Help with tire selection

[Wobbles]

acadianbob,
Is this size out of production? Can you point me towards a US national retailer?

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

Airdale,
snip
Do you have something definitive about a standard change that is coming?
You had my hopes up...

Standards are not changing. The standards simply indicate a tire's dimensions and the load and inflation they are to carry when being tested against the federal DOT regulations as covered in "49 CFR Part 571, Subpart B - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards"

The speed rating symbol seen on tires is not part of this DOT. Speed ratings come from a different set of tests established by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

To make matters more complex it is the Commerce Dept that is invoking tariffs on certain tires from Asia, with certain exceptions that involve different "types" of tires (P or LT or ST). As I understand it early on in the hearing and negotiation phase the subject of speed ratings came up as a method of identifying certain tires that would gain an exemption from the tariffs. It appears that the increase costs of improving the speed capability of some tires was less than the proposed tariff.

So what is changing is the design spec or objectives of tires being made for import to the USA. Some tires that in the past were not designed to be able to meet SAE testing will in the future be able to meet the existing SAE standards but 571.110 — Tire selection and rims and motor home/recreation vehicle trailer load carrying capacity information for motor vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less.
and
571.109 — Standard No. 109; New pneumatic and certain specialty tires.
and
571.119 — Standard No. 119; New pneumatic tires for motor vehicles with a GVWR of more than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) and motorcycles.
and
571.139 — Standard No. 139; New pneumatic radial tires for light vehicles.
are not changing any time soon to the best of my knowledge.

Be forewarned reading and trying to understand the legal and techno babble in the above regulations can give you a headache

RE the tire size change question. Tire OD and width is limited by clearance between the tires and the frame & bodywork and tire to tire clearance in multi axle application. I do not understand the issue of axle strength and tire OD as the bending force of the axle spindle is not affected by tire OD but by wheel offset and the amount of force (load) on the tire.

Comment on tire size. When identifying a tire size it is critical to include the letter prefix or lack thereof as a ST205/75R14 LR-C is not the same thing as a 204/75R14C as the second size is a "commercial" size tire based on European standards and has a different load capacity as the ST type tire that is based on US standards.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

I have the exact tires as Doc73, Westlake 205/75/14. My first question at this point is, are there any tires for this size rim that are rated for speeds of 70?

My options now appear to be bigger rims to get traffic speed.

The first ST tires I saw this year with a 75 MPH speed letter was Westlake.

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[doc73]

Ok, thank you all for the info. I guess it will be back to the top of the to do list then for some new rubber.

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[doc73]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

acadianbob,
Is this size out of production? Can you point me towards a US national retailer?

I found that the 195r14kumho's are sold by Sears auto stores. They have them for 128.

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[doc73]

Sorry for all the post in a row..

So looking like the Kumho 195r14 is the way to go.. DW asked a good question.. Since these are "better " tires and rated for LT usage and such does the 5 year replacement requirements still play in there?

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[Airdale]

The Kumho is a European designed tire - that's the reason for the C at the end of the size identification - for the commercial market but also marketed by its manufacturer as a trailer tire.

There are currently three sizes, all Load Range D and all 14” OD.

http://www.kumhousa.com/tire/category/truck-suv/7EAB87AD-62DC-4D82-897E-E59335DE416C

[wanderingbob]

Wow , I gotta get me some of them 99 mile per hour tires . Alaska here I come !

[doc73]

Have my mechanic pricing them now.. You get a set and I'll get a set... Then we will race each other to Alaska!

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[mnoland30]

I bought Taskmaster tires from etrailer.com. They are rated at 81 mph, and load range D. They only has ST215/75R14s which are about a 1/2" taller than my old tires. $89 each with free shipping. They seem to be working fine. Over the years I've had multiple trips with 2 blowouts on all kinds of trailers. Now that I know better, I won't buy a tire that is less than load range D or rated less than 75 mph. Your cars and trucks don't have blowouts unless they lose tire pressure. Your trailer shouldn't either.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by mnoland30

I bought Taskmaster tires from etrailer.com. They are rated at 81 mph, and load range D. They only has ST215/75R14s which are about a 1/2" taller than my old tires. $89 each with free shipping. They seem to be working fine. Over the years I've had multiple trips with 2 blowouts on all kinds of trailers. Now that I know better, I won't buy a tire that is less than load range D or rated less than 75 mph. Your cars and trucks don't have blowouts unless they lose tire pressure. Your trailer shouldn't either.

One way to see tire durability on TT similar to what is seen on cars & trucks is to run similar load margin (15% to 20%) and to run TPMS so you don't have air loss that ends in sidewall run low flex break i.e. "Blowout".

[acadianbob]

Originally Posted by Wobbles

acadianbob,
Is this size out of production? Can you point me towards a US national retailer?

I ordered mine online from Tire Rack.

P.S. Make sure to pay attention to overall diameter/circumference. My trailer only has 2" of clearance between the tires. A larger diameter/circumference was out of the question; especially since I use the Roto Chok that goes between the tires.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by mnoland30

I bought Taskmaster tires from etrailer.com. They are rated at 81 mph, and load range D. They only has ST215/75R14s which are about a 1/2" taller than my old tires. $89 each with free shipping. They seem to be working fine. Over the years I've had multiple trips with 2 blowouts on all kinds of trailers. Now that I know better, I won't buy a tire that is less than load range D or rated less than 75 mph. Your cars and trucks don't have blowouts unless they lose tire pressure. Your trailer shouldn't either.

Question...What kind of warranty did you get? Do you have to ship the tire back to them if there is a claim on any problems?

[whatsupchuck]

We don't need no stinkin' warranty. Got that from Blazing Saddles!

Since there was no response, there must not be one other than order some more.

The more I read, it seems it's best to stick to something easy to replace without UPS and several days waiting. My last "China Bombs" cost me only about two hours delay as I was next to Discount Tire in Bastrop, TX.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by whatsupchuck

We don't need no stinkin' warranty. Got that from Blazing Saddles!

Since there was no response, there must not be one other than order some more.

The more I read, it seems it's best to stick to something easy to replace without UPS and several days waiting. My last "China Bombs" cost me only about two hours delay as I was next to Discount Tire in Bastrop, TX.

You were lucky as I don't think UPS delivers to "Mile marker 234 on I-10"

[Wobbles]

Doc,
Did you select your tires yet?

[doc73]

I did not sounded like I was going to get the Kumhos but they became a pain to source. Ended up putting off the replacement until the beginning of this next season. We are on our last trip until April or so... 14" rims seemed to limit our choices. Might still make a flip to 15" rims to give a few more choices.