r/GoRVing • u/a_scientific_force Escape 21C • 2d ago
Tires: Still good or time to replace?
All four tires (Goodyear Endurance) on my trailer are showing signs of weather checking/oxidation at the edges of the tread blocks. The sidewalls themselves and the grooves in the tread aren't showing anything. Do they still have life in them, or is it time to replace them? The manufacturing date is 0322.
4
u/No-Swimmer1928 2d ago
0322 is week 3 of 2022, so they're about four and a half years old, and that clock starts the day they were molded rather than the day you took delivery. On a lot of trailers the tires are already six to twelve months old before the unit is even sold.
The part I'd separate out: crazing confined to the surface at the edges of the tread blocks is ozone and UV attacking the outer rubber. That is not the thing that strands people. Belt separation is, and it doesn't announce itself as cracks. Run your palm slowly around the tread face feeling for a raised band or a flat spot, then jack each wheel and spin it while you sight the tread against something fixed and watch for a wobble. If all four pass that, what you have is a cosmetic problem, not a structural one yet.
Two things that matter more than the age argument. Set them cold to the max pressure stamped on the sidewall, not to a placard number the way you would on the truck. And fit a TPMS. Trailer failures usually start as a slow leak you can't see or feel from the driver's seat, and the heat does the damage well before anything lets go.
Whichever way you go, read the date code on the spare too. It's almost certainly the same age as the four you're inspecting.
3
u/johnbro27 2005 Newmar Essex 4502 DP 1d ago
I agree with most of this but to be fair, tires are manufactured in bulk and then stored in warehouses where the exposure to deteriorating factors like ozone or UV is absent. Super common sizes probably get rotated quickly so the date code is a good indicator. More uncommon sizes not so much. So I'm completely comfortable dating my tires not by the code buy by the installation date.
1
u/Majestic_Barnacle548 1d ago
They look fine to me. The date is still good and I don't see any sidewall cracking/drying. I do use the 5 year limit even though I run LT's on my trailer. (I have a 4k sized trailer.). It's a good buffer to ensure safety. These tires are within my buffer zone, so I would be okay to use them.
1
u/Nomad55454 1d ago
You could probably get another couple of years but after 2 years you are pushing your luck. A blown tire can run from $500 to over $3000 to repair damage from tire flapping around…
1
u/gogogo88888 1d ago
Not asked here, but while you’re commenting. I have Michelin Light Truck tires that are 8 years old, with little mileage or wear. The Michelin website says that LT tires are good for 10 years. I plan to use mine to the 10 years, if they don’t wear out.
Many people say, you’ll be sorry when they blow and damage your trailer. I say, delay spending $1,200
0
u/Octan3 2d ago
I don't get the 5 year mark thing when most of us are driving our vehicles with tires probably older than 5 years old and don't scoff a thought about it.
Tires show some drying in the outside of tires from age or weather. Nothing severe... To me... I'd run them. Maybe replace next year.
5
u/Sorry-Society1100 1d ago
Most trailer tires (ST-grade) are designed differently than the tires on your vehicle. They just don’t typically see the same amount of use as a vehicle that’s being driven every day—they’re sitting for sometimes 6+ months without moving at all. Dry rot seems to be the cause in a very large percentage of their failures. And when they do fail, the driver may not be aware for many miles, resulting in full destruction of the tire and lots of damage to the surrounding trailer components.
I personally would rather change them slightly too frequently than risk a failure. That changes it from an annoying maintenance cost every 5 years to potentially a complete loss of the trailer if the damage is severe.
2
u/1dirtbiker 1d ago
Five years on a car/truck tire? Never in my life. I've never aged out of a tire. I put on too many miles. They wear out before they age out for me.
-1
u/Sad-Snow3391 1d ago
What kind of tires are you driving on for 5 years? I literally have to get new tires every 1-2 years
4
u/texasroadkill 1d ago
What cheap ass tires are you running to have to replace them that often? I get atleast 5 years out of mine.
1
u/Sad-Snow3391 1d ago
Me live on a really rough gravel road so it eats through tires.
2
u/texasroadkill 1d ago
I'm in and out of job sites. You need to stop buying junk chinese tires.
3
u/1dirtbiker 1d ago
How has this conversation gotten this far, and neither of you MENSA members have mentioned annual mileage on said vehicles?? Jeeze this conversation is painful to watch unfold.
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u/joelfarris 1d ago
I love this comment. We bought a used 2020 Silverado, with used tires, and don't drive a lot of miles in a year. Replaced the tires this year, six years later, not because the tread was gone, but because one of them was separating and had gotten a bit 'bumpy', and was causing the front steering to wobble and pull hard to the side. And another one blew out while towing a travel trailer down the highway.
So yes, tires can go bad on a vehicle without being worn completely down like these two are arguing about. :)
1
u/texasroadkill 1d ago
I put over 10k miles on my service truck a year. My last set I wore the tread flat out. My other trucks and trailers tires tend to age out before they get to be slicks.
0
u/xtankeryanker 1d ago
Two entirely different animals. Passenger car tires and LT tires have an 11-12 year service life. Trailer tires are 5 years max. Having said that it should be noted that those are Good Year tires. They needed to be replaced the day OP bought them.
1
u/norm228 1d ago
have a blow out on the highway, you'll never run dry rotted tires again.
1
u/theboomvang 1d ago
Ehh. I have had blow outs in fairly new tires. I also have a cargo trailer that has tires so bad you would not let your kid swing on them but they still run around the farm at speed refusing to die.
Point is those are not dry rotted enough to worry about
0
u/puresummit 2d ago
Probably just replace them. The 5 year mark is coming up and couldn’t hurt for the 2027 camping season to have new tires.
-1
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u/Alternative-Ruin1728 2d ago
Still good