Things to know about trailer tires

[Witch Doctor]

I do not know that much about tires and the difference. What I do know is that Black Tires in lumberton NC , said that they would not be able to put anything but ST on my trailer. So I bought 4 new Marathons from them and he moved me up to D rated from the Trail Express C rated that came with my unit. I did have about 7000 miles on them when I had a sudden blow out. I had Marathons on my Jayco before, never a problem. So I stuck with the Marathons ST. Black tire is one of the largest Good year dealers around. I was surprised when he said he would not sell me anything else. so far I have atleast 4000 miles on these and they look brand new. I just figured that's there business and they know what they are talking about. He also made me balance them or he would not sell them to me, he said that if I want to go somewhere else that would be fine. But they will not do something that they thought was unsafe. Made me feel like I bought the right tires for my unit.

[rattleNsmoke]

Ehh, no offense taken. It's all good. Hell, if we didn't have different points of view and weren't able to express those views, we'd be lame ducks......uhmmmm...no offense Ducky! Wherever you are..........
Cheers my friends have one on me......... Mikey

[Taranwanderer]

The Salem needed new sneakers in September, so I did two things: went from a bias ply tire to a radial, and went from load range D to load range E. Worth it for the POM... We'll see how this experiment turns out.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by rattleNsmoke

That sounds good but after reading many tire failure posts, more owners HAVE indeed taken care and precautions and still had ST failures. A friend of mine bought MY 2 year old Powermax Blowmaster's since I did not feel comfy using ST's on The Beast when it was placarded for LT's. He installed them on a 32ft Montana fiver. The trailer was packed lightly for just he and his wife. Second trip out he had one explode. This spring, we were on our way to a CG. A half hour out, he had the r\r tire tread literally peel off the carcass and rip apart his fender skirt and damage his underbelly liner. He got the tires real cheap and I forewarned him I took no responsibility if he had a blow out. I felt bad he had such bad luck, but he was warned. He now rides on Cooper LT's. There are plenty of stories out there. Take the time a do a search.

When reading Cooper's replacement tire page one might wonder what replacement tire was actually used.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company - Load Capacity

Airdale

[Loren Turner]

We've been camping in Colorado for 4 weeks now and I noticed a lot of new Jaycos with LT tires installed from factory. Go figure!

[sail2liv]

Thank you Herk for letting us know about the curb strike, first I have read about it ....
That leads me to believe that if the same thing happened with D tires the blowout would probably result....I run Trail Express that are 2 + years old with 12000 miles and look like new C range....50 psi CTP what concerns me is not how I use the tires but how the delivery guy used the tires....and we all know how fast those guys go when they pass us in a blur on the interstate and no telling how many curbs they run over.....on that 1rst 1000 miles they put on your new!!!!! tires ha ha....my tpms shows the temps running 55 to 75 degrees at 56-58 mph.....10 degrees warmer on the sun side ......course 200 miles is a huge leg for me.....and I do most of the driving in the cool months....since pretty much a snowbird.....hot month driving is on the Blue Ridge Pkwy......since heat is one of the issues of breaking the tire down, why does everyone pass me three times on a 200 mile run on the interstate...the only math I come up with is they are changing tires and getting gas.....I say slow down as your house is with you so what is the hurry.....I did have to let the guy that said I had to drive to Alaska that I would never make it before the snow.....that is when he let me know you had to drive at least 500 miles per day for the first week....good luck to all with tire, I hope I never join the group here with a blow out.....sorta feel like I am being deprived of the total RV experience....as have nothing bad to say about China bombs.......YET//// oh btw tires were filled with Nitrogen.....not that it makes a diff

[f5moab]

Originally Posted by Airdale

When reading Cooper's replacement tire page one might wonder what replacement tire was actually used.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company - Load Capacity

Airdale

Makes sense to me. When I ordered my Yokohamas from the local dealer, he did some of the same calculations I had already done and then ordered.
The one major difference between ST and LT tires is that for the same size, a ST tire can carry a lot higher load vs a standard or LT tire. So it is not advisable to swap unless you go bigger, and that is what the dealer was looking at; was I staying at, or exceeding the load limits of the tires being replaced.

My original size tires had a load rating of 1360 lbs each (175x80 13) but on the lifted trailer I was able to go up to larger 15 inch tires that have a load rating of 1653 each. And from using them for a few months and taking the trailer off-road, I have not had any sidewall cuts due to sharp rocks. That is why I dumped the ST tires.

And when I was at Stanley Lake, two other off-road trailers a Flagstaff and a older Fleetwood(?) both had, from the factory, LT tires. But they had the clearance from their lift to accept larger tires.

I can say I have noticed NO difference in towing the popup on the highways or two lane roads with the truck tires vs. the Goodyear Marathons I had from the trailer dealer. The Marathons just did not like rocks. If not taking your trailer down trails where you have to climb a ledge or two, I would say the Marathons are a great tire. (Personal opinion.)

[jackiestimpson]

We have a 2014 Sandpiper 42' 5th wheel. Want to replace the tires that came on it....WestLake ST 235/80R16. These tires only have about 2000 miles on them, but know they are definitely NOT "top of the line". Our hooked up axle trailer weight is 12,000 pounds. We pull with a 3500 Silverado dually with duramax diesel. The tires suggested were the Goodyear 235/85R16 LRG G614. or 235/85R16 LRG Hercules H-901.
We are not full timers but travel during the winter months.....getting away from the Kansas City cold and snow.
Appreciate any information, views, or experience with the tires we are considering and our situation.

