Tire blowouts
I have a 27' 5th wheel. Over the years I have had (5) blowouts. I have 15", E rated tires from Les Schwabb for trailers. I have two 5200 # axles with the 5th wheel being rated at GVWR of 12,000 #. A f...
Forum Discussion
Hamnet wrote:
I have a 27' 5th wheel. Over the years I have had (5) blowouts. I have 15", E rated tires from Les Schwabb for trailers. I have two 5200 # axles with the 5th wheel being rated at GVWR of 12,000 #. A few questions,
(1) I have had in storage for twelve months with little use.
(2) bent axles a possibility?
(3) wheels out of alignment?
I am looking at going with 7000 # axles, stay with 15" tires or should I go with 16" tires,
Stay with E rated tires or go higher rated tires.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
So does "Les Schwabb" manufacture tires or just sell them? I'm "assuming" they sell tires, mount and balance them, which makes them different in what way? I'd do the research and make up my own mind as to what tires to put on the 5er?
What tires are you using on your 5er to have had 5 blowouts?
A GVW of 12,000#, could mean a "ballpark" of a 2400# pin weight IF you're loaded to max GVW...that means 10,600# would be on your OEM axle and tires, with axle rating of 5200 each, it means the remaining 9,600# would be distributed over the two axles, which should be able to handle 10,400#....If you have E rated tires, I would imagine at the very least, they'll handle 3042# ea..(that's an LT tire, not ST), so the 4 tires will handle 12168# at the very least... meaning those tires are able to carry entire weight of the 5er..in that case, the axle would be the "weak link".
You can answer all three of your questions by looking really hard at your tires...Are the sidewalls cracked, look "old"? Do your tires have "abnormal" wear patterns? Meaning wearing to the inside, wearing to the outside, wearing in the middle, wearing on inside and outside road contact points?? All these questions answer your above questions, including over and/or under inflation of your tires.
6,000# axles would suffice with "E" rated LT tires, such as the 16" Michelin XPS RIBS, but unless you're seeing really ugly tire wear, I'd save my money to purchase some good tires, instead of going with 7,000# axles...but that may just be me.
There may be some that can recommend a "better" 15" E rated tire. I'm more familiar with 16"
