Should I get new tires from the dealer?

BioGrl408

Hello all,

New to the forum and excited for my first trailer!

I'm about ready to order my T@B 320 S, but have a question about trailer tires.

I keep hearing how the tires that come with the trailer are usually not that good. Should I have the dealer put new trailer tires on before I pick up the trailer?

I'm traveling from California to Texas to pick up the trailer and want to avoid issues on the 1700 miles road trip home.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Sharon_is_SAM

The tires placed by the factory are fine.  Consider upgrading when they are due to be replaced.  

dragonsdofly

@BioGrl408, welcome to the forum. Are you buying a NEW or USED trailer? If new, what @SAM has stated is absolutely true, but if you are purchasing a previously owned trailer, find out how many miles it has traveled. If under 15,000 you're probably good to go, but if the trailer has more miles on it than that, have the tires thoroughly checked by the dealer. Our tires, new from the factory in 2016, are now 2 years old and have 18,000 miles on them. They still have tread, and I will tow locally, but before vacationing this year, as we are high mileage wanderers, I will be replacing them. Please do an introduction, tell us a little about yourself, and the year and model of your trailer. Happy t@bbing.

BioGrl408

Thanks for the advice @SAM and @dragonsdofly. I just need to "harass" the dealer with a few more questions and I'll be ready to order my new 2018  320 S trailer!

Looking forward to learning a lot from the folks on this site!

ScottG

I don't know how the reviewers define "good" but the tires hold air and roll down the road--pretty much like any other tire. I recall few if any reports of catastrophic failures related to poor tire quality. All tires need to meet certain minimum performance and safety standards for the application they are designed for.

If you have the option to order the trailer with different tires and that makes you happy, than have at it. Otherwise I agree with SAM--use up the tires you've already paid for then worry about upgrading. You'll have plenty of more interesting and important T@B stuff to learn about--enjoy your trip!

ChrisJ

What about age of the tire?  I have a 2004 T@B I got last year and I'm sure they are the original tires.  Based on the DOT tire code they were made in August 2002 and some recommend replacing automotive type tires after 5-6 years.  They have lots of tread as the trailer has not been used a lot, but I'm replacing them shortly as I just noticed some 'micro-cracking' on the sidewall.

N7SHG_Ham

ChrisJ said:

What about age of the tire?  I have a 2004 T@B I got last year and I'm sure they are the original tires.  Based on the DOT tire code they were made in August 2002 and some recommend replacing automotive type tires after 5-6 years.  They have lots of tread as the trailer has not been used a lot, but I'm replacing them shortly as I just noticed some 'micro-cracking' on the sidewall.

Differing opinions, but they generally range from seven to 10 years and many if not all tire dealers will NOT repair a tire over the 10 year mark, so I think regardless of mileage you are on right track with 2002 tires that they are beyond end of serviceable life.

Not sure what brand NuCamp is currently using, but to the OP questions they are probably OK for short time usage but if made ANYWHERE but USA the time issue is typically going to be shorter than above discussed number of years. Unfortunately I have yet to see any Asian rubber or plastics that go long term without failure, I don't think they have mastered UV inhibitors. Chinese tires in particular are know for early failures even if they have a USA company name such as Goodyear on them.

The poor tires fail even faster if underinflated overloaded and driven at high speeds. Not at all a bad investment is a tire pressure monitoring system for the trailer and the TV too if not factory equiped.

Mouseketab

On my 2007 T@B, I have replaced my tires every 4 years. I'm on my third set of tires, will replace again next summer. PLEASE replace your original 2004 tires ASAP!!

JohnDanielsCPA

My 2017 came with Westlake tires.  They are middle of the road; not great, not bad.  But I’m not worried about them.  The carrying capacity of the tires is almost twice the weight of my fully loaded T@B, and I store it out of the sun (so little to no UV exposure).  Still, given they are RV tires, unless you travel alot, they should be replaced every 5-7 years.  The amount of tread left is irrelevant; they will age out before they “tread” out.  If you still have tires on your trailer that were manufactured August 2002, you have been VERY lucky.  Fortunately, T@Bs are not very heavy (relative to the carrying capacity of the tires installed on them), so you get some grace from that.  Had you had a heavier trailer, you probably would have already had one or both blow out on you.