Damage after a tire blow out

93Cobra2771 wrote:
I'd be willing to bet there are no tire manufacturers recommending LT tires over ST tires for trailer applications. Legally speaking, makes no sense for them to do so.

Out of curiosity, which fifth wheel manufacturers are supplying their product with LT tires? Seems like that would be a legal issue in the case of a blowout/wreck "X product was delivered from the factory with non trailer tires and caused X incident". Not saying that has happened, just trying to make sense of it.

Just throwing that out there, as it seems odd to me.

"Legally speaking," there's no reason for them not to recommend an LT over an ST. The ST designation stipulates that the tires are to be used on trailers only. There's no regulations that say that a trailer has to be equipped with a ST tire. There's no reason why an LT can't be put on a trailer. An LT can be a drive, steer, or trailing tire. As long as an LT meets the necessary load capacity then it can be used on a trailer. If you contact Michelin, BFGoodrich, etc then they'll tell you the same thing. An LT is essentially an overbuilt (as in design) ST tire.

It doesn't make very good business sense for a manufacturer to recommend a LT over a ST tires though. I suspect that ST tires are highly profitable for tire manufacturers. It's a niche market and there aren't many reputable competitors. They know the tires require a decent amount of attention and are somewhat sensitive. They also know the average consumer isn't that diligent or cautious. Couple that with the fact that a lot of these trailers roll of the line with tire capacities that are barely adequate and repeat business ends up being very plentiful. As a manufacturer you'd be crazy to recommend to your customers to step into the LT market considering how competitive it is.