Towmax blown tires

Me Again wrote:

CapriRacer wrote:

Let's take this a step further - and compare an ST tire:

7) ST235/80R16 Goodyear Marathon Load Range D - 10/32nds - 34#
8) ST235/80R16 Goodyear Marathon Load Range E - 10/32nds - 38#

Not to split hairs, but!

I do not believe that GY makes the ST235/80R16LRD anymore. And the references I look at state the weight of the LRE at 34-35.4 pounds.....

Well, I'm looking at Tire Rack and they list the LR D as in stock. I also know they actually weigh tires, so I think using the Tire Rack data as a source is at least consistent within itself.

And that was the important point. Consistent data to demonstrate a point.

Me Again wrote:
....There are a bunch of ST tires that I call the 35 pounders. Towmax, Duro, Mission, Marathon on and on. Then there are the Maxxis and Maxmiler that weigh in at 43.xx(some of the Maxmiler's additonal weight is in deeper tread at 16/32 and wide shoulders).

Now it is the good part!
The Maxxis ST235/80R16LRE weighing 43.43 pounds has 9/32" tread!
The Marathon ST235/80R16LRE weighing 35.4 pounds has 10/32" tread!
(Marathon weight based on phone call to them a few years ago)
Maxxis Diameter is 30.8 and Marathon Diameter is 30.7 based on manufacturers web site specs.




Would you like to start over on explaining the difference between these two very similar tires? Both are rated at 3420 pounds at 80 pounds inflation. Both are poly carcass tires and direct replacements for each other. Yet the M8008ST is 22.7 percent heavier that the Marathon. That is quite a bit more, and can not be written off as tread depth, as the much lighter Marathon wins that one. I suspect one would find most of the difference in the sidewall and casing below the tread. Not many other places to hide the difference. Both of these tires are what some refer to as baseball shaped tires, without wide shoulders. If one looks at the Maxmiler thread going they will see in the pictures I linked there that the Maxmiler looks a lot like an LT tire with wide shoulders that even the manufacture notes in their web site documentation.

Another Marathon weight reference

Chris

Chris,

The point of my post was that trying to explain how a tire's weight influences durability is a lesson in futuility. There is such a huge variation within a given tire manufacturer that trying to compare different tire manufacturers doesn't explain what is going on.

Sure the Maxxis is heavier - or at least, it is being reported as heavier from different sources - but that doesn't explain if there are differences that are important.

Here, I'll give you one that demonstrates my point:

On the outside of every tire casing's sidewall is a layer of rubber to protect the casing from being abraded by curbs. Each tire manufacturer has different thoughts on how much is adequate, so there is considerable variation in thickness form tire manufacturer to tire manufacturer.

The thickness of this rubber has no bearing on durability, yet it can cause variations in weight.

How about another?

Void ratio: Within tire engineering circles, a common parameter in describing a tire's tread pattern is the ratio of rubber to void. Sometimes this is called the "Land/Sea ratio". A simple difference from 50% to 60% can have profound affects on the wear - and of interest here, weight - but have no affect at all on durability.

I hope you understand that weight is but one parameter in a tire and it hardly proves a tire is more durable.