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Trailer only tires??? Can't be used on a pickup?

Cranky1

Banned Old Stinky Fart
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I have an enclosed trailer with tires that have less than 500 miles on them. What is keeping me from using these on a light duty pickup? The tires are D rated and the pickup in question is a 95 Dakota. The trailer is being used mainly as a storage building for now and well, don't want the tires going to waste just sitting.
 
You can not use trailer tires on a vehicle or vehicle tires on a trailer, the reason is the side wall design is very different, trailer tire side walls are heavier to carry the weight and the flexing of turning and the speed rating is lower, vehicle tires sidewalls are thinner but the tread is heavier so the side walls won't hold up for trailer use just as trailer tires will not ride well on a vehicle due to their design. I have been in the trailer business since 1995 and have done both with bad results i would not recommend it.
 
Kinda figured all that in and to me, trailer tires take more abuse and what not. Seems like to me, when you make a sharp turn at slow speed, they are getting a lot of side loading on them. I have a buddy that has a triple axle rig and is always killing his tires (shreds them) but I'm thinking that since he has a small area to park it in, he's jack knifing the trailer a lot. Matter of fact, I know he's jack knifing it. I have plenty of room and don't put my trailers in turns where it's more than 45 degrees truck to trailer. Now I've run passenger car tires on my open flat bed with excellent results but at the most, the weight doesn't exceed 4200 lbs loaded. My enclosed trailer weighs 4500 lbs empty! On the speed deal, the trailer sees what the truck sees so if the speed limit is 75, that's what it's going to go....at least that's what I've been doing for years with my open trailer but may have to slow down a bit with the heavier enclosed rig when I start pulling it....
 
I have been in the marine/rv business since 1994 and the way those tires fold over in tight turns [triple axle boat trailers for sure] looks like they are going to come right off the rim. And the speed thing i read that last night and i'm guilty just like everyone else of going 75-80 with a trailer behind me.
 
The fastest I've been with a loaded tandem axle trailer was 85 and it had a 70 Challenger with no engine and trans on it. The trailer weighed around 1150 and the car was probably around 3000 or less.....?
 
My friend who has towed all of my craps around, goes 5-10 over like everyone else. Most I've had on a trailer would be a full size pickup. Car trailer, goose neck whatever, drove like normal. Only issue he ran into was with a different friends homemade trailer, blew a tire, got the fender a little closer than it should have been.

I thought they made truck tires with super thick sidewalls. Like 8 ply vs 3 ply. I had some on a truck years ago, almost no tread and they were hard as a rock.
 
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Here's a decent read on ST vs LT vs P series tires....
Trailer Tires vs. Passenger Vehicle Tires

I've run P series tires on my open flat bed for over 30 years and have never had a problem but there were very few times when the load on the trailer exceeded 5000 lbs. The trailer weighs around 1150 based on the weight of the steel in it and axles etc. My enclosed trailer is about 4500 lbs empty!
 
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