# New Tires And The Dot Date??



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

We are getting new tires and wheels for the trailer and the tire place will have our wheels in a couple days. The tires we looked when we there had a DOT date of 2008, I asked him to get newer ones. He called back today and said he asked for others to be shipped but couldn't guarantee the date would be any newer. Is this the normal date range for tires?

Also, the brand of tires is Carlisle. Anyone have experience with these? 8 ply radials of course.


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## VacaRick (Jul 23, 2009)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> We are getting new tires and wheels for the trailer and the tire place will have our wheels in a couple days. The tires we looked when we there had a DOT date of 2008, I asked him to get newer ones. He called back today and said he asked for others to be shipped but couldn't guarantee the date would be any newer. Is this the normal date range for tires?
> 
> Also, the brand of tires is Carlisle. Anyone have experience with these? 8 ply radials of course.


Check EPINIONS.com for quite a few negative comments on Carlisle tires. I would stay away from Carlisle. Date code is extremely important as ST tires do not have a long shelf life. After deciding on Maxxis tires my primary concern was a date code of late 2009. Two weeks ago we replaced all of our 4 year old Duro's with Maxxis. I check the prices on DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM (not the same PRICE as DISCOUNTTIRE.COM)and then I went to the local America's Tire and had them installed. Americas's Tire matched the net price from DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM, provided 4 tires with a date code of 4209 and mounted and balanced the tires. By net price what I mean is that DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM quoted tires with no sales tax and free shipping. America's Tire must charge sales tax (8.375%), so they back-calculated the tire price and matched my out of pocket. I know this sounds confusing but it worked. DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM quoted $94/tire and my invoice from America's Tire is $85.25/tire. Total out-the-door $460.85 for 4 @ 215/75-14. Funny thing is that DISCOUNTTIREDIRECT.COM. DISCOUNTTIRE.COM and AMERICA'S TIRE are the same company.


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## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

Is a DOT date 2008 a problem ? Who knows ? Only you ! They are a year and some months old already and should last on the shelf or on the ground another five years or so . No problem for me as I tend to wear them out in 24 or 30 months. How much driving do you do ? 
The quick answer is that it is important but that depends on how much wear and tear you will put on them in the future, if you are going to drive ten or fifteen thousand miles a year { as I do } it ain't so important.
Do you worry if the milk has a shelf life of ten days or only eight days ? If you are gonna use it up before it goes bad , it does not make much difference.
As to brands , I would much rather have Carlisles than many other brands,as I have had good luck with them ! Do you always pay the Premium price for the premium item, do you drive a Mercedes, I do not , I am satisfied with a Dodge.
That is always the problem when asking opinions for the "BEST" of something. Maybe if you would say what kind of car you drove and how much lobster you eat a week , what kind of champagne you buy ,a person could understand your life style and what sort of 'luxury' that you are prepared to pay for. I do not deserve or expect the best of any thing as I am not the best myself. Sorry if this turned into a rant, but I do not believe most of us want to pay for the best, good enuf is all that I require!
Bob


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

As with anything, everyone has an opinion. That date seems OK to me. I would put that date on my TT. Now as far as Carlisle tires I have heard both good and bad just like the Duro and the Goodyear. You have to take some of peoples comments with a grain of salt. Do they cover the tires, do they keep them properly inflated, do they smack every curb they see, do they overload the tires? These are what they don't tell you they do to their tires and then they cry and call them cheap when they blow out. SO with that said I bought these.

www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Radial+857

The Kuhmo 857. They are a D load range in a 14" tire. Carlisle makes one, I have seen it but could not find it. So I read some reviews on all the tires, Goodyear, carlisle, maxxis and Kuhmo. I read good things about them. The price was fair. They were D load range. They were a radial. I did learn that a stiff sidewall is important to a trailer tire. As you go down the road the trailer is constantly swaying left to right, ever so slightly. You can see it in the mirrors if you can see the tires but be carefully and watch the road too







Now all the bouncing side to side builds heat in the sidewalls. The tires I have seen blown, including my own, blew out the side. The tread was intact. So with the research I did and read I found these had a stiff sidewall and seemed like a good tire. So far i have 1000 miles on them, so time will tell. I had 11,000 on my Duro's before one let go and it was 3 years on the tires ( per DOT date ) so I got 5 new tires. I would recommend the metal bolt in valve stems. The shortest ones they make too. In case you want a tire pressure monitor system. I got one and glad I did. I also had them balanced. Some do and some don't. I figured why not, its included in the price anyhow. So, good luck with your choice.


