Are these "marks" on my Westlake tires normal?

[BeerBrewer]

While installing my new set of Centramatic wheel balances on to my Transcend 26RLS, I decided to really give my tires a really good looking over and I found a few "blemishes" or "oddities" that I've never seen on a new tire before. These tires have about 1000 Miles on them.

In the pic below (my front passenger tire) you can see 3 slotted holes or slits in the tire. They look like defects or blemishes to me. One off the corner of the W. Another is below left the walking figure (a Lion??) each about 3/8" to 1/2" long and there is another slit on the left side of the pic. There is also a fourth mark on the top of the tire near the edge of treat. This last make seems to me like road abrasion, but I'm not sure. Am I looking a the beginnings of a tire failure?



The next pic is of my rear passenger tire. In this pic right in the middle you can see what looks like a a 1" crack that starts just below the start of the treads and runs thru the decorative stripe of the tire. Normal?



In all of the tires I can see lump that runs perpendicular to the tread across the tire. There are 7 of these lumps in ALL of the tires. So I have to assume that it is normal for this tire, but I've NEVER seen it on only other tire before. I will ad that these are the first trailer tires that I've ever examined.

The last pic is of the one of my wheel with the Centramatic wheel balancers installed. I decided to put on the wheel balancers in the hope that it makes for a better smoother ride.



The tires are Westlake E rated tires size ST225/75R15. Should I be concerned or am I worry wart? Lastly I hope that my pictures are clear enough.

Thanks

Bob

[jkwilson]

Minor lumps running perpendicular to the tread is normal in a radial tire. I don’t see a reason to be concerned, but keeping a close eye on your tires is a good step to get an early warning. Check out https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=32&

[cookinwitdiesel]

Given the history on the E-Rated Westlakes, if you can afford it, maybe start looking at Goodyear Endurance, they are a popular option as an alternative.

Also check your trailer weight vs what your tires are rated for. And what you rims are rated for and can take.

[BeerBrewer]

When I had the wheels off the trailer I did see that the max load value of 2830 lbs was stamped on the inside of the wheels. That also matches the load rating on my E rated ST225/75R15 tires. I haven't been able to weigh our trailer yet, because we haven't found a local scale that will weigh RVs. So we weighed just about everything separately that we loaded into the trailer, so I'm sure that we are well below the max GVWR of 8495 lbs. To be safe I picked up a tongue weight scale, so I know our tongue weight is 900 lbs. So assuming worst case (using the GVWR of 8495 lbs - 900 lbs = 7,595 lbs) the max weight on the tires is 7,595 lbs and collectively they should handle 11,320 lbs, so I think the wheels are fine, but I'm not so sure about the tires. Some of the marks on the tires look like blemishes and other marks look like cracks in the rubber. Given all negative postings about Westlake tires I'm considering replacing the tires.