Another question on why Trailer tires fail more often than tires on motorized vehicles.

On a thread on an RV trailer forum Peter made this statement

"At highway speeds interply shear is not as much of an issue, as I understand things."

I posted this reply:
Speed itself is not the issue that causes Interply Shear in Radial tires. Two things happen to radials as they are driven.
One is the tread (and belts) must flatten out when the tire contacts the road. This results in the steel cords moving relative to each other. This is a shear force.
Second is that when the contact patch or "footprint" is forced to turn a corner there is some slipage between the direction of travel that aligns with the center of rotation and the actual direction of travel.

On motorized vehicles the front tires have a slip angle and the side forces are what actually results in the vehicle turning. But of you were to project the center of rotation toward the center of the driving radius you will find that those centers are close together This is due to the "Ackerman" designed into the front end alignment.This graphic from Wikipedia shows how Ackerman works.

Multi axle trailers however have two axles and 4 tires, with no tire rotating around a centerline that points to the center of the turn radius.

Here is a rough sketch of what happens to trailer tires.

As you can see the center of the turn for the tires on the motor vehicle is the same fo all 4 tires while all 4 of the trailer tires are rotating around different centers. This is why the side loading as seen in the video is significantly higher than it is for tires in motorvehicle application.

These tires are forced to higher than normal "Slip Angle" through any turn, Not just the extreme tight turns when backing into a parking space.
Damage to tire structure is cumulative and while a small turn imparts less shear than t tight ture even small forces can do damage on a molecular level.
Here are some links to various articles on Interply Shear.

Duals on a large truck slip on the pavement when forced through tight turns and with inflations over 100 psi they do not deforn as much as trailer tires with lower levels of inflation.

Increased inflation will lower the interply shear. It will never lower it to the level seen on a motorized vehicle Only Passive Steer axles on trailers similar to wat is seen on the back end of cement trucks can lower the shear too but I don't see any RV trailer company offering that expensive alternative. Afterall they know you can't make a warranty claim on failed tires on the RV company as belt failures from Interply Shear is a long term proposition.

Snow chains in RV application

Most of us only deal with ice in our drinks or as used to get our beer cold but some folks may find themselves wanting? to drive in areas where roads get snow and ice covered and even in areas where the use of chains is required.
The question is; What does the RV owner do when it comes to using chains in the dual application?

If we choose to travel in such areas, it is important to have the correct type and size of "chains" for our application or we may end up doing damage to both our tires and the side of our coach.
There are a variety of types of chain set-ups and even some alternatives such as "cables". I cannot address the legality of the alternate styles in all areas other than to offer that if there is an advisory that chains must be used and you get stuck and do not have chains on the unit you may face some fines and other penalties so you need to confirm the details of the requirement in your area before spending your money or before traveling out and about on snow and ice covered roads.

If you do not have duals your choice is to be sure you select the equipment correct for your size tire.

Duals have a few options. There is going to be a difference in cost, weight and ease of install so you need to do some research.
There are "Triple Rail" as seen in this video. There are some "cable" type systems as seen here, and some newer designs as seen HERE .

I have not been involved in any direct comparisons so cannot offer any advice on relative performance. For that, you may need to do some additional investigation on the internet or even talk with some over the road drivers. Looking at the different videos it appears to me that some designs may be more durable than others.

I do know that driving on dry roads with chains can cause some serious tire damage so only you can properly evaluate what system would be best for your situation.