND LOOKED REALLY GOOD I HAULED LOTS OF REALLY HEAVY STUFF ON THEM WAY OVER LAODED ECT NO TROUBLES
You want trailer tires on your trailer, not car tires. They have a stronger sidewall as previously mentioned, and are designed for trailering.
Goodyear Marathon trailer tires are good ones. Some folks like Carlyles, others don't. But spend the extra it may cost for good trailer tires. Same for the spare(s) you should be carrying.
Stranded on the side of the road, or having to leave your boat on the roadside is no fun. It can happen to any of us, but good tires go a long way toward safety and a successful trip.
With car tires you will blowout the sidewall if you have a heavy boat. I know because I used one one time in a pinch. Never swapped it out when I got a new trailer tire and ended up swapping them on the side of a very bussy highway. The sidewalls are just not sturdy enough on a car tire.
My boat trailer has two 3500# axels under it and my boat tips the scales at 4800# loaded up and full of fuel. I used to have a lot of problems with a harsh ride and after a long trip (100 miles) I’d have to tighten up bolts and screws on the trailer and boat.
I tried varying the air pressure in the trailer tires, but the ideal pressure for the ride was too low for the tire life. It caused the tires to get hot, wear excessively, and I had one blowout. Originally I had a set of LoadStar tires, and then a set of Goodyear Marathons.
I was talking to the guy at the tire shop about it and he suggested trying passenger car or light truck tires. He said they didn’t have the stiff sidewall of a trailer tire and, with the loads I’m dealing with, they should ride a lot better.
He picked out a set that met the criteria required on my setup and put them on. They work great. I’ve had no problems and they carry the weight, do not sway, ride better, and I think they’ll last longer than the trailer tires.
Now if my rig weighed 7000# I don’t think passenger car tires would be adequate or safe. On my particular rig though, they seem to work well.
One other note, you can do all of the estimating in the world, but until you actually weigh your rig, your best guess at how much it weighs is just that, a guess. I added the hull weight, motors, trailer, gas, equipment, and was still almost 1000# light of its actual weight.
I would try truck tires before using radial car tires. The truck tires have more plies, use higher pressure, and have a much heavier load capacity. The best bet is to ask a person who sells tires for a living (but not the kid a wal mart or sam's club!!). He will know what to do.
That’s an informative site in your post. Before reading it, I didn’t have a clue as to what the digits in the old alphanumeric designations meant.
I do think they missed a bit in the traction part.
From the site:
“Since trailers have no driving torque applied to their axles, the only time trailer tires MUST have traction is during the application of trailer brakes.”
I would say that at ALL times a trailer MUST maintain lateral traction.
I suppose there may be some guys that could do a 180 with their boat and parallel park it in a Hollywood fashion. For me personally, any time my trailer looses lateral traction, something has gone seriously wrong.
Some interesting thoughts and comments? Especially regarding “thick” or “stronger” sidewalls.
Technically the thickest or strongest sidewall is probably a bias ply tire. However, due to the bias ply construction these tires typically run very hot, are very susceptible to puncture wounds (and the puncture causes a lot more damage vs a radial tire) and do not have the tread life of a radial tire due to the internal construction of the bias plys working against each other.
I worked for a major tire manufacturer for 7 years (although this was 10 years ago) and handled mostly commercial truck and off road tires but am also knowledgeable about passenger lines as well. I could probably bore you hours on end about tires!
First, tires, just like boats, are compromises. For example you can decrease a tires rolling resistance (ie improve fuel mileage) and increase wear rate (over all tread life) but usually at the cost of wet traction and handling.
Two, keep in mind that tires do not support the weight of the vehicle/load- the air in the tire supports the weight and the tire is just a casing to hold the air. IF you doubt this, please see how much weight a deflated tire supports.
There are typically 2 main enemies of tires- impact (puncture, curb, hazard, etc), and heat.
There is not much that can be done to avoid impact damage other than using some type of belted (steel or Kevlar) belted radial tire. Some tires, particularly those designed for off road and trailer use have increased rubber on the sidewalls to help with curbing and some impact. This protection from true impact is minimal and is really designed to offer protection against scrubbing against a curb as the rubber is only a few mm’s thick.
The biggest preventable issue is heat failure. Heat failure can be caused by many circumstances. Number one cause is overloading/under inflation of tires. This situation can cause a failure in two ways: (1) the tire is flexing ( all radial tires are designed with sidewall flex) at the wrong point in the sidewall causing more friction and thus heat leading to failure, (2) the tire is flexing at a point in the sidewall where it is not designed to flex and to a degree it was not designed to flex resulting in fatigue and what looks like a “zippered” sidewall.
