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Nutinelse2do's avatar
Nutinelse2do
Explorer
May 18, 2014

Can of Worms.. LT vs ST 13K trailer

Morning,

Will try to keep this as simple as possible.

Doing the investigation of new tires. I was completely convinced to go with either Duravis or XPS LT tires . My rig GVWR is 12.7 loaded with 6k axles. So by the book I should be using ST tires which have a carrying capacity of 3500 each vs 3000 on LT.

Several questions.

If my rig has a GVWV of 12,700 why are there only 6k axles?

Does keystone subtract the pin weight from what the tires/axles should carry?

Would I be over stressing LT tires with the weight above?

Also concerned with what I have read about 65 mph and overheating on ST's

I know all the discussion on LT vs ST, but the above questions are my main concern. As always I am probably over thinking this, but we still have 9 months to go and it occupies my time.. :-)
  • rhagfo's avatar
    rhagfo
    Explorer III
    Nutinelse2do wrote:
    Morning,

    Will try to keep this as simple as possible.

    Doing the investigation of new tires. I was completely convinced to go with either Duravis or XPS LT tires . My rig GVWR is 12.7 loaded with 6k axles. So by the book I should be using ST tires which have a carrying capacity of 3500 each vs 3000 on LT.

    Several questions.

    If my rig has a GVWV of 12,700 why are there only 6k axles?

    Does keystone subtract the pin weight from what the tires/axles should carry?

    Would I be over stressing LT tires with the weight above?

    Also concerned with what I have read about 65 mph and overheating on ST's

    I know all the discussion on LT vs ST, but the above questions are my main concern. As always I am probably over thinking this, but we still have 9 months to go and it occupies my time.. :-)


    I would rather run LT's closer to their Max load capacity, than ST tires with a larger margin. They cost more for a reason. Many will state ST are designed to take the sidewall stress of the tandem axle. Well commercial HDT run the same tires on all axles, drivers and trailers. There are no ST's in big trucks.
  • The answer is LT tires only! No and No to ST tires of any type or size.
  • Your rig has 6K axles because they Mfg does not include the weight that will be on the pin or the landing gear.
  • 12700# gross and you should have 15% of that weight on the pin I believe so 10800# are on four tires.3500x4=14000# Kinda appears that you have a margin of 2 tons with the ST's or would have TON WITH THE LT'S. If possible I would weigh each tire to get a more accurate idea of what you have. 65 mph? most people do not know that. You could read it on the side of the tire BUT? I, and most people I know do not drive faster than that. No bigge. I switched to LT's and I wonder the stress on the bearings when making sharp turns as the tires do not give like the old St's. When I replace these present tires I;m going back to ST's I know the ride got stiffer and can feel it in the wheel.
  • Your only real question is do you go with LT235/85R16E or LT245/75R16E. That question is usually answered by measuring the center to center distance of your axles. For the 235 you need at least 33" C to C. Pin weight is not included the the axle carrying capacity. Your tires will be carrying a little over 10K, and LT rated at 3042 pounds are a much better choice than cheap ST tires.

    I ran RIBs for 6.5 years and around 40K+ miles before selling them for 200 bucks on CL. I put R250's on this time base on about -50 bucks each. Our trailers are similar in size and weight. Both are good tires for a trailer.

    Do it and don't look back. Chris