Should Trailer Tire with Splits in Rubber on Sidewalls Be Replaced

Updated 07/15/2019 | Published 07/13/2019

Question:

I have a 19ft camper single axle with karrie loadstar ST205/175 D 14 load range D tires it is only two years old and one of my tires has several splits on the side wall is that normal and is it safe for me to use??

asked by: Robert G

Helpful Expert Reply:

You need to replace that tire immediately as it's going to fail in the very near future. It's odd that a 2 year old tire is already showing that type of wear as they normally are good till 6 years but either way it's time to replace the tire. Also worth mentioning is that you may have bought the tire 2 years ago but it could have been several years old by the time you ended up with it which might be why it seems to be falling apart way too early.

In the tire size of 205/75-14 the tire I recommend is the Load Range D part # AM10235 from Kenda has a max capacity of 2,200 pounds at 75 psi, a great 5-year warranty, and speed rating at 81 mph.

Here's how to find the date code of your tire in case you wanted to determine it's age. The date code of a tire is listed near the bead seat close to the wheel rim. You will find a DOT listing and the date of manufacture is the last four digits of the DOT code. The first two of these four digits are the week of manufacture, and the last two digits are the year. For example, if the last four digits of the DOT code are 2618, that means that the tire was manufactured during the twenty-sixth week of the year 2018.

expert reply by: Jameson C