LT Tire Replacements - All season

BenK wrote:
IMHO...always wonder about ST trailer tires and even higher class LT tires on trailers that are close to published axle limits/ratings

snip..
First they are normally aired up to their max ALL the time *AND* most are at max loading (at limits/ratings)

They have a less compliant suspension, generally, and no shocks, etc, etc. So they must 'take it' while the TV has a more compliant suspension (ride quality) that takes much off of its tires when striking something going 65MPH. Some folks do improve their trailer suspension, but a rarity

Hi Ben,

I totally agree with you that a tandem axle setup is worse on a tire then on a truck for all the reasons you listed. You can see your leaving rubber on a concrete road, just look behind when your turning the trailer.

In 2012 I did a lot of digging to try and find out what 3 of my ST trailer tires still made in north america at the time failed due to detachment and I had excess load capacity then too. I caught all 3 before they blew by good fortune of just looking.

The LT's required a jump from 15" tires to 16" to get the load capacity I needed and I ended up with some more load capacity above the original ST's.

From my 2012 loading, see here as FYI, ST225/75R15 to LT225/75R16 Conversion

The BFG LT's had:

Front axle: 22% or 480# more tire capacity then the 2 wheel weights

Rear axle: 26% or 702# more tire capacity then the 2 wheel weights

Ohio_Engineer (Roger) has stated before, the tandem axle setup needs more reserve capacity due to the side turning. And others in the industry are now starting to preach this too. It is a need. Just wish the camper mfg's would all get on board with it.

In my case you can see I had excess capacity, yet I still had failures in the LT's

I added shocks and a rubber equalizer a long time ago and the LT's had them since day 1. See here


With only 12,160 miles on them, 5.5 years, the tires failed. While some may say 5 years is a limit, it is a guideline. These LT's where off the camper for most of the last 6 months, unloaded sitting in the barn while I worked on the camper. Then come the first campout of the year on a 175 mile destination they are blowing out like crazy.

There may be a manufacturing defect in them, I do not really know. In July 2012 just after I bought mine there was a recall on this type of tire and wheel diameter, just mine was one size smaller in width. Here is the recall notice : http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/TSG-Recalled-Tire/12T019000/RCMN-12T019-6789--07__31_2012.pdf

And a video from 2013 from one tire dealer showing what to look for on these BFG's. It sure looks like the same failure I had. BFG Recall Video by dealer

I may never know what went wrong, me being me... I want to learn and know so if I'm doing something wrong I can fix it. If it is a manufacturing defect that I happened to land into, well OK that is an answer at least and not a cause I did. I needed to change the tires anyway this year so the tire cost is not an issue, but the damage it beat up on the camper is a headache to fix.

All good points you brought up. Thanks for sharing, Good discussion.

Thanks

John