Trailer Tires: Bias or Radial?

[Cox89XJ]

Just got back from vacation. Had two tires to fail on my 5th wheel trailer. Long story short. This makes a total of 5 tires I've had to go bad. After 3 of the original tires went bad the Keystone RV tire supplier sent me 5 new tires at no cost. Now two of those have went bad. I don't want any more of their free tires. I want a dependable tire. I e-mailed Keystone about the problem and they suggested for me to put on 225/75D/15 load range D bias ply tires. Instead of the 225ST/75R/15 radial load range D it came with. Reason: Bias tires have stiffer sidewalls.
I've done a quite of bit of research and it seems all trailer tire company's are having the same problem with radials. Radials will wear about twice as long if you can get them to hold together.
Checking the same company bias and radials I noticed a bias tire weights 41 pounds and the same size radial weights only 30.
What do you guys think Bias or Radial?
Or any other suggestions would be appriciated.
Thanks

[Beej]

I've never had a radial tire on a trailer I've owned, they've always been bias. And I've never had a catastrophic tire failure. My Dad had one a few years ago on a bias though...

[BRIANHO13]

I would go with Bias only on a trailer, they are a little more forgiving when overloaded.

[DrMoab]

There is a reason Bias ply tires are used on trailers. Radials do not make good trailer tires. They are soft and will cause your trailer to do really weird things.

Spend some good money on quality trailer tires by a reputable company.(Goodyear and the like) On my trailer it came with cheapies from the dealer and it blew one out right after it was new. It was replaced by a Goodyear tire and even though they are almost all the same age and have the same amount of miles on them the Goodyear has twice the tread and doesn't have any the cupping that the other ones do.

[xjtrailrider]

I run Goodyear Marathons, with thousands of miles towing, no problems so far.
http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/360/jeepboatsideview2lr.jpg

[Cox89XJ]

If you look closely at your Goodyear’s you’ll find they are radials. According to RV forums they fail also. My 2004 Keystone Laredo came with ST225/75R/15 load range D radials. In 2006 they started putting on ST225/75D/15 load range D bias ply tires. I e-mailed Keystone RV with questions about what tire I need to run and they e-mailed back suggesting I put on bias tires. My opinion is radial technology is lacking in trailer tires. They wear longer if you can get them to hold together. Also I found out most trailer tires manufacturers don’t recommend over 65 miles per hour for their trailer tires. I guess 70 was too fast for them.

[xjtrailrider]

Oh yea, I knew they were radials, but I have had great luck with them.

I don't normally tow over 60, the risks don't out way the timesaving besides that, with 30" tires and 4.10 gears and in 3, My motor is turning 2700 already! No need to blow-up or wreck my beloved XJ!

I inspect and check the air in each tire(including the spare) before each day of towing. I also torque the lugs, I've had a wheel pass me by before on the highway and its no fun finding out its yours!

The boat that is pictured tows great behind my Cherokee, but the F-150 I used to tow it with was miserable. That Ford tail wagged all the time, you couldn't relax at all. The XJ is very smooth at 55-60, But of course a bit more sluggish on the mountains around here.