Please Check my Tire Logic....

cruz-in wrote:
Hi Team,

Made the decision to go LT....after tons of research I decided on Bridgestone Duravis R250. So now the tire size question...

I have a 28 foot 5th wheel with dual 4400 pound axles (trailer GAWR rating is 8800 pounds. Unloaded weight is about 7500 pounds and max loaded is about 10K pounds. Pin weight unloaded is 1350, I suspect about 1800 laoded. Trailer usually comes with 15 inch wheels, this one has the optional 16 inch rims. Currently has 235/80/R16.

Looking at replacing with Bridgestone Duravis R250 225/75/R16. Load Range Index 116 (2496 Pounds).

My questions:

1) Do you think I am good to go with this load range/size? Seems to me they should work just fine given the weights I am working with.

2) Wally World now has them for $214 a piece with free shipping to store (pretty great price). Will not be using the trailer for the next 5 months. Should I wait till spring or go for the good price that Wally World has on them? Will being installed and sitting for 5 months affect life of tires?

Thanks

You are NOT looking at LT tires. You are looking at passenger tires. When not in passenger use, you must de-rate passenger tires by 10%, or a tire rated at 2496 in passenger car use is only good for 2190 in trailer or truck use. Because you have 4,400 pound axles, then if loaded to 100% of the axle rating then the tires will be overloaded.

LT tires start with LT in their size. Such as LT 235/60R16C. Lt tires have a "ply Rating" from 2 to 10, that also have letter grades. C is a 6 ply rating. D is 8 ply, E is 10 ply. Larger tires even go to F, G, H for 12, 14 and 16 ply ratings. Back in the 30's, light truck tires had actual cotton plys, leading to that rating. Nowdays a 8ply rating might only have 3 or 4 steel plys.

You might need to go with a 60 or 65 series tire to avoid the tire being taller and having problems with clearance between the forward and rear tires. By changing from a 235 mm wide to only 215 mm wide, then you can go to a taller 70 series, it will not be much taller overall than the 235.. that is 60% tall. By going to the skinny 215 mm wide and 70% tall, you get about the same overall diameter.

Yes tell them you will be checking the date codes, and not accepting older tires. Because the are to old at 7 years old overall (since date of manufacture) buying tires that are already 6 or 8 months old takes out that much of their life before they are even installed. So buying new ones in 6 months will save you some money by them being newer.

ABC did a news report on old tires. It seems one Sears store had the display tires under the covers in the display window, and kept them there for years. At 8 or 9 years old, they sold them to a reporter undercover.



Good luck!

Fred.