17.5,19.5,22.5 ???

22.5 as the 255/70 is the same size the car haulers use. Never a problem finding tires. My deck height is 3'3, I am comfortable with anything on my deck that stays under 14'.

I have no experience with the 19.5, so no opinion there.

My carrier has 2 tri-axle steps with 17.5. He has had drivers rip the tires off the rim while jack knifing the trailer. I pulled one for a couple weeks while mine was down. The trailer had lift axles.. as with the 17.5 there was enough room to do this. Mine does not have enough clearance to lift and axle off the ground with out fear of dragging it.

I had a problem with his tri axle where I shredded a tire going over a tall rail road crossing. Trailer cleared fine.. I wasnt concerned about that. But the front axle put the tire into the frame where a screw was poking down and ripped into the side wall of the tire. Took me a while to find someone who had 17.5's and could come out and do a service call.

My personal preference is with 22.5 unless you need a lower deck height to specialize in taller freight.

Hurst

 

Smaller tires don't like the summer heat and high speeds.

 

Yep 60 mph trl helps keep the tires cooler especially if running a tri axle trl center axle inside tires like to let loose at higher speeds and heat

 

17.5 tires will pop like balloons in the hot summer running 70 mph. I would avoid them it at all possible.

We do run 17.5 on a couple of trailers but it's a necessity to have the lower deck height for what we haul. We very seldom wear a 17.5 out, they usually blow long before the tread is worn down.

 

I spoke to some trailer mfgs and there is no reliable disc brake option for 17.5. No one wants to sell them because the rotors rotate so fast, they generate higher heat than the disc brake mfgs want to see. 17.5 tires wear out quicker as well.

The advantage is, you can carry taller loads without permits.

 

Thats the main complaint my carrier has. He regrets buying them. Tires never see their intended life span.

Hurst

 

IMO, 255/70R22.5 is the way to go, unless height is an issue.
We have about 20 trailers with 17.5 on them and a deck height in the 34" range. All are triaxles with 215/75R17.5m except five or six that have 245/70R17.5. The 245 are a couple inches higher overall, but they're twice as good as the 215. The 8 trailers that are assigned to a certain driver all have 215 on them and even with those, we don't see many of them wear evenly the whole way down. The ones with 245 wear well, and they could be hauled by anyone in the fleet. I'd switch them all to 245 if not for the height issue. And, anything Chinese is out of the question. We've tried them all. Goodyear, Michelin and Bridgestone are the only 17.5 we've had any luck with. We ended up with a couple Daytons that had to be bought on the road, and considering the price (+/- 35% less than a GY or Mich) they're doing ok.

 

Continental htl-2!eco plus 235/75 is the only way to go in a 17.5. Speed rated to 75mph, unlike EVERY other tire out there )
(65mph). Tires are very hard to find though, which is why you see so many carrying a spare. For most people 22.5's are fine. Because of where I'm leased, having a sdlp gives me administrative privileges that wouldn't be worthwhile to those not leased here.