Did you know Forest River will give you replacement $ for tires?

[animas]

and many were having blow outs with their GY Marathons. They were a Chinese made tire back in 07, I would think they still are. Anyway, I replaced mine (they were D's), and upgraded to an BFG E tire. What a world of difference! The good quality truck tire I put on road so much better.

Tire wheels or rims have to be rated for the specific load rated tire you put on. For instance, most C and D rated wheels will not take the 80psi that a E rated tire requires (if you put the max pressure of 80 that that tire can handle).

I am buying a new 8528 ikws on Thursday. It has Marathons in a C. The first thing I will do is go to a good D rated tire.

[dcheatwood]

I've had 4 trail express tires blow up on 2 fifth wheels. 3 E rated tires on a wildcat and 1 c rated on my rockwood. No more than 5000 miles on either tire and more than $5000 total damage. Contacted fr and lions head. Got no hint of support either time.

[animas]

I am religious on checking tire pressure everyday while traveling.
Thats a lot of blow outs. I am unfamiliar with trail express, are they a Chinese tire?
I believe I will go with Maxi ST 8008, $140/ea...

[dcheatwood]

Yes they are chinese made. Hard to find a st tire that's not.
I travel with digital and stem gauges. Keep compressor in pu and TV. Use lazer aimed thermometer at each fuel stop. Tires are watched closely.
First TT had maxxis. No problem for 5 years. Wildcat came with trail express. Failures started at 1500 miles. Replaced all with gy marathons for another 8-10 thousand miles. No issues. Current rockwood came with trail express. Blowout st 5000 mikes. Replaced all with gy marathons. So far so good. They've got about 3500 mikes right now. I have added tpms also now.

[Goukcats]

Currently there is only one ST tire that is not manufactured in China. That is Maxxis & they are made in Thailand. Supposedly because of new import tariffs effective next year; many tire manufacturers are beginning to move their tire molds to other countries. A distributor for Carlisle stated they were moving ST production from China to Korea. If this is true, it hasn't happened yet because Carlisle doesn't show any tires manufactured in Korea. I recently purchased Maxxis for our 5er & considered GY G614 but 2 reputable tire dealers recommended against them for that application.

[animas]

I assume your Rockwood came with Load C, and if so, did you change your new tires up to Load D?
I am picking up my new Flagstaff today. i have a 175 miles trip home. I am thinking when I return, I will change out my GY Marathons to the Load D Maxis.
I visually inspect at stops, but a lazer ther is a good idea. I keep hearing about people who use them. Wise!

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Yes they are chinese made. Hard to find a st tire that's not.
I travel with digital and stem gauges. Keep compressor in pu and TV. Use lazer aimed thermometer at each fuel stop. Tires are watched closely.
First TT had maxxis. No problem for 5 years. Wildcat came with trail express. Failures started at 1500 miles. Replaced all with gy marathons for another 8-10 thousand miles. No issues. Current rockwood came with trail express. Blowout st 5000 mikes. Replaced all with gy marathons. So far so good. They've got about 3500 mikes right now. I have added tpms also now.

[dcheatwood]

Yes. My rockwood 8282ws came with trail express "c" load range. Now have D gy marathons.

[billb800si]

Tell me folks do you have your tires balanced when you buy new? Just wondering.


Presently have a question in at our dealer asking him if FR will supply a new Rockwood 8310SS will "D" rated tires. I don't trust "C" rated at 50 PSI max. on the road..
Happy trails,

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by billb800si

Tell me folks do you have your tires balanced when you buy new? Just wondering.


Presently have a question in at our dealer asking him if FR will supply a new Rockwood 8310SS will "D" rated tires. I don't trust "C" rated at 50 PSI max. on the road..
Happy trails,

Simple answer yes...

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by milzat

Tell ya what.
I'll put a link in my forum also.
www.rvcampingla.com

Yes. I do.

[johndeerefarmer]

Originally Posted by Goukcats

Currently there is only one ST tire that is not manufactured in China. That is Maxxis & they are made in Thailand. Supposedly because of new import tariffs effective next year; many tire manufacturers are beginning to move their tire molds to other countries. A distributor for Carlisle stated they were moving ST production from China to Korea. If this is true, it hasn't happened yet because Carlisle doesn't show any tires manufactured in Korea. I recently purchased Maxxis for our 5er & considered GY G614 but 2 reputable tire dealers recommended against them for that application.

The Goodyear website shows the G614 as a RV tire and I imagine they know a little more than a tire dealer.
http://www.goodyeartrucktires.com/ti...rodline=160007

[dcheatwood]

Johndeerefarmer. There is a difference in st tires and RV tires. ST are "special trailer", RV is for motor homes. Im thinking goukcats was referring to trailer tires. IMO.

[animas]

Well, if you believe whatever all the tire manufactures say, then you should keep the RV tires you get when you pick up your new RV.
GY used to make their Marathons in China, and they were terrible. My Glendale 5th wheel came with those in a Load D, and everyone on the owners site were having blowouts. I changed them immediately to a Load E, BFGoodrich Commercial T/A, and never had a problem in over 35k miles.

