need tire advice
Last week I had my first blowout. Nobody's fault but mine, I was going too fast for the tires (rated at 65), I was doing just shy of 75. Normally I drive up and down the West coast but this trip I...
Forum Discussion
Seattle Lion wrote:
There is a lot of heat here. The big question to me is that if 55% of RV's are exceeding the tire load, shouldn't the tolerances of the tires be increased to provide a safer margin? Passenger car tires have a wide safety range beyond the printed limits. Are RV owners more careless than the rest of the vehicle owners out there? Why are we experiencing such a significantly greater rate of tire failure?
Another question I have is: Why do ST tires have only a 65mph speed limit? Given the roads we travel on, shouldn't the tires have a bit of margin? I don't tow over 60, but a lot of people apparently do. In the interest of safety, shouldn't the tires be more forgiving?
The RV manufacturer selects the tires they put on the vehicles they make. Car companies select tires with about 15% or greater load capability than would be expected under normal loading. I have seen many RVs with tires that have less than 100# margin so how is it the tire companies fault? It is the RV company that is selling the cheapest tires it can find not the best for the intended use. It is the RV buyer that selects the unit on low purchase price and high level of "bling" rather than based on load capacity.
What data do you have that indicates that P type tires have a greater tolerance to overload than LT or ST type tires? You have to have data where all type tires are evaluated with equal % overload. I have not seen any testing data.
I think the fact that studies with tens of thousands of data points that show a majority of RVs are loaded above the published capacity of the tires answers your question of who is responsible for the overload. Unless of course you believe as some apparently do that tire engineers are sneaking around at night attaching invisible lead weights to RVs.
Most tires sold today have a stated speed max. Some say 62 others say 65 some 75 and others 130 etc. It is the Industry standards that establish these speed, load and inflation ratings. It is the RV mfg that selects the tires so again, why isn't it the responsibility of the RV mfg to select tires with higher speed ratings and why isn't it the RV owners responsibility to not exceed the published limits for speed, load and inflation? If you run your engine above the RPM limit how is it the engine companies fault when the engine fails earlier than expected.
