Tires

Joe-

The front axle on a spread axle trailer experiences a tremendous amount of scrub when cornering the trailer as it often acts as a pivot point for the trailer. There are three factors that impact the scrub effect on a tire in this position: tread depth, shoulder design, and the amount of spread.

Having a shallow tread depth minimizes the amount of lateral force and stress transferred to the shoulder and will prolong the tire life.

Selecting an open shoulder design or a shoulder design with stress relieving sipes will also minimize the amount of shoulder that is "grabbed" by the road and folded under during sharp radius turns.

Reducing the spread between axles will minimize the scrubbing effect. A 60" spread will be more damaging to your tires than a 48" spread.

The new tires best suited for this design are the Dunlop SP181A and the Goodyear G314 trail tires both available in the size you are looking for.

Goodyear has specifically designed a retread for the spread axle position called the G319SA (SA=Spread Axle)if you already have good casings You may want to consider this option.

The spread axle trail position is extremely demanding on a tire and no tire is perfectly designed to withstand this amount of scrub, but selecting the right tread depth and shoulder design will help you go farther.