Truck tires on 3850 Cardinal

[Rbare31]

My new to me 14' 3850rl has E rated 16"truck tires on it. The previous owner blew a couple tires and thought the best idea would be to put Cooper truck tires on because he felt that an American made tire, made in Texarkana, would be a better tire. I'm concerned about the sidewall not being tough enough. Any opinions?

[donniedu]

Weight. You honestly need to get accurate axle weights fully loaded ready to travel. Then you can compare weights to tire loads and see if you have enough. I suspect you probably have 8K axles which would intocate you need tires capable of handling that load. If it were my trailer and is does infact have 8K axles, I would swap to 17.5 tires.

[CHICKDOE]

I agree with donniedu. get the weight of the trailer. our cardinal is over 16,000 lbs and has 7K axles. get tires that will handle the weight. for these heavy trailers the two tires that seem to be recommended a lot are the load range G goodyear g614 and the sailun 637 tires. (I may not have the sailun tire number correct). there are a couple of other tires in the same size but I am not sure of their load range nor do I see people recommending them on the forum like the goodyear and the sailun. the fact that the previous owner was having issues may be systematic of either using underrated tires or not checking air pressure. these are big heavy trailers and I check the tires and tire pressure before we leave as I want to do everything I can to avoid a tire problem in the middle of nowhere. even if you have roadside assistance i'm not sure the person they send out would have the equipment needed for these trailers.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by Rbare31

My new to me 14' 3850rl has E rated 16"truck tires on it. The previous owner blew a couple tires and thought the best idea would be to put Cooper truck tires on because he felt that an American made tire, made in Texarkana, would be a better tire. I'm concerned about the sidewall not being tough enough. Any opinions?

On the Cooper tires is there a number after the LT tire size? Which could be the load carrying capacity of the tire!

As an example on my truck I am using Nitto Dura Grapplers tires. These stated that the tire is LT285/70R/17 126S 14 PLY tires. The 126 number refers to the weight carrying capacity of the tire you will need to look up what this will support. In my case the tire will support a load of 3750LBS at 80PSI each. Remember some of the trailer weight will be supported by the king pin attached to the truck.

On my old Cougar a 5er I traded out the tires for Michelin XPS RIBS which was a commercial all position tire. These tires are rated to support the trailer weight that was being supported by the axles.

[CT3850]

I have the 2014 Cardinal 3850rl. Purchased it new from dealer. It has the 7K axles. I run on the Goodyear G614 and have never had a problem (4 seasons, 35,000 miles). Yet.

[Havasu Bill]

I have a Cardinal 3250 with 6000# axles. I went to LT235/85R16 Goodyear G614’s after getting the 5er.My thinking was with the pot holed road system and driving in the Arizona heat I wanted the best tires and highest rated tires I could get. Luckily my rims were already rated for G’s even though it came with E’s.
Very happy so far after 2 years and hitting a few pot holes along the way.

[jtesta1]

Just remember the heavier duty the tire the stiffer the sidewalls are . You may have a longer lasting stronger tire but with less sidewall flex you are putting a lot more stress on the home structure itself. I went from C to E and found when i get to my destination i pick up a lot of items off the floor . No telling what its doing to the structural integrity.

[Rbare31]

Really great info y’all. I will check the tires when I get home this evening and see what the numbers are and figure out what they’re rated for. If they are rated for my weight, are the sidewalls up to the task? I’ve pulled a lot of trailers over the years and watched the tires pull and lean bad on turns.

[larrytbm]

Originally Posted by Rbare31

If they are rated for my weight, are the sidewalls up to the task? I’ve pulled a lot of trailers over the years and watched the tires pull and lean bad on turns.

There are a number of fiver brands that install LTs as standard equipment. So the sidewalls will be fine. If anything they are stiffer and may put more stress on other components.

[jtesta1]

When I'm running close to gross on my big truck about 80000 lbs .you would be amazed at how much flex is in the sidewalls when turning corners. That's pretty much the cause of sidewall failure is people swinging turns to tight.when turning swing wide look in you r mirrors and see how much less your tires flex compared to a tight turn . Do the samp when backing into a spot. You have see and laughed at that fellow taking so many turns to back in .but if you really watch him he probably is taking several bites backing in to reduce sidewall stress. Take care of the tire it will care for you.

[Rbare31]

Originally Posted by jtesta1

When I'm running close to gross on my big truck about 80000 lbs .you would be amazed at how much flex is in the sidewalls when turning corners. That's pretty much the cause of sidewall failure is people swinging turns to tight.when turning swing wide look in you r mirrors and see how much less your tires flex compared to a tight turn . Do the samp when backing into a spot. You have see and laughed at that fellow taking so many turns to back in .but if you really watch him he probably is taking several bites backing in to reduce sidewall stress. Take care of the tire it will care for you.

