Trailer Tires
ST-rated tires built for the sideways loads and heat of towing a trailer, never for a car.
Find trailer tires for your car
We list the sizes your vehicle takes and send you straight to trailer tires in those sizes. Cars with different front and rear sizes are shown as two separate buys.
Trailer tires are a separate species. They carry the ST (Special Trailer) designation and are built with stiffer sidewalls, more plies and a compound tuned for load-carrying and heat rather than grip or comfort. A trailer does not steer or brake the way a car does; it gets dragged sideways through turns and sits for months at a time, so the tire must resist sidewall flex, ozone cracking and the heat that builds up in a heavily loaded tire at highway speed.
Who they are for
They are for anyone who tows a boat, camper, utility, horse or car trailer. Never put passenger or light-truck tires on a trailer axle unless the trailer maker specifies them, and never put ST tires on a vehicle; their softer grip and stiff construction are dangerous on a car.
What to know before you buy
The honest facts: trailer tires fail more often than car tires, almost always from overloading, underinflation, age or speed. Most ST tires are rated for 65 mph, some newer ones for 75 mph or more (look for the speed letter: L is 75 mph, M is 81 mph). They should be replaced by age, typically every five to six years regardless of tread, since sidewall cracking from sitting in the sun is the usual killer.
When shopping, match or exceed the load range on the trailer's placard (C, D or E are common), buy radials rather than bias-ply for highway use, check the date code, and keep them at the maximum sidewall pressure. Goodyear's Endurance is the best-known US-built ST radial; other brands in our range make relatively few ST tires, and specialty brands such as Carlisle, Maxxis and Hercules fill out the market. Prices run from about 80 dollars for a 13-inch tire to 250 dollars for a 16-inch load range E radial.
Buy this if
Anyone towing a boat, camper, utility, horse or car-hauler trailer with axles that call for ST tires.
- Stiff sidewalls resist the sideways loads a trailer puts on tires
- Higher load capacity per size than passenger tires
- Compounds resist ozone and cracking from sitting
Skip it if
You are shopping for a vehicle; ST tires are never safe on a car, truck or SUV.
- Most are limited to 65 mph unless marked with a higher speed letter
- Must be replaced by age, usually every 5 to 6 years
- Cheap imports have a poor reliability record
Best trailer tires right now
Goodyear Endurance
US-built, N-rated to 87 mph and the most trusted ST radial for campers and boat trailers.
Watching trailer tires while you drive
Trailer tires fail from heat and age rather than from tread wear, and they do it without a driver behind them to feel the car go loose. Pressure and temperature on a screen in the cab is the only warning you get before the tread leaves the casing.
- Count every wheel first
- Truck plus trailer, spare included if you want it watched. Systems are sold for 4 up to 34 wheels, and adding sensors later means matching the same series.
- Cap or flow-thru sensor
- A cap sensor screws onto the valve and has to come off to add air. A flow-thru costs more and lets you inflate through it, which matters on a dually inner wheel you can barely reach.
- Check the pressure ceiling
- Passenger tires run around 35 PSI, LT tires 65 to 80, and a 22.5 inch commercial tire 110 to 120. A monitor rated to 188 PSI covers all of it; a car-only unit does not.
- Signal length on a long rig
- Sensors reach roughly 36 feet in open air. A 40 foot motorhome towing a car usually needs a repeater, and it is rarely in the box.
- Sensor batteries and theft nuts
- Expect to change a coin cell every year or two. The lock nuts that come in the service kit are what keep a $35 sensor from walking off at a rest stop.
GT904 to 8 sensorsFrom$149.99
GT20 flow-thru4 to 12 sensorsFrom$189.99
GS03 flow-thruAdd-on part$44.99
Tire pressure monitors for RVs, trailers and semis, $150 to $220 a system.
This page is about ST trailer tires, not semi trailers
Everything on this page rides on a whole-inch wheel behind a pickup or an SUV: boat, camper, utility, horse and car trailers. A semi trailer is a different world - 22.5 inch wheels, load range H and up, eight tires on tandem axles - and it has its own section.
Trailer tire sizes and what they cost
The ST sizes US trailers actually run, with real prices per tire. A trailer axle takes two, a tandem four, and the spare is the one most owners forget until they need it.
| Size | Typically under | Per tire | Tandem axle (4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST235/85R16 | Fifth wheels, goosenecks, heavy equipment trailers | $119–$218 | $564–$668 | Shop |
| ST235/80R16 | Fifth wheels, large travel trailers, equipment trailers | $111–$222 | $512–$640 | Shop |
| ST225/75R15 | Travel trailers, car haulers, enclosed cargo | $87–$204 | $384–$528 | Shop |
| ST205/75R15 | Travel trailers, cargo trailers, boat trailers | $73–$144 | $328–$372 | Shop |
| ST205/75R14 | Pop-ups, small travel trailers, boat trailers | $68–$128 | $308–$344 | Shop |
| ST175/80R13 | Small utility, jet-ski and light boat trailers | $54–$106 | $256–$288 | Shop |
| ST215/75R14 | Tandem utility trailers, mid-size campers | $68–$114 | $316–$356 | Shop |
| ST225/90R16 | Heavy equipment and agricultural trailers | $111–$224 | $600–$632 | Shop |
| ST185/80R13 | Utility and small boat trailers | $53–$113 | $260–$336 | Shop |
| ST205/90R15 | Older and imported trailers | $103–$146 | $456–$500 | Shop |
Per tire at SimpleTire, read November 2026. Tandem price is mid-range times four, before mounting.
Trailer Tires: common questions
Can I use car tires on a trailer?
Only if the trailer manufacturer specifies passenger or LT tires, which is rare outside heavy car haulers. Passenger tires have flexible sidewalls that sway under a trailer's sideways loads and run hotter. ST tires are built specifically for the job and are the correct choice for almost every consumer trailer.
Why do trailer tires blow out so often?
Almost always from one of four things: overloading beyond the tire's rating, underinflation (trailer tires should run at the maximum sidewall pressure), age (sidewall cracking after five or six years) or speed above the tire's rating. Cheap bias-ply imports also have a much worse record than name-brand radials.
How fast can I tow on trailer tires?
Most ST tires are rated for 65 mph unless a speed letter on the sidewall says otherwise. L means 75 mph, M means 81 mph and N means 87 mph. Exceeding the rating builds heat quickly and is the leading cause of blowouts on long interstate trips.
How often should trailer tires be replaced?
Every five to six years from the date code on the sidewall, regardless of tread depth. Trailer tires typically die from age and sun rather than wear. Check the four-digit DOT date code (week and year) when you buy, and avoid tires that are already two or more years old.