LT tires

There are not a lot of choices when it comes to a good ST tire. Maxxis is probably the best. Any name brand LT tire is a good choice. Although you don't need a G rated tire, Saliun G rated tires are LT's designed for trailer use. They may not cost any more than a good LT tire. They are rated for 110 PSI so you would need to check your rims before purchase these tires. You could probably get by on running 100 PSI with your weight. Michelin makes a all steel belted LT tire, Ribs, but they are expensive. I have ran B F Goodrich Commercial LT tires with good results.

My fifth wheel trailer is the same weight as yours with a 2500 lb hitch weight. When we bought the trailer I had the dealer take off the Good Year Marathons (China bombs) and put on Maxxis 8008 tires which I was happy with, but I found it difficult to find replacement Maxxis tires.
After a lot of research I decided to replace the Maxxis tires with Bridgestone 250 LT tires and I am extremely pleased with the tires which I have now used about 2 years. With the Maxxis tires I needed a wheel alignment every year, however with the Bridgestone tires I no longer require a wheel alignment. At the current time there is about 15,000 miles on the tires and the tires still look brand new.

Hope this helps.

mamasmax wrote:
A question for you folks who have, or are going to, switch to LT tires on your fiver. Are there certain characteristics that make one tire more desirable than another or will any LT tire be fine? My fiver maxes out at 12,000 lbs. loaded so I don't need load range G tires. For that matter, does it even make sense to make that change and instead go with a top of the line trailer tire instead?

Assuming you have 16" wheels, the Michelin XP Rib or the nearly-identical, but cheaper, Bridgestone Duravis R250 are 2 of the best, at least anecdotally. The Maxxis, as others have said, are probably the best ST tire, but there seem to have been more reports of failures recently. Could simply be that more and more are on the road; no way to tell percentage, which is the only real way to tell.

The thing you want in any trailer tire, is a ribbed tread, with very little siping (cross-cuts) on the tread.

Lyle

ST tires are or were speed rated to 65MPH. LT tires are speed rated to 99 MPH. ST tires are not tested to the same standards as LT tires. ST tires have a short life span. ST tires have a long history of premature failures especially on heavy trailers. Muff said!

For what it is worth Michelin owns BFG and Bridgestone and all 3 have LT tires. I am running Michelin XPS ribs. You will find them to be a physically heavy tire.

donn0128 wrote:
ST tires are or were speed rated to 65MPH. LT tires are speed rated to 99 MPH. ST tires are not tested to the same standards as LT tires. ST tires have a short life span. ST tires have a long history of premature failures especially on heavy trailers. Muff said!

Not true for all ST tires. My Carlisle RH's are rated to 80-something, IIRC. Definitely > 65, though.

Lyle

Overwhelming majority of STs are 65mph.

I also have a 12klb GVWR 5er and just made the jump to LTs (Bridgestone Duravis R250). Figured if I was spending the money and wanted the reassurance of running an LT to go with one of the best rated. Not all LTs are the same as they fall into different classes based in construction and tread pattern. Couldnt be happier with the R250s. Not cheap though...

Just be aware a lot of the big box tire stores will not install LTs on a trailer.

The STs I just replaced were rated to 75.

the main thing to look at for LT tires besides the load rating and being able to fit the tires within the wheel well of the RV is the tread pattern - you want as much as possible to have a RIB pattern for lower rolling resistance.

Plenty of good choices out there - the top two are the Michelin XPS Rib and the Bridgestone Duravis R250 but also look at the Toyo H/T, BFG Commercial T/A AS, Cooper Discoverer H/T, Firestone TransForce H/T, Bridgestone Duravis R500 and Michelin LTX M/S2 as possible choices depending on what you can buy locally for a good price.

Dandy Dan wrote:
For what it is worth Michelin owns BFG and Bridgestone and all 3 have LT tires. I am running Michelin XPS ribs. You will find them to be a physically heavy tire.

As posted in the Goodyear tire thread with documenting links, Michelin owns BFGoodrich tires and Bridgestone owns Firestone.

Rusty