st tires for long road trip

[510Rick]

Get the Goodyears and go up a load range if possible . The difference in the just feel of the quality will make you feel better . My trailer also feels better on the road as well . Really feel like less drag. could be in my head but it sure seems that way. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer as a tire blowout on a trailer can be catastrophic .

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by 510Rick

Get the Goodyears and go up a load range if possible . The difference in the just feel of the quality will make you feel better . My trailer also feels better on the road as well . Really feel like less drag. could be in my head but it sure seems that way. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer as a tire blowout on a trailer can be catastrophic .

Not always. Depends on a couple factors.

How much attention do you pay to your tires while driving. My driving "technique" is to scan EVERYTHING regularly, not just stare out the windshield and watch the scenery. Regular instrument checks and rear view mirrors.

I've had tow tire failures on a travel trailer since 1979. Both let me know they were coming apart when the "feel" of the trailer changed and I saw little black pieces bouncing on the road behind my trailer.

On the first one, when I pulled over I found a tire that's sidewall was showing cords but still intact although totally flat. On the second one the tire had wrapped itself partially around the axle in the last few feet of travel but didn't even damage the brake wires.

To what do I attribute my "luck"? A reasonable travel speed, a good "awareness" of changes in how my trailer handles on the road, and frequent checks of the rear view mirrors.

I know I'm not the only one who does this or checks their tires before hitting the road in the morning. Those of us that do this are totally aware that ANYTHING can happen to a tire from the moment you start moving until you reach your destination. Based on the amount of crap on the highways today It's amazing that we don't see vehicles alongside the road every mile with flat/destroyed tires.

Another blatant plug for TPMS systems. They may not prevent road damage but they just might alert you to the fact you have a repairable puncture before you have a "blowout" (which is really just the tire coming apart from running on low pressure).

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by DieselDrax

Oof, well I guess he may want to get current on his knowledge and start listening to people and their experience(es) with modern ST tires. [emoji23]

In defense, some things are basic and remain the same regardless of changes in tire construction.

First is INFLATION. It has to be sufficient to carry the load-------period.

Second, ALL tires are subject to puncture. If that occurs that precious air pressure is leaking out and you no longer have sufficient load carrying ability in the tire, regardless of load range.

Third, If one likes to exceed the speed rating of the tire, or drives constantly near the max speed, heat will destroy that tire eventually.


Ignore these facts and it doesn't matter what the tire is made of and how well the parts are put together.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Hatchee

Sorry, but something is not adding up. Four blowouts on the same trip all caused by properly inflating your tires to the recommended cold inflation psi.

Note: Goodyear MARATHON's. A tire that on it's best day was a problem. So much so that a class action lawsuit investigation began in 2018 and numerous complaints were sent to NHTSA.

Perhaps the reason Goodyear went all the way in designing the Endurance, which sure seems like a lot better (and more expensive) tire than the "imports".

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

In defense, some things are basic and remain the same regardless of changes in tire construction.
First is INFLATION. It has to be sufficient to carry the load-------period.
Second, ALL tires are subject to puncture. If that occurs that precious air pressure is leaking out and you no longer have sufficient load carrying ability in the tire, regardless of load range.
Third, If one likes to exceed the speed rating of the tire, or drives constantly near the max speed, heat will destroy that tire eventually.
Ignore these facts and it doesn't matter what the tire is made of and how well the parts are put together.

^X3 !!!!

[EmersonTT]

Another vote here for the Maxxi and the Goodyear Endurance. Based on all the negative reviews of the stock tires, we replaced our original tires on our travel trailer right away with Maxxi's and put 30,000 miles on them in three years, including trips over the gravel Top-of-the World Highway and gravel Dempster Highway in the Yukon, followed by over 600 miles of gravel road (some of it really bad) from Mary's Harbor on the coast of Labrador to the St. Lawrence River. We decided at the last minute to put on new tires before a trip to New Mexico, but the Maxxis weren't available on short notice, so we went with the Goodyear Endurance. We towed over the horrible gravel road into Chaco Canyon on that trip, more gravel roads into the Boundary Waters of Minnesota on a later trip, then last summer back into Canada for another trip over the Top of the World Highway and back up the Dempster, all with no problem. Needless to say, they were also great on pavement.

