What's the real deal with Kumho 857 tires?

[Ham_Bone]

I'm seeing different and conflicting posts about Kumho 857 tires. One post (that was unchallenged) stated that those particular tires are only available to replace 14" tires. Another stated that Kumhos were usually too tall for an RV trailer application. One post alluded to the need to change your tire rims if you went with the Kumhos. Man, all I want to do is change out my Chinese ST225/75R15 tires on my 2015 Rockwood 8280WS and mount new tires on my factory rims. Are the Kumhos a candidate or not?

Thanks for any responses.

[iluvlcy]

We have Kumho on our 2304s for 2 yrs now and have been very happy, we needed 14" wanted D rating, we measured the tires we had and ordered the corresponding size, I think we got the 195 size not 205 that was on because the 205 was a few inches bigger than original tires, our dealer said our rims were fine,tires fit like originals.


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[HONDAMAN174]

I do not believe Kuhmo makes a 15" tire, so I think you need to find an alternative.




2014 Stealth Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra Rock Crawler TRD 5.7 "Clifford"

[KMP44]

Kumho is the only manufacturer that makes a 14" LR D trailer tire, however it is 1" larger in diameter than the LR C ST's on the market. For a trailer like ours with very close axle spacing, this might be an issue.

I didn't see any Kumho's in 15" when I was looking up the 14's. Guess that leaves GY Marathons, Maxxis, or LT's for options for your 15's. Any of them would probably be a nice step up from the cheapo's that come from the factory...

[wmtire]

The 14 inch tires that many people are using are what we refer to as European Commercial tires or Euro tires for short. They are more prominent in Europe and Asia where you see the smaller delivery vans, transporters and such. These tires are made by several manufacturers including Kumho, Hankook, Continental, Yokohama, etc.

The reason you see many using Kumho, is they are usually easier to find here in the States due to Tire Rack distributing them....... but there are several other brands available.

These Euro tires are sized just a hair different than what we are normally used to dealing with. I explained it more in detail a few years back below:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post118797

The reason people are turning to these Euro tires, is the fact you can't find a 14 inch ST tire with any ply rating higher than C (6 ply). The Euro tires are D (8 ply rated).

However, if you have 15 inch or 16 inch rims, you can find the ST tires in higher ply ratings, such as D (8 ply) and E (10 Ply)....... and are thus not as limited as you are in the 14 inch sizes.

Hope this helps.

[campingwilliamsons]

Maxxis 8008 are available as 15" up to E range and work great. I had them on the last trailer for 2 years and ~8,000 miles before we sold it. Tires still looked great (no checking, etc...)

[Ham_Bone]

Maxxis it is.

[Jerry01]

X2 on the Maxxis. We had them on our last trailer for 7 years before replacing them (due to age) with another set of Maxxis tires. Never had one issue. Jerry.