My wife and I have been full timing for the past 3 1/2 years. For the first 3 years we were in a Jayco Eagle fifth wheel. This past March we upgraded to a 2015 Jayco Pinnacle fifth wheel. I realized that the unloaded weight was about 600 pounds heavier than our Eagle but we were over 1000 pounds under GVWR on the Eagle I was not concerned when we moved our stuff into the Pinnacle. The Pinnacle came with Towmax 235/80 16 tires (10 ply, E rating). We have driven 6000 miles on them in the past 7 months and had three of them fail over 3 days this past week. I went ahead and got the trailer weighed, by itself, and it came in at 16,200 pounds. The trailer certification shows GVWR as 15,900 pounds. As I was pressed for time and in small towns I replaced the blowouts with whatever the store had in stock which ended up being HI-Run tires, same size and rating as the Towmax. I realize we do need to monitor the weight better and make some changes. I am not very knowledgable on tires or weight issues for fifth wheels and am wondering if I could get some advice on the weight issue, should I go with a better type of tire (is so what?) or could there be some other issue going on here.

What is the unloaded/dry weight of your pinnacle? Per the sticker. What are your axle ratings? Were your holding tanks empty when you weighed it? Did you get pin weight and separate weights of the axles when you scaled it? This is all good information to know. It sounds like you need to lighten the load bit and move up to load range G tires.

What is the highest speed you pull the trailer at?Bruce

You might want to invest in a Tire Pressure Monitor System, saved us thousands of dollars in possible damage.

First and foremost, you need to properly calculate your pin weight and do all of the math as suggested by others in order to know exactly where you are with things. Generally speaking, Towmaster E rated tires are a known problem, and at your weights and considering the dynamic forces at play, you would be well served with a G rated tire whether or not you are overweight or even close to rated weights. My rig is around 15000 lbs with almost 3000 lbs of pin weight and I made the change. Trailer tows much better as the tire is much stiffer....not like towing a trailer on balloons anymore. Your issue will be your wheels and whether they are rated for 110 psi.If the wheels are appropriately rated (look for stamp on inside of wheel or on backside of rim visible from under the rig) then the tire change is easy. If not, you will need new wheels and the cost goes up. IF you need new wheels, you will need to know the offset of the wheels you buy and ensure they are with the axle manufacturers specifications. There is a lot of info on here about folks that have changed wheels and what they got and where they got them....they will be lots of help if you have to go that route.Best of luck.

Advice on tire issue with fifth wheel | Good Sam Community

30 Replies

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Oct 19, 2014
Me Again wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Change to a set of GY G614's and your troubles will go away. They are the only ones who will backup and pay for damages in the rare chance they should fail. GY G and H tires have been extremely dependable since around mid 07. I have ran two sets of G's and one set of H's and never a flat over many thousands of miles.

They are not CHEAP but you will get what you pay for.

Weigh your tires and use the heaviest weight to determine what air pressure to run. Weight/inflation charts are available for all tires. GY says to use the chart and add 5psi to what the chart says if up sizing load range.

Most likely you will be running 85-90psi.

That might be a little low on inflation pressure for a G614 on his trailer. At 80 pounds inflation the G614 is rated to 3042.

85 = 3170
90 = 3300
95 = 3415
100 = 3550
105 = 3675
110 = 3750(G)

http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/tire-care-guide.pdf
Chris

Thanks, I was too lazy to pull out my chart and do a little math!
ReneeG
Explorer
Oct 19, 2014
Me Again wrote:

Me too!
SH
Explorer
Oct 19, 2014
Me Again wrote:

:B
Me_Again
Explorer III
Oct 19, 2014
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Change to a set of GY G614's and your troubles will go away. They are the only ones who will backup and pay for damages in the rare chance they should fail. GY G and H tires have been extremely dependable since around mid 07. I have ran two sets of G's and one set of H's and never a flat over many thousands of miles.

They are not CHEAP but you will get what you pay for.

Weigh your tires and use the heaviest weight to determine what air pressure to run. Weight/inflation charts are available for all tires. GY says to use the chart and add 5psi to what the chart says if up sizing load range.

Most likely you will be running 85-90psi.

That might be a little low on inflation pressure for a G614 on his trailer. At 80 pounds inflation the G614 is rated to 3042.

85 = 3170
90 = 3300
95 = 3415
100 = 3550
105 = 3675
110 = 3750(G)

http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/tire-care-guide.pdf
Chris
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Oct 19, 2014
Change to a set of GY G614's and your troubles will go away. They are the only ones who will backup and pay for damages in the rare chance they should fail. GY G and H tires have been extremely dependable since around mid 07. I have ran two sets of G's and one set of H's and never a flat over many thousands of miles.

They are not CHEAP but you will get what you pay for.

Weigh your tires and use the heaviest weight to determine what air pressure to run. Weight/inflation charts are available for all tires. GY says to use the chart and add 5psi to what the chart says if up sizing load range.

Most likely you will be running 85-90psi.
Me_Again
Explorer III
Oct 19, 2014
NHIrish
Explorer
Oct 19, 2014
First and foremost, you need to properly calculate your pin weight and do all of the math as suggested by others in order to know exactly where you are with things.

Generally speaking, Towmaster E rated tires are a known problem, and at your weights and considering the dynamic forces at play, you would be well served with a G rated tire whether or not you are overweight or even close to rated weights.

My rig is around 15000 lbs with almost 3000 lbs of pin weight and I made the change. Trailer tows much better as the tire is much stiffer....not like towing a trailer on balloons anymore.

Your issue will be your wheels and whether they are rated for 110 psi.

If the wheels are appropriately rated (look for stamp on inside of wheel or on backside of rim visible from under the rig) then the tire change is easy.

If not, you will need new wheels and the cost goes up. IF you need new wheels, you will need to know the offset of the wheels you buy and ensure they are with the axle manufacturers specifications.

There is a lot of info on here about folks that have changed wheels and what they got and where they got them....they will be lots of help if you have to go that route.

Best of luck.
guidry
Explorer II
Oct 19, 2014
You might want to invest in a Tire Pressure Monitor System, saved us thousands of dollars in possible damage.
nomad297
Explorer
Oct 19, 2014
What is the highest speed you pull the trailer at?

Bruce
therink
Explorer
Oct 19, 2014
What is the unloaded/dry weight of your pinnacle? Per the sticker.
What are your axle ratings? Were your holding tanks empty when you weighed it? Did you get pin weight and separate weights of the axles when you scaled it? This is all good information to know.
It sounds like you need to lighten the load bit and move up to load range G tires.

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Advice on tire issue with fifth wheel

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