Hi Folks,
For anyone subscribed to this thread and wondering how my saga turned out, I will give an update on my tire failure and correction.
To make a long story short, after my first tire failure for detachment as confirmed by a tire engineer, I had 2 more tire failures where the tread OD bulged out by the time I removed all 4 tires from the trailer.
From reading this post by Capri Racer, Tireman9 and others I was "in tune" to be on the constant look out for tire concerns. By doing this I was able to find all 3 failures before the let go just by being observant.
Here are the mileage and DOT codes. Tires are Denman ST Express ST225/75R15 Load Rang D installed on 4-5-2009 made in Mexico.
4FEH M5M 1908, 1st failure, left rear location, failed at 10,164 miles on 4-21-12. Found during annual maintenance.
4FEH M5M 2908, 2nd failure, right rear location, failed at 11,225 miles on 6-20-12. Found during re-fueling on the NYS Thruway.
4FEH M5M 2908, 3rd failure, right front location, failed at 11,770 miles on 7-14-12. Found when removing all tires for an upgrade.
The 4th tire, also a 4FEH M5M 2908 DOT code was removed from service at 11,770 miles and did not yet fail for outside visual observation.
I have filed 3 reports with the NHTSA. Results are pending.
I was faced with 2 decisions, both would give me more tire reserve capacity that I now also believe is needed above the heaviest loaded tire location.
1. Upgrade the wheels and the tires to ST225/75R15 Load range E. Maxxis would have been the brand if I stayed with ST’s. This size would fit in my wheel well as the OD is the same and I gain more reserve capacity.
2. Upgrade the wheels and the tires to LT225/75R16 Load Range E. These created an OD issue where I would not have enough wheel well clearance.
I chose the harder route to go and upgraded to the LT225/75R16 Load Range E. The cost was not that much more and I gained the following.
Note: These are my opinions only, based on the research I was able to find. There may be some flaws in the thought process as I do not do this for a living, however I do know machinery and used that background to come to grips with this for my situation.
My ST tires had a lot of stone cuts in the threads. Not a problem of air leaking or at this stage or even tire failure, yet they had these very little cuts and the truck that pulls the same camper over the same gravel and campsites have none. I needed more cut resistance and the LT’s I picked offered that.
Quality. My faith in imported ST trailer tires is just not that high. While Maxxis has a higher track record of surviving more, they are not the solve all as they are still ST tires and they too have issues with weather cracking as I have seen on 2 of my sets/campers at year 4.5.
All season tire. We winter camp and not all tires are made for use below or near freezing. This was not a show stopper but a need.
Money, this is always a factor. Trailer tires is not a place to cheap out on. I was going to spend big bucks on new rims and at least Maxxis ST’s in LR E so I’m already spending more than normal. The LT’s I picked where $30 more a tire. So there is a $150 difference between LT and ST. While that is a enough to make one stop and think about it, I’m willing to pay a little more for what I feel is higher quality.
Speed rating and heat. While I only tow at 55 to 60 MPH (and that is all I need or want to) ST’s are maxed at 65 MPH. So I’m running a tire right up at it’s limit for heat generation which is a large part of tire failures. Yes, they are supposed to take it however which is better, running a ST tire rated at 65 MPH at 60 or a LT tire that can go way beyond it as far as being able to handle higher heat?
In this case I picked BF Goodrich LT22575/R16 LR E All season Commercial truck tire. Bought them from Discount tire.
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-sele........W/commercial-t-a-all-season/tire-detailsA decal will be made to go next to the VIN plate to show the upgraded tire size and required air pressure. The original tag will remain.
My shop allows me to do this type of suspension work at home. This upgrade and dealing with wheel well clearance I'm sure is not for everyone. If someone had to hire this out, going to the LR E ST Maxxis route would of been the more obvious choice given all things considered.
For more on the conversion process see this post.
ST225/75R15 to LT225/75R16 Conversion Hope this helps someone in the future.
John
