Another Tire Question

[fast murray]

I've learned that the tires on our 04 5er were actually made in 03. They are General ST225 75r16D. I had to replace one of them last fall with a Goodyear Marathon tire from China. I've thought about simply buying 3 more of them but am not hearing too many positive things about them. Of course I've been looking around at the Maxxis tires but would it be of any benefit to go to a E rated tire? If so, would they need to be run at max pressure like is suggested of trailer tires? I currently run the D's at 65psi as I read on this site.

[acadianbob]

Originally Posted by fast murray

I've learned that the tires on our 04 5er were actually made in 03. They are General ST225 75r16D. I had to replace one of them last fall with a Goodyear Marathon tire from China. I've thought about simply buying 3 more of them but am not hearing too many positive things about them. Of course I've been looking around at the Maxxis tires but would it be of any benefit to go to a E rated tire? If so, would they need to be run at max pressure like is suggested of trailer tires? I currently run the D's at 65psi as I read on this site.

If you are near the maximum capacity of your LR D tires, then E rated tires may be of benefit. I would not be afraid of Goodyear Marathons. I had a set that performed perfectly. You do not need to run your tires at maximum pressure but reducing pressure will reduce the rated capacity of your tire. You could put on E's and run them at 70 PSI for example.

[donn]

You would be crazy not to just buy 4 new LT225 R16 tires and be done with the worries of China bomb tires.

[fast murray]

Originally Posted by donn

You would be crazy not to just buy 4 new LT225 R16 tires and be done with the worries of China bomb tires.

I looked at some of the LT tires that people have mentioned (BF Goodrich and Michelin) but I don't have pockets that deep. I'm thinking I can put 3 more goodyears on for $450 and probably be near $600 for a Maxxis set. We do not put many miles on per year as we don't plan on even leaving the state this year. Isn't there something about LT tires not being able to handle the side sliding motion that tandem trailers can exert?

[pbrackney]

Originally Posted by fast murray

I looked at some of the LT tires that people have mentioned (BF Goodrich and Michelin) but I don't have pockets that deep. I'm thinking I can put 3 more goodyears on for $450 and probably be near $600 for a Maxxis set. We do not put many miles on per year as we don't plan on even leaving the state this year. Isn't there something about LT tires not being able to handle the side sliding motion that tandem trailers can exert?

IMHO If you are not pulling your tt full time I would not go with the LT tires. They are not built to withstand the storage time of tires sitting still for storage. That is one big benefit to trailer tires. They are designed for long periods of storage for say "winter time". If you use tt throughout the year then LT tires may be an option.

[donn]

Look at Hankook Dynapro AS LT tires. Cheaper than BFG or Michelin but still a quality LT tire lots of folks are running with excellent results. IMHO if you put Marathon's on you will be paying a lot of money in the future to repair the damage when they explode.

[acadianbob]

Just took off a set of Goodyear Marathons that had 25,000 miles on them. NEVER had a hint of a problem. Only took them off because of age and mileage. They still looked great. Obviously some wear from 25,000 miles. They saw all day tows in 95 degree heat. Scrabbled over rock strewn National Forest Service roads. It's a fine tire.