Carlisle Sport Trail tires?

[mmuscato]

Has anyone tried the Carlisle Sport Trail tires? I just had my first blowout and I found these at DiscountTire a local tire chain.

[wmtire]

Mmuscato, I think you can find much better choices than the Carlisle's. I have read on these forums, that Trailmanor at one time used these tires, but had enough problems with them, that they discontinued them.

[allenj]

I recently put the Carlisle Sport Trails on my 2004 2720SL, after one of the original Goodyears blew out. I have done only one trip with them so far. I can't say that I like their reputation, but they do have a somewhat higher load rating than the Goodyears, and since the 14" Kumhos are no longer available I didn't see any better options at the time.

[ragmopp]

and since the 14" Kumhos are no longer available I didn't see any better options at the time.


Allen,

I checked at TireRack.com and they sell the 14 inch Kunho's for $86....

Mike Anderson

[ShrimpBurrito]

I think he's looking for the 14" 205's, which are backordered.

Dave

[ragmopp]

I wonder why....the 205 Marathons are rated at 1760 lb.; and the 195 Kumhos are rated at 2094... I would think (but what do I know?) that would be adequate for the 2720SL. Next spring I will replace with the 195's

Mike

[wmtire]

I wonder why....the 205 Marathons are rated at 1760 lb.; and the 195 Kumhos are rated at 2094... I would think (but what do I know?) that would be adequate for the 2720SL. Next spring I will replace with the 195's

Mike

I don't know if I ever explained the differences between sizing systems of the metric sized tires and the Euro-metric tires before. If I did, then please ignore all this boring stuff below: :D

OK, the Goodyear Marathons that come on our trailers are sized in what's called simply enough "metric" tire sizing. Tires can be "P" metric , "LT" metric, or "ST" metric (which the marathons are). The P, LT, or ST designate the type of tire use, but the numbers behind that designation mean the same.

Just using the 14 inch tires for example, our trailer tires are ST215/75R14.

This means this tire is a "Special Trailer" (ST) use tire. It is 215 millimeters wide when loaded at it's normal carrying capacity (this is the space between the bulging parts of the sidewall, and not the actual tread width), the sidewall is 75 percent as tall as the tire is wide when at it's normal carrying capacity. It's a Radial (R) constructed tire and it fits a 14 inch rim.

These ST tires can come in 4, 6, or more plies, which will be designated by a Load Range letter of B, C, or higher. This Load range letter won't be in the sizing, but somewhere else on the tire.

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Ok, now the tires that many of us are trying on our trailers are sized in what's called Euro-metric sizing or Euro tires as I call them. This sizing system is a little different.

Most everyone is trying an Euro-sized tire that is 195/R14C

The 195 means the tire is 195 millimeters wide.

Now note, that there isn't an aspect ratio number, which was 75 in our tire above. Euro-sized tires of this type don't put the number in their sizing. If they did, it would be an 82. This means our Euro tire is actually a 195/82R14C if we tried to make it come out to the same metric numbering system as our 215/75R14 tire above. Because this tire is 82 percent as tall as it is wide, it gives it more sidewall to stand up to the heavier loads.

It's a Radial (R) constructed tire and goes on a 14 inch rim.

Now to the C after the rim size. It's easy to confuse this for a Load Range letter, which it is not. In our Euro-sized tire, this C means it is a commercial rated tire used in heavy hauling applications. It would be similar to our "LT" or "ST" designation used above. It's just at the back of the size instead of the front

These Euro Tires will also have a Load Range designation letter located somewhere else on the tire. These tires will likely have a C, D, or higher. Most everyone is using a D (8 ply) rated tire.

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Now that we know the difference in the tire sizing used for the tires, we can also understand why our metric ST215/75R14 is practically the same height as the Euro-metric 195/{82}R14C tire..........and works easily as a replacement. 75 percent of 215... is close to 82 percent of 195.

[allenj]

All I know is that when I went through this exercise a few months ago, the higher load rating Kumhos were listed at Tire Rack, but seemed to be permanently back ordered, with the same situation at other dealers I found that listed them. Other sources I read indicated that Kumho had stopped exporting this tire to the US market. Perhaps that's changed again with the changing economic situation.

Although I can't find the specs on them anymore, the Carlisle tires I got (from Discount Tire, by the way) were a load range D 14" (65 PSI) with a load capacity of over 1800 lbs, so I figured that was at least an improvement over the Goodyears' 1760 lbs.

Edit: I see the 195/R14 Kumhos are listed as being In Stock now at Tire Rack. If they had been available at the time I would have purchased them.

[Bill]

Bobby - That's good info, thanks for posting it. I've always wondered about that. And no, I don't think you've posted it before, since I think I would have seen it.

Allen - I'm having trouble finding the Carlisles you mentioned on their web site. Can you be more specific? In the Carlisle catalog, the best Sport Trail 14-inch tire seems to be 50 psi max, 1870 pounds capacity, which sounds awfully much like the Marathons. The only 65 psi tire I find is a 15-incher with 2540 pound capacity. Both of these are bias tires, not radials, FWIW. Is it hidden somewhere here http://www.carlisletire.com/products/trailer/sport_trail/index.html ?

Bill

[allenj]

I can't find the original specs on the Carlisle web page anymore either. According to another web site reference, this tire series (Sure Trail) has been discontinued. Anyway, here's the same tire listed at another dealer. It has an 1860 lb rating.

Carlisle Sure Trail ST195/75D14
http://www.dhmtrailers.com/online/product.php?productid=1525&cat=82&page=1

[Harry Womack]

I am now using Maxxis 10 ply trailer tires. They are available from discount tire. I have had several Goodyear tires seperate.