Good advice. Thanks

[Rbare31]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

On the Cooper tires is there a number after the LT tire size? Which could be the load carrying capacity of the tire!

As an example on my truck I am using Nitto Dura Grapplers tires. These stated that the tire is LT285/70R/17 126S 14 PLY tires. The 126 number refers to the weight carrying capacity of the tire you will need to look up what this will support. In my case the tire will support a load of 3750LBS at 80PSI each. Remember some of the trailer weight will be supported by the king pin attached to the truck.

On my old Cougar a 5er I traded out the tires for Michelin XPS RIBS which was a commercial all position tire. These tires are rated to support the trailer weight that was being supported by the axles.

Bad news. LT225/75R16 115/112R. 2680lb load rating. Looks like I’ve got 4 brand new tires I can’t use. I can’t believe a tire shop would’ve put these on here.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by Rbare31

Bad news. LT225/75R16 115/112R. 2680lb load rating. Looks like I’ve got 4 brand new tires I can’t use. I can’t believe a tire shop would’ve put these on here.

I found a 2014, 3850 RL that weight 13400 LBS. Is this close to your trailer weight? Do you have 6k axles on the trailer? If so I could see why those tires were installed. The tires are a little under capacity maybe but the previous owner may have individual weight each axle and tire loads and he chose that size tire.

[Rbare31]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

I found a 2014, 3850 RL that weight 13400 LBS. Is this close to your trailer weight? Do you have 6k axles on the trailer? If so I could see why those tires were installed. The tires are a little under capacity maybe but the previous owner may have individual weight each axle and tire loads and he chose that size tire.

I’m pretty sure that’s about what mine weighs. If you took off the 2110lb listed tongue weight it would be closer. I don’t have any scales close to me or I would get it weighed.

[tgold]

I have a 34’ Cedar Creek 5th wheel. It has G load rated tires from China. Had one with a slow leak from get go. I am replacing all 5 with a Goodyear load range E trailer tires. There are actually a load range E1 and E2 but both are heavy duty tires. Even have load range E truck tires on my F350. Go on line to check out load range of tires You can go to discounttire.com and compare different tires with tire ratings including load range and weigh they will handle. FYI according to Discount Tire trailer tires lose about 30 percent of their strength. I’m not a tire guy maybe others can expound on tires.

[jtaylor1920]

That year trailer will have 7K axels and probably came with the E rated Goodyear marathons. I see a couple of options for you. Either go with the Sailun 637 tire, rated for 4400lbs at 110 PSI or switch out the wheels and tires and go with the 17.5" Goodyear G114's. The second option will be expensive, but if you're running close to your max cargo capacity and traveling a lot it might give you good peace of mind. The 2018 Estate editions now come standard with 8K axels and the 17.5" tires.

I would not put another set of E rated tires on your rig. The 3850 is just too big and heavy.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by tgold

I have a 34’ Cedar Creek 5th wheel. It has G load rated tires from China. Had one with a slow leak from get go. I am replacing all 5 with a Goodyear load range E trailer tires. There are actually a load range E1 and E2 but both are heavy duty tires. Even have load range E truck tires on my F350. Go on line to check out load range of tires You can go to discounttire.com and compare different tires with tire ratings including load range and weigh they will handle. FYI according to Discount Tire trailer tires lose about 30 percent of their strength. I’m not a tire guy maybe others can expound on tires.

Why would you go down in load range? You're removing 14 ply tires and going to 10 ply. E1 is 80 psi and E2 is 65 psi. The G rated tires you took off are 110 psi, capable of much more weight capacity.

There are "China Bombs" and then there are decent tires made in China, e.g. the Westlakes.

I realize the 34' CC is about the smallest CC made........but it's still 12K lbs dry and has 18K max weight. E tires are not a good idea for that trailer.

I don't think CC has ever put Marathons on a trailer. They went from G614's to Westlakes, but both are G rated, 14 ply.

As for slow leak........I just helped a friend take his G614's in to a tire store for a slow leak....at the stem. Very fixable........but it was down to 27 lbs!!! Even Goodyears can have a slow leak...........especially if someone put the stem in wrong.

[Rbare31]

Right now I'm leaning towards the Sailun's. Sailun recommends these be mounted on "special high capacity rims". The rims I have are aluminum and say Sendel. Will these work? I can't see anything else on them.

[Jakieboy]

Best advice is to check load ratings for each axle, then decide which load rating applies to replacement tires. We recently replaced the failed Goodyear Marathon tires (made in China) with Goodyear Endurance tires (made in USA) Load Range E. This was on our Cardinal 3250 RL 5er. The old China-made tires failed after less than two years of trailering. We have noticed no difference in ride quality of the trailer or tow vehicle since the change. Everything in the trailer stays in place where secured.

[Rbare31]

This a picture of my wheels.