Light duty truck tires on travel trailer

[zagain]

I want to replace the "china bomb" tires in my Vengeance 25V.
Has anybody installed light duty tires on their travel trailer/toyhauler?, what has been your experience? Any advantages to ST tires?

[NMWildcat]

This is going to be a can of worms for you I'm afraid
I have run LT tires on my RVs, as well as several folks in our RV group. Just make sure the tires are rated for at least the load of the OEM tires. Go up a load range if you can.
Any advantages? Higher speed ratings. Peace of mind when all the ST tires seemed to have problems. Never noticed much difference in handling.
Another option is a higher load range Goodyear Endurance ST, or Maxxis M8008. I have heard only good things about them.

[B and B]

Or...

Buy Sailun ST Tires. They are the best and cost effective. many OEM switched from Carilise or Good Year. They are even regrovable so that tell you something about the carcass and structure inside.

I have had them on 2 RV's. Smooth running, do not heat up and stable with cross winds.

[Blackrock]

Have you ever wondered why they put ST tires on trailers versus P or LT tires. Must be a reason for that.

[Larry0071]

Originally Posted by Blackrock

Have you ever wondered why they put ST tires on trailers versus P or LT tires. Must be a reason for that.

Yea... Cheaper.

At the Pittsburgh RV show last month, my wife and I noted that some of the "off roady" looking units are running BF Goodrich Radial AT KO2 LT tires from the factory. So are the camper manufacturers now all so stupid that they are putting LT tires on these things and everyone buying them is going to kill a bus load of crippled nuns and burn down an orphanage? I highly doubt it.

I want to say that they were Wolf Pack/Wolf Pup/Wolf something units that had the LT tires on them. They looked freaking awesome, very much made me want to drag a camper into a mud hole and up a rock crawling trail!

I personally would trust a properly load rated Cooper STT Pro or BFG AT KO2 over ANY trailer tire on earth, every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[dave961]

I'm on my second set of Maxxis M8008. They are good, but I might open the wallet next time and go up to an H rated 14ply.

[Tundra 2014]

Here we go! If the TT size and load range is available in a truck tire, good choice. If you are looking at 14" tires, the advantage goes to ST due to more "D" rated tires available in sizes used on TT.

[U.S.ArmyVeteran]

I seem to remember something about the side load stresses on trailer tires when making turns. Have to visualize that.


https://youtu.be/qIFdltJRqoQ


From the interweb :-)


"Trailer tires have stiffer sidewalls than motor vehicle tires, and generally have a higher weight rating than a car tire in the same size. There may be motor vehicle code requirements in some areas that require on ST tires be installed on trailers.




Typical passenger radial tires with flexible sidewalls can accentuate trailer sway problems. ... "Trailers will be more stable and pull better on tires designed specifically for trailer use. Since Special Trailer (ST) tires are constructed with heavier duty materials, they are tougher than typical passenger vehicle tires."




Editorial note. Not talking about china bombs. ughhhh



Just an FYI.
Your mileage may vary

[deereman1026]

Here is a YouTube link I ran across last night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLt-11jD2kc

[cruiserjohn]

Why don`t they put st tires on semi trailers??????? I have ran lt tires on 45 ft wedge car hauler and never had any problem with side walls.

[TitanMike]

For years I ran some G-70/15 "Polyglass" tires on a 24' Prowler travel trailer. Not a single issue and it handled fine on just about any road I drove on up to posted speeds.

They were large enough to carry the load and inflated accordingly.

In today's world a similar tire would be a lot more expensive than an ST trailer tire. No need to go with LT's, just buy good ST tires. The extra money may, or may not, yield benefits especially if you purchase "top of the line" ST tires.

[Lundy]

Just for the nay sayers, my Springdale calls for LT tires on the sticker that shows the proper tires and load class. Manufactures put ST's on because of one reason, they are cheaper.

[rip1202]

Castle rock tires all the way no problems in 2 years !@@-

[Lt Jim]

My 2014 41' SOB 5th wheel, GWR over 17,000 lbs, came standard with Goodyear LT tires. I'm on my 2nd set, and won't ride with anything else.

[Larry0071]

Yep, ST tires are cheap trash bought by the shipping container... That is why manufactures use them.

Show me the LT truck tire failure on trailers posts. I'll wait here....

I'd put a properly rated KO2 up against any trailer tire on Earth. That's not even a fair fight. The trailer tire couldn't win Baja at 120 mph while aired down and smashing rocks with the sidewalls.... But the KO2 does it in its sleep.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by zagain

I want to replace the "china bomb" tires in my Vengeance 25V.
Has anybody installed light duty tires on their travel trailer/toyhauler?, what has been your experience? Any advantages to ST tires?

Is there a problem? According to the specs on your trailer it came with 16" (over kill in load capacity) tires. The only 16" LT tires that will qualify as replacements are the GY G614 RSTs. They are super over kill and the most expensive.

There are a lot of highly touted 16" ST tires in todays market place. They will, I'm sure, be mentioned here.

[Comanchecreek]

My previous trailer, (Montana Fifth Wheel), came with Michelin LTX's on it. Ran them for 7 years without incident, but bought a new set of Michelin XPS's figuring that it was time due to the age of the tires, not because of wear, and the old tires were showing some weather cracking. I transferred those tires to my Crusader immediately after buying the new trailer as didn't trust the "Blow Maxes" that came on the trailer from the dealership. The XPS's are now more than 4 years old without any problems. When the time comes to replace them again I will certainly buy the Michelins again. Whatever you buy, be sure you have the correct Load Range, and my suggestion would be to stay away from the Chinese made tires. Buy the best quality you can because a catastrophic blow out will cause a great deal of damage. Cheap tires are not worth it when you figure in the cost of damage during a blow out, and also the perceived cost of the risk of having to change a tire on the side of a busy Interstate.
Oh Yeah: I would also recommend a TPMS system for peace of mind.

[U.S.ArmyVeteran]

Well there you go!
Everything is now all cleared up. Clear as mud.


I guess I could add up the votes so to speak. Or flip a coin.



Good Luck everyone and have fun!

[hobienick]

This is what I have been able to surmise from this thread so far:
- Don't put passenger tires on your trailer. Not sure who suggested putting passenger tires on a trailer, but not a good idea.
- LT tires are OK if you can find a size that will fit on your wheels. Also, inflate them properly.
-ST tires are OK but you get what you pay for. Again, inflate properly.

Did I miss anything? If not, I don't see a need to make this more complicated.

[Larry0071]

Originally Posted by hobienick

This is what I have been able to surmise from this thread so far:
- Don't put passenger tires on your trailer. Not sure who suggested putting passenger tires on a trailer, but not a good idea.
- LT tires are OK if you can find a size that will fit on your wheels. Also, inflate them properly.
-ST tires are OK but you get what you pay for. Again, inflate properly.

Did I miss anything? If not, I don't see a need to make this more complicated.

I'd say your good. I would put LT tires as 1st choice (assuming size and load rating is verified), then way down the list... ST tires. And I wouldn't run a car P-metric tire unless it was an emergency and I would swap it out as soon as reasonably possible.

A quality LT tire is always going to be the best choice.