Trailer Tires

ken burke wrote:

Me Again wrote:
ST rated at 3420 to 3540 vs a Rib at 3042 on a 6K fully loaded axle and you will age out the Ribs at 6-8 years and blow out the ST's at 1, 2 or 3 years.

Yes. I agree. Good post. I bought 7 ST GY Marathons, and have had 3 flats within a year. I bought them because their rating was 3420#s.
I will burn the Marathons, and buy 5 LT Michelins. They have a lower, but honest rating than the Marathons. It will be expensive, but I am tired of the blow outs. I think that the Michelins are a much better tire. Especially for a heavy 5th wheel or travel.
The heaver trailers really should have 7,000 axles, and not 6,000 # axles.

You wont believe the differance between the two tires.
I just replaced my Marabombs with the XPS ribs and there is no comparison at all between the 2-tires other than they are both round.
I think Michelin really under rates this tire or it has huge reserve capacity.

Me Again wrote:
ST rated at 3420 to 3540 vs a Rib at 3042 on a 6K fully loaded axle and you will age out the Ribs at 6-8 years and blow out the ST's at 1, 2 or 3 years.

Yes. I agree. Good post. I bought 7 ST GY Marathons, and have had 3 flats within a year. I bought them because their rating was 3420#s.
I will burn the Marathons, and buy 5 LT Michelins. They have a lower, but honest rating than the Marathons. It will be expensive, but I am tired of the blow outs. I think that the Michelins are a much better tire. Especially for a heavy 5th wheel or travel.
The heaver trailers really should have 7,000 axles, and not 6,000 # axles.

Knowing the trailers OEM tire size and load range would help as were guessing here on what size and load range would work the best for your particular trailer.

Some tri axle trailers can have 5.2k or 6k or 7k axles. And some tri axles have came with 15" wheels.
This will help in determining what size and load range tire would be better.

Example....you sure don't need a 3750 lb rated load G tire on 5.2k axles nor would a load E LT tire at 3042 lb work best on a 7k axle.

And I sure wouldn't put any brand ST tire on a tri axle trailer.

3042 lbs is the same no matter what brand LT E range. My Cooper discoverer HT3 s were a lot cheaper than Michelin, they have the same rating and they are recommended for a trailer. I would also use Firestone Transforce HTs in a flash after seeing how they survived a bad wreck a fried had. Craig

Great advice here. You can run E rated tires with a triple axle trailer. If it was tandem axle I would recommend the Sailun S637 G tire; I have had them for a couple of months now and am totally impressed so far.

^^^^^^^^^^^What he said.

ST rated at 3420 to 3540 vs a Rib at 3042 on a 6K fully loaded axle and you will age out the Ribs at 6-8 years and blow out the ST's at 1, 2 or 3 years.

boondockdad wrote:
Q: XPS are much heavier than LT.

In actuality, the Michelin XPS Rib carries an LT designation - see HERE. It is substantially heavier than the typical non-steel carcass LT radial, though.

boondockdad wrote:
Do you think the increased un-sprung weight will have an adverse effect on the trailer? Is un-sprung weight even an issue for a 'passive' trailer suspension (and no drivetrain)?

I ran the LT235/85R16E Michelin XPS Ribs under a 2000 Jayco Designer XL 3610RLTS for 4 years with no adverse effects. The Jayco had Dexter 6K axles with shock absorbers. On a typical 5th wheel, the ratio of unsprung to sprung weight is much lower than a car or light truck, so the heavier tire wouldn't be an area of concern to me. I'll live with the weight to get the durability and reliability of an all-steel-construction tire.

boondockdad wrote:
My thinking was, I only needed to match (or slightly exceed) my axle ratings- and the LT's provided that.

A number of 5th wheels we've owned have run at 95% to 97% of the GAWRs. Personally, I prefer some operating margin in the trailer's tires - if I can run at around 70% of the tire's rating, I'm a happier camper. I really don't care to operate at 95% of a tire's rating if I don't have to - just personal preference.

Rusty

No question XPS will give you maximum load rating.

Q: XPS are much heavier than LT. Do you think the increased un-sprung weight will have an adverse effect on the trailer? Is un-sprung weight even an issue for a 'passive' trailer suspension (and no drivetrain)?

My thinking was, I only needed to match (or slightly exceed) my axle ratings- and the LT's provided that.

laknox wrote:
The Duravis R250 is also cheaper than the Michelin, for equal (according to most people) quality.

If, as the OP stipulated, cost is no issue, I'd personally go with the Michelin XPS Rib. I've never had a failure on a Michelin tire - I have had tread separations on Bridgestones (although not in trailer service). So, with money out of the equation, I'll stick with what has served me best.

Rusty