Tire life

[joe in calif]

I have a Jayco Jay flight G2 23 FB, it's an 08 I bought in June of this year. The tires are in great shape looks like the trailer was only used a few times. The production date on the tires is April of 2007 so I know they are the original, they have almost all the tread on there and no cracks but how long is the tire life on travel trailers. Should I be thinking about changing them? I know car and motorcycles tires are good for about 6 years.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by joe in calif

snip.......Should I be thinking about changing them? I know car and motorcycles tires are good for about 6 years.

Joe,

I have heard the same thing, about 5-6 years tires should be looked at very closely, but in many cases recommended to be replaced do to age. My brother tells me that in Florida he changes his tires more often (3-4 years) because of heat and sunlight issues, but I don't know if that is a rule of thumb in the southern states. I have heard that tires just sitting (under load) and getting very little use for long periods of time may compromise longevity.

My '05' Eagle has the original '04' dated Maxxis tires "C" rated tires on them and one tire this camping season is showing signs of sidewall cracking, so I plan to install a new set of Maxxis "D" rated tires first thing next spring (when I take it out of winter storage). My TT tires have worn extremely well and I have always protected them from the sunlight when in storage, and my TT has a lot of highway miles on it.

A little off topic, but I just put a new set of tires on my 2002 GM TV replacing the original LT tires. I use my TV only for towing so the tires had 52,000 miles on them but were 9 years old. I experienced tread separation (I'm sure an age related root cause) on one tire this summer thus I replaced all of them...., was planning to replace them this fall anyways.

IMO, if your '07' dated TT tires are in great condition, I would at least go another season and give them another good inspection. Maintaining the proper air pressure helps with tire life as well.

Bob

[Tyreguy]

Six years is pretty much the limit on tire life. All tire companies warranty their product (workmanship & materials) for 6 years from the date of manufacture with some going as young a 4 years.
Regardless of tread condition and/or physical appearence, you really have no way to tell how good or bad a tire may be. Most (using that term heavily) RV/TT tires will fail due to lack of use, low air pressure, and old age before you ever wear them out.

All I can recommend (from a life-long tire salesman) is be prepared!

[edatlanta]

The tires on my 2010 5'er were manufactured in September 2009 so they are two years old right now. My plan is to replace them not this winter, but late 2012 or early 2013. I full time and during the winter/spring I am at my home base so I will have plenty of time. I have 7,000 axles so I'm going to replace the wheels as well as the tires and move from an "E" rated tire that is close to max load to a "G" rated tire where I will have plenty of excess capacity. Not that I'm going to add any more weight to my 5'er, but just to have a bit more "wiggle room". This will be an expensive change, but I feel it is worth it.
My dealer told me that Dexter told him (second hand info is always questionable obviously) that the wheels on my 5'er are rated for 110 psi. I will be verifying this before buying new wheels. This will save me some bucks. Hopefully he is correct.
Regardless, my tires are leaving in a year or so.