[Filterman]

Originally Posted by frank4711

Yep ... what DieselDrax said

X3. I'm on my second set of Goodyears and have never had an issue or a blowout.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by Bri704

hello i just came back from a long 12 hour road trip and i had a blow out. When i left i had my max cold psi which was 65psi on all my trailer tires. i stopped just to get gas and bathroom breaks. then all of a sudden pop it blew and i fixed it.My speed was between 60 and 65 mph all the way back home. i notice a wavey look to the part which has tread on it, what i mean is when you look at tires all the way across tire should be straight that rolls over road,but my tires looked like they had small waves across the tread. what my questions are:
Why would there be a wavey look across tread of tire? It's a sign of early tread separation.
What are the best kind of st tires for on a long road trips? Those that provide 15% in load capacity reserves above vehicle certified GAWRs. You pick-em.
What should i do to keep them in good shape and prevent a blow out? Keeping them properly serviced and not carrying more weight than they can support and don't exceed their speed restriction. Most "Blow Outs" cannot be avoided.
Do i have to let air out of tires after driving a long ways to prevent overheating? NEVER let air out of a hot tire unless you are going to replace it with a properly serviced spare.

Suspected early tread separation pix.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums...pictureid=6719

[sunnyinfla]

Replaced mine with multi ply Saloun tires..got them le tire,they were shipped fast and had them installed and ballanced locally...very happy with them ,got about 4000 mi on them with 0 problems...

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by sunnyinfla

Replaced mine with multi ply Saloun tires..got them le tire,they were shipped fast and had them installed and ballanced locally...very happy with them ,got about 4000 mi on them with 0 problems...

Not sure what you mean by "multi ply" tires. What is the construction as noted on the sidewall of your Sailun tires? I thought the 22.5" sizes were 1 layer steel body and 3 layer steel belts. LT sizes have polyester body and 2 layer steel belts in the couple I have seen.

[udflyer]

By brand new I mean never used. It was mounted on the outside of the trailer but it did have a tire cover on it.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by udflyer

By brand new I mean never used. It was mounted on the outside of the trailer but it did have a tire cover on it.

What was the DOT date. Was the cover black or white vinyl?

[udflyer]

the date was Oct. 2016 and the cover was black. Color shoudn't make that much difference on a quality tire.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by udflyer

the date was Oct. 2016 and the cover was black. Color shoudn't make that much difference on a quality tire.

It does if one cover absorbs more solar energy and heats the tire more.

Ideally the cover would be polished metal and have an insulating layer between it and tire. Of course the mirror like surface would be annoying to following drivers in bright sun or at night with headlights reflected back at them.

Heat damages ALL tires. The "quality" ones just last a little longer but are still damaged by heat.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by udflyer

the date was Oct. 2016 and the cover was black. Color shoudn't make that much difference on a quality tire.

Black cover essentially "baked" the life out of the tire. If you read my blog post on Tire Covers you can see the measured temperature difference.



IMO a black cover is worse than no cover as the cover keeps the heat inside the tire and slows cooling in the evening or in the shade.



Aging rate of rubber doubles every increase in temperature of 18F and in full sun you can get +40 to +70F so your three year old tire can be more like 12 to 20 years old as far as rubber properties are concerned.


By "baking" tires, in a special test I developed I was able to get tires to fail in 18 days rather than a year +.

[nutdriver]

Originally Posted by Hatchee

Sorry, but something is not adding up. Four blowouts on the same trip all caused by properly inflating your tires to the recommended cold inflation psi.

There may be more to the story but Goodyear Marathon tires are known to have reliability problems. Perhaps these were also from the same lot number and thus have the same manufacturing defect?? I do not think the problem was the inflation pressure.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by nutdriver

There may be more to the story but Goodyear Marathon tires are known to have reliability problems. Perhaps these were also from the same lot number and thus have the same manufacturing defect?? I do not think the problem was the inflation pressure.

A number of possibilities.
-Pressure gauge reads high. I have occasionally found stick type reading +5 to +10 psi.
- Tires overloaded No mention of actual tire load
- Possible bleed off of hot tire pressure which makes the tire underinflated.
- Tire age more than 3-4 years
- Tire storage outdoors in sun
- Over speed. Marathons have a 65 mph MAX
Tire storage pressure. Did they just sit for months and never checked per RV owner's manual?