[dsrace]

jackiestimpson if/when you to the 14 ply tires make sure your rims are capable of handling the max psi of the 14 ply tire and are rated for the max weight those tires can carry. rims are over looked more than tires imo. when i bought my 2011 wp 295 th'er i had already owned a couple toy haulers (th'er) so i knew the factory tire choice was only rated at the limit of rather than above it 20% or higher as needed to be. so i told them, no deal unless they add 1 additional spare and 6 new e range radial st tires. bias ply are just accidents waiting to happen imo. the 10 ply tires i had added were more bouncy on the way home and i expected that because the majority of trailer aren't built with shock absorption like shocks or ez flex systems. i took care of that right away as i had planned to do and added shocks and the dexter ez flex system to mine. now i did look up specs on my aluminum rims, they were rated for the weight but only rated for 60 psi max. the tires that came with the th'er were d range so 8 ply and were rated for 65 psi max pressure. sticking to the tire manufacturers idea of max psi cold all the time put those factory rims with factory tires over there max specs. just something to think about

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Loren Turner

We've been camping in Colorado for 4 weeks now and I noticed a lot of new Jaycos with LT tires installed from factory. Go figure!

Maybe Jayco decided to provide tires that can tolerate normal usage from a significant portion of their customers i.e. provide a tire with more than 65 mph speed capability.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by f5moab

Makes sense to me. When I ordered my Yokohamas from the local dealer, he did some of the same calculations I had already done and then ordered.
The one major difference between ST and LT tires is that for the same size, a ST tire can carry a lot higher load vs a standard or LT tire. So it is not advisable to swap unless you go bigger, and that is what the dealer was looking at; was I staying at, or exceeding the load limits of the tires being replaced.

My original size tires had a load rating of 1360 lbs each (175x80 13) but on the lifted trailer I was able to go up to larger 15 inch tires that have a load rating of 1653 each. And from using them for a few months and taking the trailer off-road, I have not had any sidewall cuts due to sharp rocks. That is why I dumped the ST tires.

And when I was at Stanley Lake, two other off-road trailers a Flagstaff and a older Fleetwood(?) both had, from the factory, LT tires. But they had the clearance from their lift to accept larger tires.

I can say I have noticed NO difference in towing the popup on the highways or two lane roads with the truck tires vs. the Goodyear Marathons I had from the trailer dealer. The Marathons just did not like rocks. If not taking your trailer down trails where you have to climb a ledge or two, I would say the Marathons are a great tire. (Personal opinion.)

"The one major difference between ST and LT tires is that for the same size, a ST tire can carry a lot higher load vs a standard or LT tire. " You failed to mention the MAX speed limit for operation of ST type tires is 65 Mph while most LT in RV operation have a speed limit of 75.

If you are considering changing from ST to LT there are a lot of things that must be taken into consideration. I have a blog post just on that topic.

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

I do not know that much about tires and the difference. What I do know is that Black Tires in lumberton NC , said that they would not be able to put anything but ST on my trailer. So I bought 4 new Marathons from them and he moved me up to D rated from the Trail Express C rated that came with my unit. I did have about 7000 miles on them when I had a sudden blow out. I had Marathons on my Jayco before, never a problem. So I stuck with the Marathons ST. Black tire is one of the largest Good year dealers around. I was surprised when he said he would not sell me anything else. so far I have atleast 4000 miles on these and they look brand new. I just figured that's there business and they know what they are talking about. He also made me balance them or he would not sell them to me, he said that if I want to go somewhere else that would be fine. But they will not do something that they thought was unsafe. Made me feel like I bought the right tires for my unit.

Our dealer is local & has 3 stores great prices but told me they would also absolutely NOT put LT tires on my camper. Tried another Goodyear dealer & was told the same thing.....

[Zoo1392]

We are upgrading from a E rated to a G rated tire just for that reason Peace of mind. Ive done a week of research and cannot find a G rated Radial made here in the USA with (maybe) the exception of the Goodyear unisteel G614, but at $350 its a lot to pay for tires that have a "6 to 12k milage range on them.

[Zoo1392]

Speed kills trailer tires. Most ST tires are designed to be run at a maximum of 65 mph. Higher speeds cause the buildup of heat, which seriously impacts the life and wear of the
trailer tires.
If you don't have a TPMS you should

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

Our dealer is local & has 3 stores great prices but told me they would also absolutely NOT put LT tires on my camper. Tried another Goodyear dealer & was told the same thing.....

I've seen LT tires on FW's from the factory. Wonder if they would replace those with LT's???

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by dustman_stx

I've seen LT tires on FW's from the factory. Wonder if they would replace those with LT's???

Do you have the weigh slips showing that the LT can carry the load?

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Zoo1392

Speed kills trailer tires. Most ST tires are designed to be run at a maximum of 65 mph. Higher speeds cause the buildup of heat, which seriously impacts the life and wear of the
trailer tires.
If you don't have a TPMS you should

x2

[dustman_stx]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Do you have the weigh slips showing that the LT can carry the load?

I said I've SEEN them with LTs from the factory. Several at an RV show a couple years back when I was curious about different tires and was paying attention to what was being installed. So....no, I don't have weight slips. IIRC, I am thinking they were mostly 235/85-16, meaning they'd be rated for 3042 each in a LRE. This would seem to be satisfactory for most FWs with a GVWR in the 14,500 range when accounting for pin weight.

[dustman_stx]

I'm no tire expert, but I can tell you that I for one would be WAAAAAAYYYY more comfortable towing my camper with LT tires that were rated to carry the load. And I wouldn't cringe and glance at the TPMS monitor every time I accidentally break 65mph on a downhill run.

[AbdRahim]

BigBaron: where is your blog?