My ole man just bought a 16' flat bed 5th wheel trailer, 20' total length. Tandem axle. We are replacing the deck, as the wooden one has rotted out, replacing the wiring and upgrading the lights to LED's, brakes, wheel bearings and seal, and painting the whole thing. He picked it up for 500 bucks so no complaints here. LOLIt needs new tires due to the old tires being dry rotted and balder than a nascar tire. What tires would you recommend and why? I have no idea what trailer tire to go with.Won't be towing to many heavy loads but want to put here to the test from time to time LOL

It might be helpful to know the wheel size and how much gross axle weight you plan on,

Anything with an "E" rating.15" or 16" wheels and what is the axle weight ratings or trailer weight rating?

I'd definetley go with a load range E tire. They're a heavier built tire meant for heavy loads and if you're hauling something heavy and unfortunatley get in an accicdent, thats one less thing they can try to put the blame on you over by not having them.

I replaced the tires on my 5er last year. After I did a bit of checking around, the only thing I came up with was people complaining about this or that tire being a piece of junk. No one posted what a great set of tires they have. The trailer came with Maxxis, model M8008, load range D on it they lasted 9 yr and no problems, so I put another set of them on last October. I've put about 2200 mi on them with no problem. Tomorrow I leave for a 1000 mi trip with the trailer and the tires check out o'k pretrip. My trailer is just over 8000 lb.

Check out Galdiater E rated trailer tires.

They are a 15" Rim. I can't imagine we'll ever tow over 10,000 on it, if we ever even see that much. I would like to go a little overkill to be on the safe side. Ive heard some good stuff from Maxxis tires, I'll check out Gladiaters too. Thanks Guys!

Last year I changed over the tires and wheels on our toy hauler from 225 75 15 ''China bombs'' to 225 75 16 Michelin LT tires. With the wheels I went from 65psi 2500lb rims to 90psi 3040lb. The tires have about the same rating as the old ''China bombs'' but the rims gained about 500lb capacity but most important to me I no longer worry about those crap tires blowing out.

China bombs...

 

The biggest thing is to check the speed rating of the tire. Like I know both trailers (RV and utility) have the J Speed rating (62 MPH) or K speed rating (68 MPH).Both trailers can't exceed the weight allowance in normal use. I've never had a single issue with China made tires. A matter of fact I ran a set of ST tires on my truck that where Load Range G's (3,750#) and Speed rating of Q (99 MPH) never had a issue with using a ST on my truck either.

 

Just to make you think.

My trailer tires last 3 to 3.5 years with less that 10k miles on them and then they blow no matter how much tread is on them. I have run china bombs and us made. ST and LT all with the same results. They go with little to no warning. My trip from Iowa, I air the tires up, checked them again about 50 miles down the highway, good pressure, tires were not hot at all. Checked  them again about 75 miles later, same condition. Blew one tire about 100 miles later and when I got stopped in the rest 1 more had already separated some and a third was starting to bubble and separate. Just over 3 years old.

Interesting on your tire failures. I still wonder about speed rating being a factor in the failures.

This might be out of the question, but are your trailer axles aligned correctly? They may have come from the factory misaligned but thats the only thing I can think of that would go through tires like that.

 have never had them checked, but after the fiasco coming out of Iowa I need to. One set of wheels is closer together than the other. I dont remember seeing that before. As far as the tires, it has been the same on both of my 5th wheels, 3 to 3.5 years and they are shot. 

 have never had them checked, but after the fiasco coming out of Iowa I need to. One set of wheels is closer together than the other. I dont remember seeing that before. As far as the tires, it has been the same on both of my 5th wheels, 3 to 3.5 years and they are shot. 

Sounds like the cheap bushings in the suspension are worn out. I need to check them on my trailer this year.

Ya I would probably check out the suspension under there. Lots of bushings to wear out like Tom said. Maybe you need to adjust the pressures? I am just throwing ideas out there so im not pointing in any one direction. Trailer tires should be lasting a lot longer than that.

I put a set of DURO tires on my last fiver (2x5k axles), pulled them when I bought the fiver I have now and put them on before I even left the dealership. That was in 2005 and my tires still look like new. I am going to examine them real closely this spring though.

I have a trailer with a bigger axle under it than it ever tows. Wears out tires on the outside edges prematurely. 3,000# axle on a trailer that is 5x10' and never gets more than maybe 1,800# on it. So maybe if you tow it with no load it wears tires like mine?

I have a trailer with a bigger axle under it than it ever tows. Wears out tires on the outside edges prematurely. 3,000# axle on a trailer that is 5x10' and never gets more than maybe 1,800# on it. So maybe if you tow it with no load it wears tires like mine?

That sounds like an alignment problem to me. Wearing out the outside is either to much camber or both camber and toe in problem. You sure an axle isn't slightly bent?

Nope. The preload on the axle never does straighten out. Always bent up in the middle.

It should be bent up in the middle, but maybe yours is a bit more than it is supposed to be?

Never had a set long enough to see the wear.