2509s tire advice please

[Sparty9]

Just signed a deal for a new 2509s. Super excited! I continually read about China bomb tires and think I will make the immediate upgrade at pick up to the Goodyear Endurance. Can someone tell me what specific model they put on their 2509 so I can order them? Much appreciated.

[67L48]

You have ST205/75R14 D tires on there right now with 2,040 capacity. This is a total of 8,160 lbs of capacity for a GVWR 6,800 lb trailer. I'd just stick with that.

You could step up to ST215/75R14. This is 0.5" wider and 0.6" taller. But, it's a 2,200 lb tire for a total 8,800 lbs of capacity. Not sure why you need this, since the stock tires already give plenty of margin.

[WTP2]

I think my trailer is the flagstaff twin to yours, 21ds. I ran the Castle Rocks for one 1000 mile trip last winter. Switched to GY Endurance this spring before a 3650 mile trip. I agree that the 205s will be all you need. The difference between the China Bombs and the GYs is huge. One of the best mods I've done on the trailer.
I just went to Discount Tire to get it done. kept the Castle Rocks and sold them on Craigslist.

[str8t six]

im pretty sure you have C rated tires right now. So just get the same size but in a D load rating in the GY endurance.

[sytsmasj]

When I upgraded to the GY, I switched from the 205 to the 215s, only because the incremental cost for the extra 640 lbs capacity for the set of 4 tires was about $10 total at Discount Tire. I will never get close to the 8800 lbs, but it is a cheap extra 640 lbs of margin of safety. The spacing between the tires did drop a bit, but they still have about 1" clearance.

[67L48]

Originally Posted by str8t six

im pretty sure you have C rated tires right now. [...]

My 2018 2504S has Castle Rock ST205/75R14 D load, as stated above. Has Forest River/Rockwood started using different tires?

Originally Posted by sytsmasj

When I upgraded to the GY, I switched from the 205 to the 215s, only because the incremental cost for the extra 640 lbs capacity for the set of 4 tires was about $10 total at Discount Tire. I will never get close to the 8800 lbs, but it is a cheap extra 640 lbs of margin of safety. The spacing between the tires did drop a bit, but they still have about 1" clearance.

Sounds reasonable. No harm in having more capacity. Could get bouncy, I suppose, if you ran max pressure. Who knows.

[TitanMike]

It's your choice but I just put a TPMS on my OE tires and drove on them for just short of 20,000 miles before replacing.

Ran trailer across the scale several times during the two years and at the worst I was never over 90% of axle rating or tires either for that matter.

Never felt I had to keep up with the 70-80 mph traffic and regularly jacked up my trailer so I could observe tires while turning by hand.

FWIW, it seems that most of the accounts of tires separating and coming apart have been on TT's using larger sized tires and on rigs that tend to me more overloaded due to the extra space built in.

Then again, it's your choice. I will say that I did replace my OE tires with a set of GY Endurance LR D tires but not until I got my full money's worth out of the originals. Not even so much as a flat tire.

[rlh1957]

Getting more tire load ability than your axles are rated for or your frame and tongue are rated for doesn't get you more load carrying ability.

[str8t six]

could have. my 2014 had C rated tires.

Originally Posted by 67L48

My 2018 2504S has Castle Rock ST205/75R14 D load, as stated above. Has Forest River/Rockwood started using different tires?

Sounds reasonable. No harm in having more capacity. Could get bouncy, I suppose, if you ran max pressure. Who knows.

youre right, but it does provide more stability and you have a overbuilt tire that you shouldnt have to worry about later on.

Originally Posted by rlh1957

Getting more tire load ability than your axles are rated for or your frame and tongue are rated for doesn't get you more load carrying ability.

[67L48]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

Getting more tire load ability than your axles are rated for or your frame and tongue are rated for doesn't get you more load carrying ability.

Nobody said it did. As clearly stated above, the trailer has 6,800 lb GVWR. D rated tires already have tons of margin over this rating. The larger size 215 mm D tires give you even more margin due to those tires' increased capacity. But, how much margin do you need? Probably don't need any more than the stock Ds, but there's also no harm in getting even more with the 215s.

There is a theory/hypothesis that the Castle Rock tires perform better when there is more margin.

7,500 lb GVWR TTs may come with ST205/75R15 C tires with total of 7,280 lbs. After transferring 800 lbs to the tongue, that might only be a few hundred pounds of margin and may stress out the less-than-stellar Chinese made Castle Rock tires.

Our Mini/Micro Lite trailers, however, after shedding at least 750 lbs to the hitch, will end up with over 2,000 lbs of margin. The hypothesis continues that this margin helps smooth over some weaknesses.

I don't know if that hypothesis is true. I only know that the D rated Castle Rock tires have miles of capacity well in excess of my trailer's GVWR.

[SailorSam20500]

2017 Flagstaff 26FKWS - 7000lbs loaded. Came with Castle Rock China Bombs in load range D. For me, the tires are rated for almost 30% more than my weight. 24k miles on the tires over 2 1/2 years and they are in good shape. May consider replacing next year...


If your trailer comes with tires that have a big margin, keep them and find something better to spend the money on. I can make recommendations...

[Jay2504]

I have 205/75/14 C Constancy tires on my 2016 2504s. 15,000+ miles so far. No problem with the tires, knock on wood! I think that the key to getting the China tires to live is not getting close to their max weight rating. Going to get new Goodyear tires next season, keeping the same size. I can actually see tread wear especially on the rear axe. Jay