This problem is more evident in trailers and RVs because the chassis manufacturer of these vehicles generally, in a cost cutting move, put on the minimum tire they think will be needed. This original tire does not take into consideration of the actual weight of the vehicle when it is fully loaded. As others have said the only valid method is to weigh the individual axles of the vehicle when fully loaded- no substitute and pick a load range applicable.
Other issues such as mis-aligned axles, dragging brakes, etc can generate heat and contribute to failures.
Now, as to trailer tires or passenger tires on a trailer. Typically there is no reason why you can’t run a passenger tire or LT tire on a trailer. In many cases tires for the same use (ie highway cruising) and load range will have the same or similar casings. The manufacturers use different compounds and tread designs to determine individual characteristics.
This is true in the commercial truck market where carriers will use a retreaded “steering’ tire casing on a trailer or drive wheel position. The difference between the trailer tire and steering tire (new)- cost, amount of rubber (steering tire has 18/32 new and trailer tire ~ 14/32 new), less sipes on trailer tires to enhance ability to slide around a corner, and some trailer tires have increase rubber on the sidewalls for ‘curbing”.
However, that being said, there can be differences in materials, design, and construction especially with specialty tires (high speed Z rated tires for instance). Is it possible to have some advantages in a specialty trailer tire- yes, just make sure there really is.
Also be aware that in many cases manufacturers may actually build a trailer tire to LOWER specifications. Reason is that people are less likely to spend more money on an expensive tire for a trailer that is going to sit half its life. If you doubt this ask how many bias ply trailer tires are available vs how many bias ply passenger tires are around.
Personally I would have no trouble running trailer or passenger tires on my trailer as long as the tire meet the load range necessary. I would be more likely to use a LT tire in a ribbed tread design due to it having potentially thicker sidewall rubber).
One other fun fact- be careful about applying armor all type protectant and cleaner (this can apply to other materials as well). The rubber in tires is manufactured with certain uv inhibitors and protection. By applying these products you can strip out the protection and the only way to maintain protection is to consistently and constantly re-apply the protectant. Great stuff and makes your tires, dash, etc look great but once you apply make sure you keep doing so?
Use trailer tires only. Shop around for deals. Car tires can not handle the stresses of tight radius turns like at a ramp, backing up, etc. Tried cheaper car tires and was stranded on a Saturday far, far from home. Found a little tire shop open and they put a used car tire on to get me home.
Four new (imported) radials rated for trailer service went on that next week. 2 yrs later and NO problems whatsoever. Tires still look brand new.
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I can't imagine a trailer ever imposing the types of loads that are seen on the front end of a passenger car or truck. Just normal lateral loads resulting from turning the car or truck would probably be more severe than anything a trailer would ever see. You can crank the hell out of the steering wheel on a car or truck (well maybe not on a Ford Explorer) and not harm the tire at all.
turning the wheel on car or truck is a lot different then a sharp turn from a stop on a dual axle trailer, the sidewalls will take a hell of a beating on dual axle on a sharp turn almost to were you think there going to pop off the rims.
turning the wheel on car or truck is a lot different then a sharp turn from a stop on a dual axle trailer, the sidewalls will take a hell of a beating on dual axle on a sharp turn almost to were you think there going to pop off the rims.
This is true.....I think the main reason for blow outs is HEAT and one of the main reasons for heat on a boat trailer is dragging rusted brakes.
The man that invents a rust proof brake for a boat trailer will be a millionaire.
I'm not talking about a SS caliber and disk they are crap too (will never last as long as a reg. car brake).
But then agian they are still putting crapy "yellow zink" u-bolts on $3000.00 trailers!!!!!!!!Everybody and there brother knows they will be rusted junk in two years!!
I have a 17.5 ft boat, and the whole rig can't weigh more than 2500 pounds max. I purchased a new trailer 5 years ago, and had to replace the original tires within 18 months. I replaced them with a mid-range radial auto or truck tire. I have had no sidewall problems, the tread is good, and have trailered the boat numerous times from SC to the Keys. Putting radial auto tires on my boat trailer was a wise decision in my humble opinion.
Apparently, engineers at Goodyear and other tire companies feel that trailers impose different conditions on tires than do cars and trucks. This is why the tire companies manufacture and sell tires specifically designed for use on trailers even though it is a small portion of their business.
Since my 7,000 lb "pride and joy" is riding on them, I'm going with the engineer's recommendation and using "ST" (Special Trailer) tires. They're not really more expensive, just a little harder to find.
Others may feel differently, it's your decision based on your own research and experience.
The heat does not come from turning [ that just tries to rip them off of the rims]
The heat comes from the poor suspension on the trailer and the constant swaying back and forth while towing. Just think about the Indy car drivers doing left/rights on the warm up lap , that is what your trailer is doing the whole time you are towing it.
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pros and cons trailer tires or car tires 
