China Tire Manufacturing

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I am intrigued though at seeing mobile homes being hauled across the Arizona desert at 75 MPH with 14.5" Load Range H tires - in July.

One thing I learned here in Florida. If a mobile home is coming down the highway get the hell out of the way. Those drivers are crazy :) and the trailers seem to lose tires constantly.

This is what I am talking about BTW

I am intrigued though at seeing mobile homes being hauled across the Arizona desert at 75 MPH with 14.5" Load Range H tires - in July.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
What worries me about calculating loads and maximums, extremes, is inertia. A rig that bumps up and down exerts a lot more weight on a tire than a rig that is static in vertical inertia. Does this not affect (skew) many "GVW Maximum" amateur calculations?

I think I get what you are trying to say. I would assume that the hard part of this calculation is already done for us. The trailer manufactures determines the load exerted at GVW and then specifies an adequate tire rating. Because tire ratings are standardized, it becomes plug and play after that e.g. the trailer company equips a LR E ST tire at 3520lbs so any tire capable of meeting a load rating of 3520lbs should suffice. Of course there are exceptions and one should use their brains when doing this.

One thing I can think of is if you upsize to a tire that is much heavier than O.E. the effect it would have on braking forces. My feeling is that one should not go up more than 1 load range on their trailer. Also I feel one should never plus size more than 1+. Any more than this and I think you start to stray to far from the trailer design considerations.

These are just my feelings and there is a lot more that can be said on this. Honestly I think Capri Racer could answer questions like this better than most people on the forum. A large portion of us are just armchair engineers :B

FastEagle wrote:

When using replacement tires with a different size and design it must first be determined that the replacement tire has the basic qualities to satisfactorily replace the Original Equipment (OE) tires.

The recommended tire pressure (s) for such replacement tires will be derived from the load capacity and air pressure of the OE tires. For instance, if the tire placard depicts a recommended tire pressure of 65 psi and that pressure provides 2540# of load capacity the replacement tires recommended tire pressure would be whatever it takes to get 2540# of load capacity from the replacement tires.

FE

Thank you.

K-Z specifies 50psi, the max, and the current tires are rated for 1360lbs each, also the max. By moving to the 1764lb max rated trailer tire, I should be able to use the tire loading tables to find the pressure that yields at least 1360lbs load.

HTH;
John

What worries me about calculating loads and maximums, extremes, is inertia. A rig that bumps up and down exerts a lot more weight on a tire than a rig that is static in vertical inertia. Does this not affect (skew) many "GVW Maximum" amateur calculations?

full_mosey wrote:

FastEagle wrote:

You just don’t get it. The recommended tire pressure (s) (correct pressure) for your trailer’s tires have been set by the vehicle manufacturer. When operating within a set parameter that’s how it works. If you decide to set your own agenda it would be best to identify that your agenda is to operate outside of the established parameters for tire servicing. In other words, there is a right way and a wrong way. I always try to provide information from the right way.

FastEagle

Fine, educate me.

I want to replace the ST175/80R13 tires with 185R14C tires. Notice that these are NOT ST tires, but are specified as trailer-only. I have measured the wheel well and spring travel to be ok.

These are 65psi max tires and in fact, every spec exceeds the current ST tire's specs.

Do you see any problem?

If not, what psi should I use with my single axle each of the two wheels weighed under 1100lbs.

HTH;
John

When using replacement tires with a different size and design it must first be determined that the replacement tire has the basic qualities to satisfactorily replace the Original Equipment (OE) tires.

The recommended tire pressure (s) for such replacement tires will be derived from the load capacity and air pressure of the OE tires. For instance, if the tire placard depicts a recommended tire pressure of 65 psi and that pressure provides 2540# of load capacity the replacement tires recommended tire pressure would be whatever it takes to get 2540# of load capacity from the replacement tires.

FE

Lots on new folks to the trailering world the last 8-12 years. Many become ST tire victims and blame china made ST tires.

Now back up into late '70s time frame and the same issues with ST tires were discussed/cussed sitting around the camp or where ever and all ST tires marketed were made in the USA by several major US tire companies. Folks were looking for help then as now days.

IMO its obvious what the root cause is.

full_mosey wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:

Well, 75mph is evidently the speed limit for most LT's sold in North america...excepting Commercial tires such as the one you link to above.

Evidently you can't find a 75mph rated LT tire.

Here are some R=106mph LTs.

HTH;
John

I guess I should have been clearer...I thought we were talking about LT's for RV trailers.

You'd have to be dumb as a rock to put mud/snow tires on a trailer.

FastEagle wrote:
This topic is way off track and needs to be closed. It's just turning into another LT/ST thing and that was not my intent.

FastEagle

Well I am not sure but I think your intent was to point out that the quality of Chinese tires is high. So to bring it back on point, I will agree with you, to a point. I currently own 8 tires manufactured in China. I have no issues with any of them and I recommend one of the brands here on the forums.

My personal feeling why Chinese ST tires get a bad rap is because of how they are used. I think that ST tires a great for lawn trailers and small utility trailers that are used around town. Even light rv trailers that are not going great distances seem fine. My problem arises with people like me who travel 10 hours a day with a heavy trailer in the blazing heat. 90% off all tire issues I have had in my life are trailer ST after a long run. This could leave one to believe that the tires are junk, as many do. I just tend to think they are not the right tool for the job.

The ST tires on one of my other trailers were almost 10 years old when I changed them. They were Chinese and worked great, but this trailer never sees more than 50 miles at a time and is not very heavy. I put Chinese ST's back on it almost a year ago and they are doing fine.

So the ST/LT thing is always going to plague these tire threads. It is no secret I lean LT, but more because personal experience and anecdotal evidence gained by talking to hot shot type truckers, then perceived quality issues.

Finally, I think there is a larger chance for shoddy tires to enter this country From China. All tire companies at times have made crappy products and foisted them on us, but I think because of logistics it can happen more with imports. That is why I think it is smart to stick with established name brands that have a hold in the marketplace, and not some one off crazy brand that made tires once and folded.

FastEagle wrote:

You just don’t get it. The recommended tire pressure (s) (correct pressure) for your trailer’s tires have been set by the vehicle manufacturer. When operating within a set parameter that’s how it works. If you decide to set your own agenda it would be best to identify that your agenda is to operate outside of the established parameters for tire servicing. In other words, there is a right way and a wrong way. I always try to provide information from the right way.

FastEagle

Fine, educate me.

I want to replace the ST175/80R13 tires with 185R14C tires. Notice that these are NOT ST tires, but are specified as trailer-only. I have measured the wheel well and spring travel to be ok.

These are 65psi max tires and in fact, every spec exceeds the current ST tire's specs.

Do you see any problem?

If not, what psi should I use with my single axle each of the two wheels weighed under 1100lbs.

HTH;
John