I would review the NHTSA website to check on complaints on marathon and see if the DOT serial lines up BUT since so few RV owners ever bother to file actionable complaints that is not always useful.

[510Rick]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Not always. Depends on a couple factors.

How much attention do you pay to your tires while driving. My driving "technique" is to scan EVERYTHING regularly, not just stare out the windshield and watch the scenery. Regular instrument checks and rear view mirrors.

I've had tow tire failures on a travel trailer since 1979. Both let me know they were coming apart when the "feel" of the trailer changed and I saw little black pieces bouncing on the road behind my trailer.

On the first one, when I pulled over I found a tire that's sidewall was showing cords but still intact although totally flat. On the second one the tire had wrapped itself partially around the axle in the last few feet of travel but didn't even damage the brake wires.

To what do I attribute my "luck"? A reasonable travel speed, a good "awareness" of changes in how my trailer handles on the road, and frequent checks of the rear view mirrors.

I know I'm not the only one who does this or checks their tires before hitting the road in the morning. Those of us that do this are totally aware that ANYTHING can happen to a tire from the moment you start moving until you reach your destination. Based on the amount of crap on the highways today It's amazing that we don't see vehicles alongside the road every mile with flat/destroyed tires.

Another blatant plug for TPMS systems. They may not prevent road damage but they just might alert you to the fact you have a repairable puncture before you have a "blowout" (which is really just the tire coming apart from running on low pressure).

Not sure what your disagreeing with but a tire failure on a travel trailer can really mess things up . Tire failures can happen to even the most diligent drivers doing thorough pre-operation checks . The fact a blow out could bust up the side of the trailer and even the floor and get as bad as tearing up electrical devices as many trailers have them right above the axles . Also many tires have failed due to just being garbage tires or a manufacturing defect its not always a pressure heat or lack of maintenance issue .

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by 510Rick

Not sure what your disagreeing with but a tire failure on a travel trailer can really mess things up . Tire failures can happen to even the most diligent drivers doing thorough pre-operation checks . The fact a blow out could bust up the side of the trailer and even the floor and get as bad as tearing up electrical devices as many trailers have them right above the axles . Also many tires have failed due to just being garbage tires or a manufacturing defect its not always a pressure heat or lack of maintenance issue .

MOST tires, even cheap ones, don't just blow out. They give warning signs well beforehand. The issue is whether or not the "driver" makes themselves aware aware of them.

Separations don't just happen, they start long before the actual failure and tend to give themselves away in the form of slight bulges or a "skewed" tread pattern. Unless people actually jack up the axle and spin the tire they'll never notice them until they see pieces flying. If one notices the beginnings of a problem they can still drive to a tire shop to have it addressed.

Ever since the automotive hoist was invented people got their tires checked for separations when they got their oil changed. Many separations were detected in this manner long before they failed on the highway. Trailers don't regularly get "lifted" so it follows that few people do much more than check air pressure and maybe "feel a hub" to see if it's hot.

I tend to jack up my trailer wheels regularly, especially before a long trip. Sure, it's a pain (manufacturers could make it easier for torsion axles if they'd put an extension on the back of the spindle so one could get a bottle jack directly below it) but so is changing a tire alongside the highway with traffic speeding by.

If more RV owners would behave like Pilots with their vehicles (motorized or towed) there would be far less tire issues alone. My Dad was a pilot and watching him go through his pre-flight check-list EVERY time the plane was pulled from the hangar kind of set the tone for my habits before setting out on a drive. I just don't take a fuel sample

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by nutdriver

There may be more to the story but Goodyear Marathon tires are known to have reliability problems. Perhaps these were also from the same lot number and thus have the same manufacturing defect?? I do not think the problem was the inflation pressure.

Goodyear Marathon tires were made in China and there were a lot of issues with them. They are no longer being manufactured. The new Goodyear Endurance tires are made in the USA and do not have the issues the Marathon tires had. There are a lot of people who badmouth Endurance tires based on Marathon experiences. Someone else mentioned a 65 mph limit on Marathons, which I'll accept as true, but Goodyear Endurance tires are rated to 87 mph. This post is just a general information for anyone who doesn't know about the two different Goodyear tires.