I think I am going to replace my Road Rider ST 235/80-16 E rated tires before we go out west. After weighing the trailer fully loaded, it is putting down about 2750 lbs per tire (on the tires). What tires would you NOT replace them with from any one of the following LT "E" rated tires: Goodrich Commercial T/ABridgestone Duravis M895Bridgestone Duravis R250Bridgestone Duravis R500 HDBridgestone R265 5-RibDunlop Rover H/TFirestone Transforce HTGeneral Grabber HTSGoodyear Wrangler HTGoodyear Wrangler SR-AMichelin LTX M/S2Uniroyal Laredo HD/HAs I seem to have an odd size tire (80 series), which would you recommend? 235/85-16 or 245/75-16? Taller or wider? Room underneath for either.Also, where should they lift the trailer to change the tires? (I cheated and used the lippert to raise the trailer for bearing maintenance).

If you have 7k axles I would vote "None of the above"GY614's, Sailun S637 or Geostar (110psi rims required)Also personally on a trailer I would go taller over wider6k axles I would use any of the closed shoulder "rib" designs, such as the Duravis 250. (almost nothing in that list)

Get the GY G614's from trailertiresandwheels.com have them mounted locally. They have great prices and fresh tires. AS for the BS about the 110# rims weigh your 4 tires and use the inflation chart for the G tire and add 5psi to what is recommended and you will be running around 80-85 psi. This is directly from GY tech support for when you are up grading the tire to a higher rating.GY WILL PAY FOR DAMAGES!I did the same on my last RV went from the E to GY G for 5 years and had even tread wear running at 85psi.Your rims are probably rated at 110# anyway.110# is a MAX pressure not what is required! Use the weight charts. I went from G to H recently and Don't run the MAX on the H.

Cummins12V98 wrote: AS for the BS about the 110# rims weigh your 4 tires and use the inflation chart for the G tire and add 5psi to what is recommended and you will be running around 80-85 psi. This is directly from GY tech support for when you are up grading the tire to a higher rating.I don't understand the logic of this. If you are going to run the GY614's at 80-85 psi why not save a bunch of money and just get the R250's or Ribs? IOW why spend all that money and get no benefit?

Goodrich Commercial T/A (Some still fail outside the recalled ones, don't use it near it's max rating like HHII did with twin Laredo HD/H)Bridgestone R265 5-Rib (Too much sipping)Dunlop Rover H/T (NO opinion, But Too much sippingt)General Grabber HTS (NO opinion, But Too much sipping) Goodyear Wrangler HT (NO opinion, But Too much sipping)Goodyear Wrangler SR-A (NO opinion, ButToo much sipping)Michelin LTX M/S2 (To much siping)Uniroyal Laredo HD/H (See comment on TA above, but Too much sipping)If you you have 33"+ center to center on your axles then get the 235's! Less than 33" center to center, get the 245's!On the positive side, the Michelin XPS RIB, Bridgestone Duravis R250 and M895 are top notch all steel ply tires. For a Poly carcass the R500 HD looks good. The Transforce gets good reports for one of the lighter poly offerings.If your trailer has 7K axles, then none of these tires meet your requirement despite your actual weight.Chris

I have 7k axles with 8 lug wheels.I don't understand how having 7k axles matters. It just means they can handle that much weight correct? It doesn't mean the tires also have to handle that much weight does it?That is, as long as I am only carrying 5.5k on each axle, the tires on that axle also only need to be able to carry 5.5k correct?Or what am I missing?

Which of the following tires would you NOT recommend?

39 Replies

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jun 03, 2013
fj12ryder wrote:
Put LT tires on and you won't have so much experience. :)

BAM!
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 03, 2013
Put LT tires on and you won't have so much experience. :)
FastEagle
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
Me Again wrote:

If they were really concerned about safety standards, they would be looking into the failure rate of these tires.
Chris

From the pages of Michelin.

