This could be a very short blog post because there’s a one word answer to the question…NO! But just for fun, the tire experts at Treadworld are going to go a little more in-depth about why using car and truck passenger tires on your travel trailer, or any trailer, is a really bad idea—one that could result in you and your rig being sidelined on the side of the road. Or worse.

Tires are tires, right, durable and strong? Sort of—but it will benefit you to be aware that trailer tires and car tires are designed with very different structures that make them high-performing when it comes to their own intended roles and stresses. Auto tires are designed to enhance steering and the vehicle’s interaction with the road—transferring power, turning, braking, maneuvering, etc. Their sidewalls are flexible to facilitate comfort and a smooth ride. They are not designed to stabilize heavy loads or to handle the temperatures that are created by those loads. Additionally, they typically take longer to show signs of  treadwear and so can see longer duty than a trailer tire, when used in their intended manner.

With trailer tire construction, load-bearing capacity and trailering are the top priorities. To this end, trailer tires have stiffer, often thicker sidewalls aimed at carrying heavier loads and keeping the trailer on track, without swaying. Plus, they are designed to withstand the higher temperatures that accompany heavy loads.

The tread designs of car and truck tires are intended to maintain contact with the road, enhancing your ability to turn, brake, accelerate, etc. They do not wear evenly.

Trailer tires typically have narrower tread designs aimed at decreasing rolling resistance and wearing evenly—not turning on a dime. Those tread patterns are intended to wear evenly, but they are not designed with longevity in mind. The fact is, you’ll probably want to replace your trailer tires before tread becomes an issue because of oxidation caused by exposure to high heat created by carrying the load, and to a lesser extent, to sun and air. It leads to the rubber in the tire drying out and becoming stiffer leading to cracks. 

Every tire has a load rating that is a comparative value of its strength and load-carrying capacity. These ratings are listed on the tire using letters B, C, D, E, etc.—the higher the letter, the more the tire can carry. If two tires are the same size but one has a load rating of B, and the other a load rating of D, the D range tire will have a higher weight capacity. Two things that are good to keep in mind—load ranges vary between tire sizes, so a B rating for one size won’t be the same capacity as it is for another size; and, the capacity rating of your trailer tires doesn’t impact how much the trailer itself is rated for, and how much you can ultimately carry.

Years ago, most trailer tires were only rated at 55 mph, but today you can get them rated as high as 87 mph. In general trailer tires have significantly lower speed ratings than car tires, however, which are typically rated up to 99 mph. You may be tempted to travel faster than the recommended speed rating, but don’t. Pushing tires to their limits causes heat and air pressure build-up that put immense stress on the tire—which exponentially increases the chances of having a blowout, which is bad any way you slice it.