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[msantos]

We bought a brand new popup last July it came with trail express st145r12 tire took out 4 times have around 2000 miles on the tires no problems yet. I read a lot of bad reviews on trail express should I be worried? Is there any name brand that make st145r12? I plan on towing the popup from San Antonio tx to ft wilderness in Florida and don't want to have problems with the tires. Any body has and experience with this brand good or bad. Thanks

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by msantos

We bought a brand new popup last July it came with trail express st145r12 tire took out 4 times have around 2000 miles on the tires no problems yet. I read a lot of bad reviews on trail express should I be worried? Is there any name brand that make st145r12? I plan on towing the popup from San Antonio tx to ft wilderness in Florida and don't want to have problems with the tires. Any body has and experience with this brand good or bad. Thanks

My unit came with trail express on it. I got about 6000 miles on them before a sidewall blow out. I kept them at 50 lbs PSI as told never hit a curb or anything the sidewall just blew. Changed all 4 to GY marathons. I know it was the side wall when the dealer himself looked at it and showed me exactly where it blew.

[pgandw]

You have a smaller popup with 12" tires. Many-to-most PUP/A-frame owners do not have the tire problems the larger campers and RVs do because the loads are so much lighter. Many of us run the Trail Express (or whatever the cheap OEM tire is) for 4-5 years without issue.

It might be worth a weight check to give you more piece of mind. Next trip, stop at a scale and see what your actual loaded weights are on your trailer axle. Compare the scale weight with your GVWR on the PUP sticker (or web page if you don't have the sticker). Also, check the load capacity of the tires - molded on the tire sidewall.

You should be staying under your GVWR even when fully loaded. And 2X the tire capacity should exceed the recorded weight by 200lbs, and preferably 400lbs, meaning the tires are only loaded to 80% of capacity (assumes tire capacity is about 400lbs greater than recorded weight). If the tires are loaded to 90%+, I would consider increasing the tire size as I believe this to be more important than changing tire brand.

Maintaining full rated pressure is essential to get the full load capacity of the tire. And staying at 65 MPH (all most ST tires are rated for) or below - especially when heavily loaded - is another tire saver.

However, if you feel the need to change out tires for a better make, I'm not going to stand in your way.

just my thoughts and experiences
Fred W
Rockwood A122
Hyundai Entourage (minivan)

[msantos]

Thanks Fred

[msantos]

I would assume your running the OEM tires on yours

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by msantos

I would assume your running the OEM tires on yours

Yes, I am. 14" Trail Express. Religiously inflated before every trip to 50 PSI. 2K miles (approx) to date. I'm generally about 400 lbs under GVWR of the A-frame on our trips.

Previous PUP was a Coleman Westlake (heavier than the A-frame and loaded with more stuff). Ran the OEM tires from 2001 to 2007 without issue (sold in 2007 with about 10K miles).

Now that I know more about tires, I would have changed those out at 5 years due to aging. Since auto and truck tires are deemed to have a lifetime of 6 years, I now use 5 years for trailer tires because they see more abuse (sitting still, under-inflation, heavily loaded, never rotated, seldom balanced) and more UV light than car or truck tires.

Fred W

[msantos]

Thanks Fred you explained it real good. Help me out alot