Speed Rating and Replacement Recommendation for Duro 4.80-12 Trailer Tire

Question:

Hi, I recently bought a used kayak trailer and have a question about the tires on it. They are Duro brand tires, and Im not sure of one thing: what the max speed rating is for highway travel Ive read questions on this site about both of the above, but these particular tires dont have the information on them to answer my questions based on those questions. All I can find on the tires is the following text and numbers that hopefully provide what you need to answer the questions above: Duro, S-005, high speed, Tubeless 4.80 - 12, Trailer 6 P.R., Load range C, Max Load 990lbs at 90 PSI Cold, 6 P.R. Tread Area 3 Plies/Side Wall 3 Plies Nylon From this list, I can tell what the PSI should be - 90, right? I read in your response to another question that the max PSI is what we should inflate these tires to. However, it may or may not matter that this is a Kayak trailer, and with 3 Kayaks and a Yakima car top box loaded on the trailer as well with a spare tire, bottle jack, and various and sundry Kayaking gear inside, this thing will be light. Do you still recommend full inflation given this? What I dont know is what is the speed rating? It says high speed on the sidewall, but what does that mean? What MPH is high speed? 65MPH? 70MPH? 80MPH? How fast can I go or what speed must I keep under? There is no letter designation for the max speed, which I understand is usually printed on the tire somewhere. Anyway, your help is greatly appreciated!

asked by: Jeff L

Expert Reply:

I recommend going with an entirely different tire for your application. When I reached out to Duro about the speed rating the reply I got back was that their standard trailer tires have a max 60 mph speed rating.

For your trailer I recommend going with the Taskmaster listed below:

- Taskmaster 4.80R12 Radial Trailer Tire # TT48012C

This is a Load Range C (990 lbs at 90 psi) like what you currently have, but it's also rated for 81 mph so you can safely travel at normal highway speeds. Since this mounts on 12" wheels you can just have a shop remove your old tires and then mount these on your current wheels.

Taskmaster doesn't have a weight rating chart for the different psi ratings so I do recommend sticking with 90 psi in the tire. You can go lower, but then you'll be operating at an unknown weight capacity and you run the risk of overloading the tire and having a blowout.

expert reply by: Jon G