It's a Shame!
It's a shame RV manufactures (Keystone, specifically) resort to putting marginal tires, on their "luxury" fifth wheels. I realize it's a cost factor, but they are shooting themselves in the foot as fa...
Forum Discussion
I wrote to RVIA to ask for their assistance with the tire issue we have discussed. This was their response.
Dear R:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. As I stated, I have been on travel.
Quality of tires is a price issue. While there are other tires that have higher ratings, these come at a higher cost. Technically, the tires on the units carry the stated capacities for the trailers, but you are correct, there is not a lot of extra capacity offered.
ST tires are indeed built specifically for the trailer industries. Not just RVs, but for boats, utility trailers and so on. Most ST tires have a speed rating of 65 mph, but this is not a well-known rating. Speed causes heat and heat adversely impacts tires. Worse is that heat damage is cumulative. If a tire blows out on one wheel and the other wheels/tires have to carry the higher load, heat damage will impact the other three tires. Once this heat damage occurs, it does not go away, so it is not uncommon for the other tires to blow out rather quickly, depending on the amount of damage that occurs. Heat damage cannot be seen from outside the tires, so this is not generally common knowledge.
ST tires have a more sturdy sidewall construction than other types of tires and this allows the tires to “scrub” better. Scrubbing is the sliding of the tires in a turn. Three axle trailer tires scrub more than dual axle trailers, but they all scrub or slide for sure. If a LT tire is used in place of an ST tire, it is not unheard of that the tire could roll off the rim in tight turns, as these tires don’t scrub as well as the ST tires.
I asked a large RV manufacturer why they don’t offer tire and wheel upgrades. He said they do, but so few units are customer ordered that tire/wheel upgrades are few. Some consumers who demand upgraded tires can get them, but these will be added by the dealer, and are generally obtained from a local tire distributor, not from the RV manufacturer.
When upgraded tires are installed, such as going from an E rated tire to a G or an H, most times the wheel has to be changed too, as the original wheels may not be capable of holding the new weight and pressure demanded by the larger tires.
You may be aware of the above information, but it is always good for a review. Your desire to improve the quality of tires in our industry is admirable, but it will be difficult because of the increased costs. Regulating quality is always difficult to achieve. Addressing this topic by improved education is the best hope. I hope I have helped you a bit.
If you want to talk instead of writing, that is fine by me. I would have called to discuss this topic rather than placing it in an email, but no phone number was provided. Please feel free to contact me.
Bruce A Hopkins
VP, Standards & Education
RVIA
bhopkins@rvia.org
1-703-620-6003 ext 323
Dear R:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. As I stated, I have been on travel.
Quality of tires is a price issue. While there are other tires that have higher ratings, these come at a higher cost. Technically, the tires on the units carry the stated capacities for the trailers, but you are correct, there is not a lot of extra capacity offered.
ST tires are indeed built specifically for the trailer industries. Not just RVs, but for boats, utility trailers and so on. Most ST tires have a speed rating of 65 mph, but this is not a well-known rating. Speed causes heat and heat adversely impacts tires. Worse is that heat damage is cumulative. If a tire blows out on one wheel and the other wheels/tires have to carry the higher load, heat damage will impact the other three tires. Once this heat damage occurs, it does not go away, so it is not uncommon for the other tires to blow out rather quickly, depending on the amount of damage that occurs. Heat damage cannot be seen from outside the tires, so this is not generally common knowledge.
ST tires have a more sturdy sidewall construction than other types of tires and this allows the tires to “scrub” better. Scrubbing is the sliding of the tires in a turn. Three axle trailer tires scrub more than dual axle trailers, but they all scrub or slide for sure. If a LT tire is used in place of an ST tire, it is not unheard of that the tire could roll off the rim in tight turns, as these tires don’t scrub as well as the ST tires.
I asked a large RV manufacturer why they don’t offer tire and wheel upgrades. He said they do, but so few units are customer ordered that tire/wheel upgrades are few. Some consumers who demand upgraded tires can get them, but these will be added by the dealer, and are generally obtained from a local tire distributor, not from the RV manufacturer.
When upgraded tires are installed, such as going from an E rated tire to a G or an H, most times the wheel has to be changed too, as the original wheels may not be capable of holding the new weight and pressure demanded by the larger tires.
You may be aware of the above information, but it is always good for a review. Your desire to improve the quality of tires in our industry is admirable, but it will be difficult because of the increased costs. Regulating quality is always difficult to achieve. Addressing this topic by improved education is the best hope. I hope I have helped you a bit.
If you want to talk instead of writing, that is fine by me. I would have called to discuss this topic rather than placing it in an email, but no phone number was provided. Please feel free to contact me.
Bruce A Hopkins
VP, Standards & Education
RVIA
bhopkins@rvia.org
1-703-620-6003 ext 323
