Higher Speed Rating Trailer Tire Recommendation for Horse Trailer to Prevent Blow Outs

Updated 05/30/2019 | Published 05/29/2019

Question:

Had a 3-blowout weekend. Does it make sense to upgrade from load range E to either F or G to get a little extra security? Running a 17k gvwr gooseneck horse trailer, dual 7k axles, 235/80 R16s all around. The blown Tires were just over 5 years old based on stamped dot date apparently better than a year old before put on the 4 year old trailer. Tread wear was even, though I will admit, weve been exceeding the ST speed rating 65mph in order to not get run off the road. I get that the E range at 3520lbs matches the 7000 lb axle, but would an upgrade to Gs, with 14 ply and a 3750lb rating make for a safer trip or just be overkill? Or do I just need to find a better speed rated E tire?

asked by: Kevin

Expert Reply:

You mentioned a couple things that are known to cause tire failure. First being exceeding the speed rating of the tire. This causes the tire to heat up and become much more likely to fail. The good news is we have tires that have higher speed ratings now so we can easily handle that. The other issue is age. Trailer tires don't typically last longer than 6 years while some recommend replacing them at 4. So exceeding the speed rating of an older tire that's beginning to break down is a high risk.

So our best solution is going to be the Provider trailer tire part # TTWPRG235R16. This has the higher speed rating of 81 mph and has more capacity than you'll need at 4,400-lb max load at 110 psi. Since your trailer has a GVWR of 17,000 lbs there's nothing in the size you mentioned that will be rated high enough but this tire will fit and work well.

expert reply by: Jameson C