New ST Goodyear tires

flipper2222 wrote:
That was one of my concerns. We have had a pop-up, travel trailer and 2 fifth wheels. When we have traveled nothing unexpected moved. These tires were placed and balanced at 70lbs. I followed my husband 25 miles. The end of the rig was bouncing up down,side to side. We looked inside, drawers were open, curtain down, coffee pot out of cabinet, bottled water everywhere. The rim is not damaged, thanks to the tire monitoring system we caught is just as it happened. This was 25 miles. Can you image the damage if this had continue on a long trip? We made sure the tire company put the jack in the right place. We got the manual to see where to put it and my husband stood there and watched. We have not been on any trips since the new tires. We are going to the Hershey RV show, hence the question now. We think we are going to put 50-55 lbs and I will watch the temp and air pressure closely as we go up the road. Then stop at rest stops to see what the inside looks like. With experts saying 30 lbs to 70lbs in a tire, It was confusing to us.

Many of us just don't understand that the tire is part of the trailer suspension. Therefore proper inflation is not only critical for load capacity but also suspension operation. Up sizing from a D to E rated tire and then running it near max capacity robs the tire of it's suspension function and puts greater stress on all other components, wheels, wheel bearings, leaf springs, hangers, frame, body, appliances and everything inside the RV. That is why you experienced the new problems.

Your rig probably weighs about 1700 lbs per tire and with the new E rated tires, it is true that 35 psi could carry that weight. With your old D rated tires, 50 psi was about the right number for 1700 lbs plus some margin. So, what happens when you run 50-55 psi in the new E rated tires? At that psi, they will have no problem carrying the weight. But they will also be stiffer than the old D rated tires and you will have the trailer and contents bouncing around more than what you are used to. It won't be as bad as 70 psi, but it will be worse than those D rated tires.