Can the trailer have tires a lot smaller than your rig? So 35s vs 31s? Does the hitch type mitigate this? Thanks.
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- Thread starter seattle80series
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NMBruce
SILVER Star
Yes it could, just make sure you have a trailer spare.
The trailer can roll on 31 or 29 or 35, that up to you. For years I have match my truck and trailer wheels and tires. For one I think it looks better and two if I ever need it, I have spares for both. On my trip to the Arctic my GX470 had 2 spares on it.
The trailer can roll on 31 or 29 or 35, that up to you. For years I have match my truck and trailer wheels and tires. For one I think it looks better and two if I ever need it, I have spares for both. On my trip to the Arctic my GX470 had 2 spares on it.
- Thread starter
- #3
Arctic? Got pics?
NMBruce
SILVER Star
Here are a few
ntsqd
technerd
Having had a trailer on 33-12.50's I think it's silly to go that big on a trailer. Could run it down the highway at 5psi and the tires didn't get warm and it finally stopped randomly bouncing. It now rolls on 31's and works fine.
I get the wanting more than one spare, particularly on a trip like to the Acrtic and back. I would suggest that maybe the truck doesn't need tires so big.
I get the wanting more than one spare, particularly on a trip like to the Acrtic and back. I would suggest that maybe the truck doesn't need tires so big.
NMBruce
SILVER Star
The tires I run are 265/75/17 and going to 265/70/16 to match my Tacoma. You have no idea where I go with my vehicle and trailer and what pressures I run.
that trailer with those types of tires have about 50k all over Colorado, New Mexico, two trips up to Alaska and back, plus across Texas and the Midwest hauling stuff. I will error on the side of caution and continue to do what I do.
Also, what you don’t see, is that trailer is set up to be a flat bed, a stake bed or my camping trailer. It has a 5000lb axle and air bags to adjust for the weight I am carrying. I have had it loaded with rock, bricks, a cord of Oak, once it weight in around 4000lbs. Pictures shows the same trailer.
The original question was, can a trailer have smaller tires than your rig, I said that yes it could, it’s up to the person
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ntsqd
technerd
You're right, I don't. More importantly I don't care. However, you illustrate my point. Most of the time when people ask that question they've running the TR on 35's+ and aren't sure about putting that big of a tire on the trailer. The tire sizes that you're using are much more appropriate for a trailer. I'd sooner carry a boot and a tube along with the tools to install them than up-size the trailer tires to match some big tires on the TR, all for the sake of having multiple matching spares. There is at least one instance on this forum of a guy who insisted on having same size tires and his TR and trailer, 37's; and how it all came unraveled on a highway somewhere in the greater SW part of the US.
This trailer has ~10k on it since moving from silly 33-12.50's to 31-10.50's and it tows far better with the smaller tires. The FSB is on 35's, I've also towed it with an FJ60 on 33-10.50's, a '91 Sub on 285/75R16's and an Xcab Mini on 33-10.50's. If it hadn't had those original M/T forged 15's on it I'd have likely gone to something like a P235/70R17 (it sure doesn't need LT's!). The reason that this trailer had 33-12.50's on it was because the PO's TR (a seriously built T-100, all you TRD supercharger types owe that truck for pioneering the install) had 33-12.50's on it. He towed the trailer all over the SW, Baja, and mainland Mexico. I'll bet he put 70k on the combo before he moved on to a different vehicle. In that time I'm aware of exactly one flat, a cut sidewall somewhere in or near Copper Canyon. So much for needing matching spares!
To answer the OP's question, yes you can run a smaller tire on the trailer than on the TR. If the tires on the TR are big (let's arbitrarily say bigger than 33" tall) then it makes good sense to run a smaller tire on the trailer as it makes the trailer much more stable. The advantage of running the same size on everything is mostly perception and rarely if ever exercised UNLESS you are going extreme places like to the Arctic. In the lower 48 and with large tires it is more ego driven than practical.
This trailer has ~10k on it since moving from silly 33-12.50's to 31-10.50's and it tows far better with the smaller tires. The FSB is on 35's, I've also towed it with an FJ60 on 33-10.50's, a '91 Sub on 285/75R16's and an Xcab Mini on 33-10.50's. If it hadn't had those original M/T forged 15's on it I'd have likely gone to something like a P235/70R17 (it sure doesn't need LT's!). The reason that this trailer had 33-12.50's on it was because the PO's TR (a seriously built T-100, all you TRD supercharger types owe that truck for pioneering the install) had 33-12.50's on it. He towed the trailer all over the SW, Baja, and mainland Mexico. I'll bet he put 70k on the combo before he moved on to a different vehicle. In that time I'm aware of exactly one flat, a cut sidewall somewhere in or near Copper Canyon. So much for needing matching spares!
To answer the OP's question, yes you can run a smaller tire on the trailer than on the TR. If the tires on the TR are big (let's arbitrarily say bigger than 33" tall) then it makes good sense to run a smaller tire on the trailer as it makes the trailer much more stable. The advantage of running the same size on everything is mostly perception and rarely if ever exercised UNLESS you are going extreme places like to the Arctic. In the lower 48 and with large tires it is more ego driven than practical.
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