Red and Yellow marks on tires?
 

My trailer tires are relatively new, and have small red and yellow markings down deep in the tread. Anyone know what that's for?

Are they wear indicators? Colored like that?

I've never seen this before. Curious.

I haven't either and saw them in your photos. I thought though, that your tires looked petty worn.

If you don't know about this, trailer tires are not meant to be driven until the tread is worn down. They lose a large percentage of their load carrying capacity each year just due to heat buildup. I'd start thinking about new ones at about 4 years, and would not leave them on after 5.

Perhaps others have a different take on this. I know I had both OEM Goodyear Marathon tires on my trailer fail in two years and about 5000 miles due to cord separation. (Properly inflated, driven no faster than 65, covered at home from the sun, etc.)

- Jack

Jack,

Last year on the HTF, I remember your narration regarding tire load, repositioning the axle, axle alignment, etc., and your diligent efforts to resolve those problems. After correcting all that I wonder if you'll see a big increase in the mileage you get from your tires?

Jim

The yellow mark is the lightest point and is aligned with the valve stem. The red mark is the tallest point and should be alligned with a notch in the rim that signifies it's lowest point. The full info can be found here. https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f48/...-stripes-1126/

It was more of a "saga", wasn't it Jim? :D But, to answer your question, I sure hope so. I'm using tires now that are rated to 2500# each, since I was able to move up a size with the axle change and they're load range D instead of C. So, I'm now well under the weight limit.

- Jack

Good Info
 

Jack
What trailer do you have? I have a 2807 and was thinking of just moving to the 225/75s to get a little away from the limit of the 205s. I was also considering moving to the D rated tires so I could run the 65# thinking it would do a little better on mileage. What are your thoughts.
Thanks, Bob

2007 28C
2011 Sequoia SR5

Bob, I have a single axle 17-foot 2007 TowLite. I've weighed it on a truck scale and it weighs about 3500# with an empty fresh water tank. Before I had the axle moved 3 inches forward, the tongue weight measured with a Sureline scale was in the neighborhood of 630# with the tank full.

The axle was so far back on the trailer that there was less than 1/2" between the tire and the entry step into the trailer.

The OEM Load range C tires that came with the trailer had a combined weight rating of about 3680# as I recall. So, you can see I had NO margin of safety. (The hitch weight, which was supposed to be in the neighborhood of 320# actually exceeded the 600# limit of my WD hitch too.

So, I had the axle moved forward 3 inches and, on the advice of the people who did the remounting, had a spacer inserted between the axle and frame that raised the trailer about 1 1/2 inches too. The net result was, I was able to go up to 225/75R15 Load range D tires with a combined weight rating of 5080#. And the tongue weight is about 15% of the trailer weight (around 570# now with the tank full as I recall). I inflate these tires to 65 PSI cold and have a compressor I can run off my generator to keep the pressure there when on a trip.

I had to buy new rims for the new tires. The OEM rims were 15" with a 5" wide bead width. The new ores are 15" with a 6" wide bead. width. The rims are rated to a combined weight of over 5000# too. The new tires and rims, while wider and taller have no clearance problems except I had to cut some of the rear cable adjusting bolts off.

So, that leaves the axle at a 3500# rating. I wanted to change it too, but repeated communication with Dexter Axle convinced me the next size up would be too wide. Still, I'm not as worried about the axle as I was about the tires. The axle is carrying the gross weight of the trailer minus the hitch weight, the weight of the wheels and the axle itself, so it should be somewhat under the limit.

As far as mileage, the larger, higher inflated tires don't seem to have made much of a difference. But the piece of mind is worth everything to me.

If you have the clearance (they might interfere with each other on tandem axles though), it might be worth thinking about changing. But, the tandem axle trailers have a combined rating of 7000#, which gives you a better margin even with the OEM setup.

- Jack