blow out

[davec11]

Hi every one my nane is Dave and
this is my first post and I would like to say that I to have joined the Radial Trail Ultra Blow out club,(not a happy camper).
I know these things happen and it could have been worse.
I have a 2008 Flagstaff 831krss just over 6500 lb. I pull it with a 2002 2 wheel drive Z66 Avalanche with a 3.73 gear.
A lot of talk about these tires not being real good, now I know to.
I would like to change all 4 tires.Would the Goodyear Marathon trailer tire be my best bet or should I go with the Maxxis load range D tire. The tire size that is on the trailer now are the ST 205 / 75 R15.
Some say they have gone over to a LT tire but I don't know if that is a real good idea with the TT.
looking for any help or ideas.

Thanks,
Dave

[flyrotor]

15" LT tires are limited in the load range available and very well may decrease you payload capacity. When you get into the 16" or 17" tires the LT's increase their capacities.

[Nigels]

I've been there got 4 t shirts with these tires! Some if not most RV manufacturers put the minimum cheapest tires on the wheels. The wheels often or can be rated to carry a much higher load more in keeping with the max axle load rating and the GVWR of the rig.

To start, check the load rating of your wheels, it will be stamped on them somewhere on the inside of the wheel, the rating will be in max lbs and ought to be about 25% of GVWR less pin or tongue weight thats if you have 4 wheels. Then fit a tire to mach the wheel, for example if the wheel is stamped 2830lbs then fit an E rated tire at 2830lbs. This should always be inflated to the maximum pressure as stamped on the tire, in an E rated tire that is usually 80psi. * (see note below) It is also essential to ensure that the valve is capable of this pressure, this is critical. Some say if you are running a light rig you can reduce this pressure, this is incorrect, the tire needs to be run at the max psi so it assumes the correct profile, the correct profile will create an optimum tread to road situation, reduce wear and overheating.

The brand, not sure, all trailer tires here are Chinese your best insurance is overkill, with these rubish tires you can't have too much tire!

* Note: If a wheel is rated at say 2830lbs max load, this refers to the amount of weight it can carry safely it does not relate to how much air pressure it can withold, so in theory you could fit a G rated tire that allows a far greater pressure eg 110lbs and as long as the valve can support this then you can run G rated tires, G rated tires have a max load rating of over 3000lbs but does not increase the load rating of the wheel, be carefull.

IMO The load rating of the wheel and tire should be the same and one wheel should (in the case of a twin axle set up) exceed 25% of the GVWR less pin weight.

[08flagvlite]

In case some of you wonder; a TRAILER tire with an LT rating means Light Trailer. NOT AT ALL the same as an LT truck tire- meaning Light Truck. Do not confuse the two- they are very different tires. Randy

[08flagvlite]

By the way, I joined the Carlisle radial trail blowout club as well, on my trip to the Keys! 2008 (or older) trailer tires should be replaced after 3+ years old or more (guilty) anyway. Chances are, the tires are older than the camper, as well. Randy

[davec11]

Thanks everyone for all the help and the suggestions, you are all awesome, I have to say that I really like this forum.
I did some checking on both the tire that blew and the wheels.
The dot on the tire was 0706, that means that the tire was 5 years old. I bought the trailer used in March of this year from a dealership, I know trailer sat all winter uncovered. I know the first thing I should have done was change the tires.
The tire was a load C, max load on that tire is 1820 at 50 psi.
As for the wheel there are 2 P.C.D. codes,
one is a P.C.D.=4.50 with a load at 2150 LBS, the other one is a P.C.D.=5.50 with a load at 2830 LBS.
the Dot-T on the wheel was 80 P.S.I.
I will be doing more tire searching for the trailer.
Again thank you all for your help.

[crocus]

The Maxxis tires seem to have a good reputation, and that is what I chose to replace the brand new Chinese Duro tires on our fifth. I wasn't willing to take the chance. I also put on tire pressure monitors, so I am doubly-insured.
A lot of the Goodyears are now made in China, so you might have to search around to find some made in the US or Canada.

[wrogers]

I just put 3500 miles on my new Maxis tires on a 3 week trip with ZERO problems. The pressure stayed perfect throughout the trip and the tires ran very smooth and cool.

[toad on the road]

I was advised to changed all my tires a few years ago and chose to ignore the advise, cause I thought it was a money grab!!....Guess again....on the latest trip (5000 miles) had a tire completely disintegrate. Never seen anything like it. Was advised that all trailer tires have to be replaced after 3 years, driven or not. So, yup, got 4 new tires.

[amxpress]

Maxxis is the way to go; if you have the room, they make an ST225/75R15 tire that might work. I also suggest installing steel valve stems and balance the new tires.
Good luck.