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## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

Hitting curbs, overloading! Are you talking about me ! Are you following me ! LOL.
I have been using RVs commercially for 30 years and tend to buy middle of the road in all things .
I hate to pay a premium price for something and have it not live up to its cost. Seems like every time I put two new golf kart batteries or high price tires on ,I go and trade the RV off for the next " perfect " RV.
I also do not like gadgets, no tire monitors for me. I carry a compressor and a gauge most long trips .
Every one has an opinion, mine changes daily !


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

I blew a tire. Never heard it. Never felt it. Bought a tire pressure monitor kit and hope I never have to use it......did it work? Did I change you opinion??


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

Trailer tires have a useful life of about 5 to 6 years and unless you travel a lot rarely wear out. If you buy ones that are almost 2 years old now you've reduced the time you have before it's a good idea to replace them. Since the price is the same you might as well get new ones that haven't wasted their time on the shelf. I've read good and bad about Carlisle tires, mostly bad, and I've seen almost all good reviews for Maxxis, TowMaster, and Kuhmo.

A tire pressure monitor would be nice but I'd rather spend the money on better tires. If they get cheaper I'll probably get one but for now I'm not convinced they're really that useful. Both times I had tire failures a tire pressure monitor would have been useless. The first time (Mission Tire) the tire blew and it was obvious, the second time (Goodyear Marathon) the tread came off and the tire was still holding air. If I had been using a pressure monitor the second time I probably would have kept driving since the pressure would have looked okay. Instead I stopped when I felt something odd and found out I'd lost the tread. Everyone will have different experiences but so far I just make sure I check the tires whenever I stop and set the pressure at the start of each days traveling.


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## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

Speaking of blowouts, I have owned my Sunnybrook for seven months and pulled it 12,000 miles and today for the first time I noticed that the rear tire on driver side is three and a half inches ahead of the cluster of valves for grey and black water! Do not follow close behind me when that tire blows, it could get messy! I see no cure except welding a "fender " or something between . Scary .


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

I am thinking there is probably a place everywhere on the internet you can find good and bad for any given tire ? So confusing.

I called the guy and told him I wouldn't accept the 08's and that we would still get the wheels though. He called me back and said he found 09's at another store (dot date in the last couple of months of 09). I could have those or go with10 ply. I have read that 10 ply is not a good idea? so I told him the 09's would be fine.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> I am thinking there is probably a place everywhere on the internet you can find good and bad for any given tire ? So confusing.
> 
> I called the guy and told him I wouldn't accept the 08's and that we would still get the wheels though. He called me back and said he found 09's at another store (dot date in the last couple of months of 09). I could have those or go with10 ply. I have read that 10 ply is not a good idea? so I told him the 09's would be fine.


My regular tire dealer sells Hercules.Anyone familiar with those?


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## muttbike (Apr 27, 2009)

Doxie-Doglover-Too said:


> I am thinking there is probably a place everywhere on the internet you can find good and bad for any given tire ? So confusing.
> 
> I called the guy and told him I wouldn't accept the 08's and that we would still get the wheels though. He called me back and said he found 09's at another store (dot date in the last couple of months of 09). I could have those or go with10 ply. I have read that 10 ply is not a good idea? so I told him the 09's would be fine.


Amazing, the consumer was going to take their money elsewhere and the retailer decided they could maybe bend a bit and give you what you wanted. Good job.

JR


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## OutbackOwner (Mar 5, 2009)

Don't forget to get them balanced.

I have 14" Gladiators on my OB and haven't had a problem in 10k. Had them balanced with the weights on the inside.

What ever brand you choose make sure you inpect them before each trip for pressure, checking and tread bubbles.

Post pics when you can!

!!
lol


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

sunnybrook29 said:


> Speaking of blowouts, I have owned my Sunnybrook for seven months and pulled it 12,000 miles and today for the first time I noticed that the rear tire on driver side is three and a half inches ahead of the cluster of valves for grey and black water! Do not follow close behind me when that tire blows, it could get messy! I see no cure except welding a "fender " or something between . Scary .


When the tread came off one of my tires a couple of years ago it took out the propane line to the stove. When I stopped to deal with the tire I saw the propane line sticking out from under the trailer and the propane was venting out the broken line. Definitely added to the excitement of the tire failure. After that I noticed on the other side of the trailer that there were other similarly vulnerable propane lines. I'd like to put some type of protective plate between the tires and the lines but haven't gotten around to it.


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