“WARNING: To ensure correct air pressure and vehicle load, refer to vehicle owner's manual or tire information placard on the vehicle.”

FE

p.s. Never have had a trailer tire fail that I didn't have a good idea what caused it. But, I've had a lot of experiences with tires in my lifetime.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2013
My aluminum wheels did not have a pressure rating, but the weight rating was 3950 lbs. and had steel valve stems. They were good to 110 psi.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2013
Winged One wrote:
Well, I have been all over the outside of the rims. I can only find a notation for 3580 max load. I cannot find a max air pressure.

The side of the trailer mentions 80lbs max. Though I imagine that relates to the ST tires.

I am hesitant to put on G rated LT tires that need 110lbs max for maximum load value when I cannot be sure of these rims (alloy, 8 lug). Checking online finds similar rims but again, only says max load, not max pressure. Though its kind of hard to believe that these metal rims could not handle a lot more pressure than they are being asked to handle.

I did the E to GY G conversion with 80 psi steel rims on my last RV and ran 85 psi with not even a flat in 5 years. The weight chart said 80 psi but I added 5 psi per GY tech support. The tread wear was very even when I sold the tires. With your aluminum wheels I would not worry a bit. I am sure they are the exact same thing as the ones rated for 110 psi. I am sure if you were to weigh all 4 trailer tires separately you will have at least one tire overloaded because one side is usually heavier than the other. I will bet your drivers side rear!
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2013
Me Again wrote:
Hey chevor, thanks for the feed back on the R500. I have been looking at those in the LT265/75R16E size for my Dodge 2500. I have never liked my LTX M&S tires that well. They pick up every rock they can and then throw them on the highway. The OEM LTX A&S tires were better.

Chris

My Son is into tires and he said the same thing about throwing rocks. I showed him the new M/S Michelins I just put on the Dually and he thought they were good tires.

We will see!
Winged_One
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
Well, I have been all over the outside of the rims. I can only find a notation for 3580 max load. I cannot find a max air pressure.

The side of the trailer mentions 80lbs max. Though I imagine that relates to the ST tires.

I am hesitant to put on G rated LT tires that need 110lbs max for maximum load value when I cannot be sure of these rims (alloy, 8 lug). Checking online finds similar rims but again, only says max load, not max pressure. Though its kind of hard to believe that these metal rims could not handle a lot more pressure than they are being asked to handle.
Me_Again
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2013
Hey chevor, thanks for the feed back on the R500. I have been looking at those in the LT265/75R16E size for my Dodge 2500. I have never liked my LTX M&S tires that well. They pick up every rock they can and then throw them on the highway. The OEM LTX A&S tires were better.

Chris
chevor
Explorer
Jun 02, 2013
I run the Duravis R500 on my truck. Have used that model tires for about 380,000 miles now. They are more of a high torque tire great for drive axel. Personally I would not put a new set of those on the trailer. Wear them first on the truck then move them to the trailer would be me choice. They are a very long lasting tire.
Set of 265/70/17s lasted my about 185k miles
Set of 235/85/16s still on truck might make it over 120k miles
Me_Again
Explorer III
Jun 02, 2013
FastEagle wrote:

This is not about tire designs. It's about the vehicle manufacturers selection and certification of tires/rims for the vehicles they build and sell to the public at-large. It's about safety standards and how they are applied. Reading a few lines in a single government regulation will hardly ever produce the full answer (s) you seek.

FE

Again, please post a government document that says "Must" not "Should" in choosing a replacement tire. Must is a hard requirement, should is a suggestion!

Post the document with "must" please!

What is safe about tires that fail at the rate ST tires fail. How safe have you felt on the side of the busy highways changing out all your failed tires. Did you ever feel that some of those tire failures put you in personal danger? You are close to "patient zero" of ST tire issues.

"Safety Standards" my aunt Harriet batman! If they were really concerned about safety standards, they would be looking into the failure rate of these tires. How many of your failures did you correctly report? All, some, or none?

Chris