TOPIC: USA made trailer tires????

I have been trying to find US made 8" & 12" trailer tires for some time now. The tires I have been using for years are Carlisle or other brands, all made in China. They perform OK with my relatively light boats, but the rubber starts checking from age in just a year or two. I've found old junker boats with trailer tires that looked to be from the 1960s. Often, they still air up, and though ugly, are good enough to roll a loaded trailer home. Anybody know for sure if any are made in the US?

I found this online...


Article Excerpt
Byline: Vera Linsalata Tire Business

Imports will continue to rule in the niche market of trailer tires for camping and boating customers, according to participants in the field.

No one knows for sure how many trailer tires are imported versus manufactured in the U.S. But like other high-volume tires, trailer tires tend to bring low margins, according to Jeff Kreitzman, CEO of American Pacific Industries Inc.

Kreitzman estimates the U.S. replacement ST, or Special Tires, trailer tire market consists of 6 million to 10 million units.

API has trailer tires made for it by an undisclosed tire manufacturer at its Qingdao, China, plant, but Kreitzman declined to comment on how many units are imported or sold in the U.S.

API plans to launch its own ST trailer tire line in the Gladiator brand next spring, Kreitzman said. Currently, API sells Gladiator-brand medium truck and earthmover tires.

"We have a pretty good customer base in (Gladiator),'' he said. "We figure it's a natural fit.''

Loosely defined, ST trailer tires are used in a variety of towing applications, including boat, utility and travel trailers, said Tim Landis, vice president of aftermarket and replacement tire sales for Long Beach, Calif.-based Greenball Corp.

Competition in the U.S. trailer tire market has driven prices for the products down and lowered profitability, Kreitzman and Landis both said.

This premature aging is just a result of substandard materials used in the making of the tires. Black rubber ( as with many materials ) is black and it all looks the same, but is not the same. Cheap stuff is still cheap stuff.

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These offshore people will never use the product/s they spit out of their factories and quality and pride are non existant.North America needs to look at setting standards so that our own factories can compete.----We here all too often shop by looking at the price first and foremost !!

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Scrap those MEGA CONTAINER SHIPS !!!!

I bought a set of 12" wheel and tire assy. at Northern Tool for my Holsclaw, there's a Made in the USA sticker on them. It may apply to the rim only, haven't actually checked the tires for country of origin. I always look for that sticker when purchasing ANYTHING!

check out www.easternmarine.com
trailer parts super store, i just got 4 loadstar (20.5x8.0-10E)
for $48.50 each.
they are made by kenda rubber co. reynoldsburg oh.

woosterken