trailer tire question

[martymcfly]

I bought a 7x12 enclosed trailer to haul a rzr 800. It came with bias ply tires. Will I notice a difference if I put on a set of radials? Less rolling resistance? I tow with a 16 Ram 1500 with a Hemi. My MPG gets cut in half when I tow this set up. Goes from 20 to about 9. My rzr is not that heavy.

[swoody126]

in my experience the drop in fuel mileage is due to the shape of the trailer and it's windage more than rolling resistance

you are experiencing a huge increase in wind resistance

enclosed trailers are notorious for this

switching to radials wont hurt butt don't expect any miracles

it is possible you will age the tires out(5 years from manufacture date) before any benefit in fuel economy could pay for the switch

typically however the ride in the trailer will benefit

just this old man's opinion based on personal experience

sw

[tony.latham]

I agree with Swoody. You'll get a better ride but you'll not decrease the drag that's causing the MPG issue.

T

[bobhenry]

You will notice a bigger difference in MPG if you just slow down a bit !

[gudmund]

changed the stiff sided ST -bias ply- tires to car tires a few years ago (same size tire but now radial) = "much" better ride but 'no' change in gas mileage - than last year built a 5 inch high air deflector on the back of my PU canopy which kicks the air up over my trailer (trailer is about 4 inches taller than the PU) and MPG average has gone up ^1.3mpg^ - 8000 mile of towing last summer = 17.3mpg - prior years of towing average =16.0mpg - equals about 40+ gallons saved x say $2.50 per gallon = $100 saved so far. the deflector cost me right at $300 to make (Plexiglas, new Yakama canopy mounting strips and used cross bar.) = another 15/16000 miles it will have $$ for itself...………….

[coyote]

Where do you find these different kinds of 12 inch tires? After 4 summers @ 4000 miles requiring new tires each fall, and each different tires sales store each time, suggesting their idea (with no limits on price)...nothing changes. I know some of the smaller cars (Subaru, Geo) came with 12 inch tires in the early 80's, and they surely were getting better quality than that. (tear in question weighs 680 lbs. and drive at or under speed limit, on paved roads only, at different psi, alignment is correct) Coyote

[gudmund]

the 12 inch tires used on Geo Metro's years ago were a size of 145/80x12 The newer generation of Metro's from 1995 on, used 155/80x13 which are still fairly common - can't say so much for the 12 inchers. W-M is still my source for the 13's I use on my 2001 #7 Swift (main daily driver since 1987 - 7 of them so far = over 1million miles driven to/from work - now retired = still a 'great' cheap daily driver, over 43+mpg and $$$ for!!!!!) These 13's at W-M run about $37 per and last me almost 50 miles thou each - I use the same brand/model of tire on my teardrop = 205/75x14 and $$= $57 each = they ride GREAT!! and have been wearing just 'fine' (and are USA made - by Goodyear for W-M-with the "Douglass" brand name on them) I have seen trailer wheels for sale at Tractor Supply and if i remember right, I think I did see a 4 lug version of a 13 inch wheel there?? You might do some fender sizing to see if you could fit the 13 inch version.......... FYI: a 155/80x13 will measure out to 22.76 inches in diameter / 145/80x12 = 21.12 in diameter = 1.6 in larger in overall diameter for the 13 inch tire/wheel setup, thus putting the tire .8 inch closer to the fender ............. (might as well say "one" inch closer......)