I just pulled the Chinese Trail Express Load C's off my brand new Flagstaff, can't believe they put C's on them. Put a Load D Maxxix 8008. I hope they are good....

Originally Posted by johndeerefarmer

The Goodyear website shows the G614 as a RV tire and I imagine they know a little more than a tire dealer.
Truck Tire Selector, Retreading, and Technology | Goodyear Commercial Truck Tire Systems

[jtownstumpjumper]

Ok...still fairly new to RVs....been reading and following this and other tire threads......bought a new 2014 Cedar Creek Silverback 33RL in October....only got to pull it 500 miles before we winterized......ours came with Mastertrack Power Towing ST235/80R16 with a Load Range E.....am I running a decent tire....comments please.

[johndeerefarmer]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Johndeerefarmer. There is a difference in st tires and RV tires. ST are "special trailer", RV is for motor homes. Im thinking goukcats was referring to trailer tires. IMO.

The website says "even wear in demanding trailer applicatios" not Motorhome tires. ST tires have something in the rubber to help prevent UV light hurting them so soon. There is nothing special about ST tires other than most are junk.

[Taranwanderer]

Originally Posted by animas

Well, if you believe whatever all the tire manufactures say, then you should keep the RV tires you get when you pick up your new RV.
GY used to make their Marathons in China, and they were terrible. My Glendale 5th wheel came with those in a Load D, and everyone on the owners site were having blowouts. I changed them immediately to a Load E, BFGoodrich Commercial T/A, and never had a problem in over 35k miles.

I just pulled the Chinese Trail Express Load C's off my brand new Flagstaff, can't believe they put C's on them. Put a Load D Maxxix 8008. I hope they are good....

The BFG Commercial TAs in 235/85R16 have a load index of 120, which means they can carry 3100 pounds each. The same size ST tire (for example, my stocker, Westlake 235/80R16) have a load rating of 3500 pounds. You were upgrading from "D" to "E," so you probably wound up with a tire that could carry more weight than what you had on there before. I'm glad you haven't had any issues with upgrading to the BFGs, but there's no way I'm replacing my ST tires with any tire of the same size (LT or otherwise) that can carry less weight. And I can't go up a size because I don't have the room between the axles. So I'm stuck with ST tires.

[Scootdawg]

Originally Posted by Taranwanderer

The BFG Commercial TAs in 235/85R16 have a load index of 120, which means they can carry 3100 pounds each. The same size ST tire (for example, my stocker, Westlake 235/80R16) have a load rating of 3500 pounds. You were upgrading from "D" to "E," so you probably wound up with a tire that could carry more weight than what you had on there before. I'm glad you haven't had any issues with upgrading to the BFGs, but there's no way I'm replacing my ST tires with any tire of the same size (LT or otherwise) that can carry less weight. And I can't go up a size because I don't have the room between the axles. So I'm stuck with ST tires.

How did your Westlakes hold out? Everyone talks about Maxxis and Marathon tires. I am looking at getting the Maxxis for my 5th wheel.

[Taranwanderer]

My Westlakes only have about 500 miles or so on them so far. No surprises yet, but there will be a TPMS system going on there soon. I'm going to try to make it to Florida and back for bike week with them on, I'll be bringing two spares with me. Then I'll probably replace them with the Goodyears.

[johndeerefarmer]

Originally Posted by Taranwanderer

The BFG Commercial TAs in 235/85R16 have a load index of 120, which means they can carry 3100 pounds each. The same size ST tire (for example, my stocker, Westlake 235/80R16) have a load rating of 3500 pounds. You were upgrading from "D" to "E," so you probably wound up with a tire that could carry more weight than what you had on there before. I'm glad you haven't had any issues with upgrading to the BFGs, but there's no way I'm replacing my ST tires with any tire of the same size (LT or otherwise) that can carry less weight. And I can't go up a size because I don't have the room between the axles. So I'm stuck with ST tires.

The Goodyear G614 LT235/85R16 G in your size is rated at 3750 lbs if your rim can handle 110psi.

[animas]

Originally Posted by johndeerefarmer

The Goodyear G614 LT235/85R16 G in your size is rated at 3750 lbs if your rim can handle 110psi.

If you keep your rims, be sure to stay within their rating. They should have their pressure limits stamped on the inside. On a trailer that has a C tire, like mine, going up to a D isn't a problem. Jumping up to a E is, well, a jump, and I would guess that your wheel or rim is not rated for 80 psi (for a typical E tire).

I haven't read all your previous posts, so I don't know what Load rated tire your trailer came with, or what your trailer weighs. I think it is always a good general idea to go up one Load rating, but 2 or 3 is most likely requiring a change of rims, and probably going beyond what your trailer max rating would require in the first place. You are also increasing weights when skipping load upward by more than one. Both tires and rims weigh more as you go up in sizes, keep that in mind as you don't want to stress axles and undercarriage parts with heavier after market parts. Bottom line, I really don't think you need to skip load ranges more than 1, from what the manufacture speced.