[crusmsl]

Sorry that you joined the club but I think, sooner or later, all RVers do! I have a 2005 Grand Surveyor 240BH FW that came with Goodyear Marathons. Bought the trailer new, the first season two of the four tires blew. First was catastrophic and bent the J-wrap siding behind the passenger side rear tire. Second was a loss of pressure about 3 miles from the campground, no damage. So, I switched to a set of Maxxis tires and a DORAN tire pressure system.

All was well but tried to get one more season out of them. This is RV season number four. Well, 2 weeks ago I had a Maxxis blow out on same passenger side rear with the same damage to the trailer. The tire lost all tread but maintained air pressure for some time. I didn't know it had lost tread. Alarm sounded that my tire pressure had dropped so I immediately pulled off the road and that's when I noticed the tread was already gone and damage already done! New set of tires coming up!

Good luck & stay safe out on the road.

[davec11]

Okay after much debate, I bought 4 new Carlisle ST 225/75R15 Load range D to replace my Carlisle 205/75R15, Load range C. When I got home and started to put them back on the trailer I found 3 of the tires were Load range E, one tire being Load range D. I called up Discount Tire and they told me they would replace the one D tire with a E tire at no charge. It was there goof up.
Thats fine but is that going to hurt the trailer any? I really just wanted to go to a D range tire because I thought the C was a bit lite for a trailer of 6,500 lbs but I don't want to do a over kill and hurt the trailer.
The inside of the wheels say max tire load is 2830 Load range E (that is what the tire is) and max tire P.S.I. of 80 (that is what the tire calls for). My problem is am I going to disrupt the flow of the trailer at all.

[Nigels]

Absolutely not. I had blow outs on my c rated tires and I had to replace them all with E rated, its all they had and they have been great. When I hit a hole in the road or scrub a kerb I don't even think about it, E rated 10 ply load rating 2830 lbs. You can't have too much tire.

Just three points:

Your valves should be rated to take 80psi or more, the tire fitters should have fitted these as a matter of course.

Run your tires at 80psi not less. The tire is designed to run at that pressure to get the correct profile and contact patch on the road. Running less will damage the tire.

The load rating stamped on the inside of your wheel may be less than the load rating on the tire, this is okay, the wheel will handle the pressure, the load rating on the wheel is exactly that "Load rating" how much weight it is designed to carry not what pressure it can take.

When my E rated tires need replacing I will replace with E again, regardless of whether D's are availble, for the small price difference I would rather have peace of mind.

[Nigels]

Valve should look like this, rated to 80psi the brass bit could be painted black on some types. The rubber ones are rated to 65psi but they have a safety margin up to 100psi, someone correct me if I am wrong. But they would blow if the wheel got real hot at much lower temps. This high pressure valve probably has a safety margin too probably well over 100psi, perhaps some one in the know can chime in.

[donn]

If it says made in China on the side wall, RUN! If it says Goodyear on the side wall RUN FAST!

[Nigels]

Originally Posted by donn

If it says made in China on the side wall, RUN! If it says Goodyear on the side wall RUN FAST!

Run where, to China? Where did you run to? In the US all trailer tires are made in China, except Marathons which are supposedly being made again in the US, look for newer stock and you may get some.

Having said that not all Chinese tires are equall and there are many brands out there, IMO they are OK if you overkill, I am running E rated instead of C rated and I have no complaints at all and that's after nearly 11000 miles in just four months.

Having said that if Pirrelli, Bridgestone and Firestone set up factories in the US producing trailer tires costing $200 each then "Chinese" tires would be suddenly desirable again!

Having said that its about time that P,B and F did start making trailer tires so that we can spend $$$ in the US.

Having said that I'm off to bed to dream about cheap chinese tires

[flintlok]

I have an older Holiday Rambler with GVWR of 8,000 lbs, and put on 5 new Maxxis D rated tires made in Taiwan. These were installed in Jan 2010, we did an extensive trip starting in March 2010, travelling 27,000 miles in 9 months with no issues. At the end of the trip, I would extimate there was about half of the tread left. I will buy another set of these tires when needed.

[TexasBBQ]

I also have 4 tires in need of replacing. 235/85 R16 Load range E or F. I've read too much negative comments about Marathon's however the posts were a few years old which I think was when they were still made in China.

I've boiled my list down to Load Star or Maxxis.

Any comments on Load Star, good or bad, would be appreciated.

[flintlok]

I would highly recommend the Maxxis.

[sherdep]

My trailer came with Load stars - I have a 2306 Mini Lite
It has traveled from Florida to Virginia then to Pennsylvania then back to Virginia then back to Florida without any issue's and I have made many other 2 hour trips as well.
As long as you keep the tire pressure consistant and check the tire's when you do a pit stop (for heat or seperation)