How Do Trailer Tire Weight Capacities Work

Published 08/04/2015

Question:

A silly question. My trailer has a weight raiting of 12,000 pounds. All tires I see have max load in the 2500 range. Do I need to look for tires with a 12000 pound max load or is the total weight divided among the 4 tires. Thank you.

asked by: Richard V

Expert Reply:

Tires like the part # AM1ST96 that have a 2,540 lbs at 65 psi are rated per tire. So if you had a tandem axle trailer you would multiply 2,540 by 4 to get the total trailer tire capacity that you would have.

You should note that to get the full capacity of the tire it will need to be inflated to it's max psi rating.

expert reply by: Jameson C