Kumho Radial 857

While one should always be concerned about their tire care. When choosing a new tire remember; the RV industry sells over a million tires a year and has for several years. Of those millions how many have failed?

There is no doubt the RV industry uses the least expensive tire that will do the job, but what is the failure rate per million of the tire you are buying?

Also, no tire is safe from road hazards or poor maintenance and an upgraded tire may have a higher load rating but you are still putting it on the same axle, which has a lower load rating than your original tires.

In general the more expensive tire compounds do offer more mileage and perhaps more scuff resistance but they usually time out long before they wear out.

No need to change rims to run higher load range tires. From the Carlisle Tire site:

"What is the maximum psi limitation for your trailer wheels? Max air capacities are typically a function of the tire, not the wheel. Unlike tires, the load rating of a wheel is not generally dependent on the operating pressure. The wheels themselves are manufactured and tested to a load rating (without consideration of pressure) and can safely support that load. As long as the load is within the limits of our wheel's load rating in pounds, our product will perform as expected."

dmullen wrote:
I'm scared to death about blowouts with all of the recent posts I have been reading on multiple forums.

While not without controversity, an Emergency Road Side Service policy like the Good Sam ERSS will help reduce your level of "scared to death of blowouts". There are a number of such policies from different companies, look and compare then pick one. Personally, I am not a fan of AAA for RV's.

I have the same size tire on my trailer now and they are 2 yrs old and look good. I dont see any problem with them at this point and will get another year out of them. Ive read lots on tires and it seems if you adhere to the speed, pressure , and load ratings you shouldnt have any blowout problem. Ive had 2 blowouts in the last 10 yrs and it was because of speed and 6 yr old tires.

Check your rims for the max pressure. You may have to replace them if only rated for 50 psi.
Several members here use Kumho tires.
Please realize that you will read many posts on the net that are the bad stories of ST tires. Think of how many more campers that are out there that don't have problems.
3 to 5 years with proper maintenance seems to be the norm for ST tires.

That brings up another question...Are my currents rims a potential problem or is a steel rim a steel rim?

dmullen wrote:
I'm scared to death about blowouts with all of the recent posts I have been reading on multiple forums.

I want to go with the Kumho Radial 857

205R14c Trailer Use Only
Load Range D
Max Inflation - 65psi
Max Load - 2,271
Rim Width Range - 5.5-6.5

Other than using steel valve stems is there anything else I should know? Has anyone here used these tires and could comment on the quality?

While it could cost more, go with the highest load range tire that will fit your RV i.e. if you are currently using D range tires, check out E range tires based on your wheel rims capacity and clearance.