Doesn't seem to have been many ST tire failures this year.

Shanester wrote:
My Sunnybrook 5er came with LT tires from the factory. I thought that was interesting. LT225/75/16 load range E.

What brand of LT's did they put on?

My Sunnybrook 5er came with LT tires from the factory. I thought that was interesting. LT225/75/16 load range E.

I've noted this several times in posts over the last year or so, but then again I think the whole "chinabomb" thing was a bit overblown (no pun intended) in the first place. And I agree that quality has improved over the past4-5 years. The notion that more people are using LT tires is kind of silly, as I bet it's a very small percentage of the general rv population. As mentioned, a small percentage of rv users actually frequent forums like this, and so are ignorant of the issue. Guy I worked with replaced his tires a while back. I asked what he put on, and his response was he had no idea, but they were cheap. There's the vast majority. All imho, of course.

Are any of the "failures" posted in this thread new/previously unreported? I ask because some of them have a ring of familiarity, perhaps brought about by repetition every time this subject arises.

Dates of occurrence, however general, would be most helpful in sorting this out. This especially since the O.P.'s question has to do with his perception of a drop in RECENT new reports, or at least those reports made this year/season.

I have gone through my second set of ST's. Total mileage on the trailer is about 34,000. Trailer is 40ft, 18k lbs and triple axle. The original Towmax tires were shot around 16,000 miles. Failures 2 and 3 happened within 50 miles of each other. Only 1 of the original 6 tires appeared serviceable at that time. I installed a set of Maxxis ST's. At 23,000 miles, I noticed a huge lump on the inside of one tire. Another tire had picked up some road debris and had a slow leak that could not be patched. I opted to begin a transition to Michelin LT's and installed 2. Around 25,500 miles, another Maxxis developed a slow leak. That same day, a piece of road debris cut the rubber stem on my spare, necessitating another tire stop. (All other wheels had steel stems.) We got home without a spare and I opted to complete my transition to Michelin LT's before we headed out on another major trip. Two of the Maxxis tires appeared to still have service life. They are presently laying in my garage until I get around to selling them. All tires on the trailer including spare are now LT's with steel stems. I'm at roughly 34,000 miles with no problems or visible signs of wear. For the record, I have always run a TST tpms system. It caught 4 of my 5 tire failures while rolling. The first failure was a 'full shrapnel' blowout. I heard a bang, saw pieces of rubber flying in my mirror, and then heard the alarm. The other 4 failures gave me a low pressure alarm that let me get off the road before I went flat, and also avoided possible trailer damage, so I am sold on the tpms. I am also sold on running LT's. They are rated above my axle rating. YMMV.

Lantley wrote:

coolbreeze01 wrote:
2,400 miles into my Towmax STR test on 225 75 15 E's. So far so good.

Looks like you have a new rig.
Not to jinx your situation but my prediction is your OEM ST tires will not last more than 2 seasons before you have a issue.
This has been my experience on 2 RV's.
I have zero faith in OEM ST tires.

Got 10,000 miles out of the Westlakes that came w/our rig. No problems but I wasn't going to push it. Put Maxxis on last week,

education brings out the best in us

i don't pay any attention to tire failure threads. Always the same song - just a different verse.

I am running Firestone transforce LT's and not looking back.

People are driving slower.

dclark1946 wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
I forget, I am running something like 205-70-14's on my travel trailer. I do 55 to 58 mph, and always top off the pressure to 55 psi as stated in the instructions. I am at 14,000 miles in 2 years of ownership. So far, so good, but I am checking the tires like a hawk now, every time, before every trip, for signs of delamination.

Maybe this isn't such a problem with 3700 # dry weight ultralite travel trailers?

I followed all those same precautions you are doing with my two previous trailers with ST tires and had blowouts after the third year. The tires looked great until they came apart on the hot highway.

I believe Discount Tire even tells you on their web site that 3 years is the the expected life time for STs.

Someone mentioned the improved Carlisle tire with a nylon cap so maybe the new ST tires will hold up better. I switched over to LTs 7 years ago when we got a new trailer with 15 inch wheels and have not had any more problems.

Dick

Towmax STR also has a nylon cap.