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.
There should be no problem with your axles. 7K axles only come in 8 lug, so you can not use your current wheels. Your trailer is slightly lighter than mine. It OEM tires are listed at 15" ST, however mine came with the optional 16" LT235/85R16E's. These were Kenda Klever china bombs! Kenda gave me 110 dollars each within the first year to remove them. I installation Michelin XPS RIBs and ran them 6.5 years and around 40K miles and sold them on CL for 200 bucks. I Then install Bridgestone Duravis R250's. Both of these tires are all steel ply offerings, with steel ply carcass verses poly like most tires.
You need to measure your axles center to center and see if you have 33" minimum to fit LT235/85R16E's. There is also LT245/75R16E that was shorter. Both of these tires are rated to 3042 pounds each, and provide more than enough load capacity. There are also a couple smaller sizes, if your axle spacing and clearance will not allow these two sizes.
Funny how so many tire stores will say "We have had great luck with these ST tire!" What they fail to include is getting you out their driveway and taking your money.
Just google or search here about ST tire problems.
Chris
