Forum Discussion
Me_Again
Dec 31, 2014Explorer III
"local guy" sells ST tires that he does not have to warranty because most of the no name or change names yearly ST tires do not have good warranty coverage. The exception is the Goodyear Marathon. As Jim points out, boat and horse trailer forums are full of ST tire issues.
The core issue is the premise that a light weight cheaply made tire can carry more weight, based on a 65MPH speed limit! If that limit was 45 or 50 MPH it might have worked! Remember that we are talking about a tire type that was designed for local service on utility type trailers and those lower speeds and casual use. The RV industry uses these cheap tires to get the trailer into the consumers hands where the trailer manufacturers do not have to handle the warranty issues.
People want to blame the user or the delivery driver. The trip to the dealer is the lightest the trailer will ever run with hundreds of pounds less being carried on each tire. Speed and weight are inversely proportional. Reduce one and the other can go up. Increase one and the other needs to go down.
Ask that "local" guy to cut apart a old ST tire and a quality LT tire and show you the heavier construction. Auto parts stores for years have had cutout displays of manufacturing differences of various products! Have you ever seen that in the tire store! Even auto manufacturers have such displays.
If the quality of these tires matched the marketing efforts that surrounds them we would not be having this debate.
We would be really shocked to know the low actual amount a Keystone or Forest River pays for these tires.
Chris
The core issue is the premise that a light weight cheaply made tire can carry more weight, based on a 65MPH speed limit! If that limit was 45 or 50 MPH it might have worked! Remember that we are talking about a tire type that was designed for local service on utility type trailers and those lower speeds and casual use. The RV industry uses these cheap tires to get the trailer into the consumers hands where the trailer manufacturers do not have to handle the warranty issues.
People want to blame the user or the delivery driver. The trip to the dealer is the lightest the trailer will ever run with hundreds of pounds less being carried on each tire. Speed and weight are inversely proportional. Reduce one and the other can go up. Increase one and the other needs to go down.
Ask that "local" guy to cut apart a old ST tire and a quality LT tire and show you the heavier construction. Auto parts stores for years have had cutout displays of manufacturing differences of various products! Have you ever seen that in the tire store! Even auto manufacturers have such displays.
If the quality of these tires matched the marketing efforts that surrounds them we would not be having this debate.
We would be really shocked to know the low actual amount a Keystone or Forest River pays for these tires.
Chris
About Fifth Wheel Group
19,006 PostsLatest Activity: Feb 18, 2025