LT tires on TT

When a tire says, trailer service only..That means something, to me at least.

Having said that,I have never had a tire
blow out on an rv trailer.As a semi truck owner, you learn quick that good tires can save your life, especially the front and run good tires all around, same goes for any trailer, don't run worn tires...

When its time to replace my travel trailer tires, the ST's are gone with an LT replacement.Most TT's are not made to full time or go down rocky/wash boardy roads, its up to the owner to make the needed changes.

The next time you’re at a large attraction that has tugs towing people wagons full of people you should check the tires on those trailers/wagons. Your going to be surprised when you find the so called “on passenger” ST tires on those Trailers/wagons.

All DOT certified tires for highway service are allowed to carry passengers. It’s the big tall trailer hooked to a tow vehicle traveling 65 MPH that causes the safety concerns, not the tires on them.

FastEagle

Yup! Anone cane give his opinion. I have run Michelin LTs on Travel trailers since my firs TT , a Boles Aero I bought in 1985 shile workign for flight Test in Yuma. I pulled it all over the country and it is sitting in my yard now.We have a 2004 Arctic Fox and it has Michelins on it, so does my TV and I weigh 19000 lb. Pulled it 13K last year. I have never had a flat, blowout or any tread seperations. I will keep buying them and running them, don't care what the so called esperts say.

RE it's legal or not legal for people to travel in a trailer. Just because some states do not make something illegal does not make that action safe.

I wonder how many trailers come with seat belts for 4 or 6 passengers? but still use ST type tires.

If you noticed I stated that since some ( not all) states allow passengers in travel trailers , Indiana being one of those states ,( where the majority of rvs are made) and ST tires are not tested to passenger vehicle standards . It is probably illegal to run ST tires on a travel trailer . Further more ,if its legal for people to ride in a TT ,it is possible , even probable it will happen .

I have seen a phrase stamped on ST tires similar to " not for passenger use ' in the past. This would be very good rational not to use a ST tire especially if your TT is tagged in a state that allows passengers . Could be a big liability issue

SprinklerMan wrote:
And Indiana is the state that produces the most campers , so by Indiana law a 5th wheel or travel trailer is a passenger vehicle , so any built in Indiana should leave the factory with tires capable of carrying passengers . Basically it is probably illegal to run ST tires on a travel trailer .

14 states allow it in 1 form or another

http://camping.about.com/od/frequentlyaskedquestions/f/Passengers-In-Campers.htm

:h

I think you just destroyed your own argument...except for perhaps in the minds of some users of Forums like this one,there's no prohibition at all about ST tires with regard to "passenger carrying". As is evident by Indiana (not to mention Federal) law.

http://www.serroscottycamperenthusiasts.com/files/whybuytrailertires.pdf

paragraph 4 says quite a bit

ST tires have marked on them " not for passenger vehicle use" Now there are a number of states that allow passengers to ride in a trailer while being towed down the road . ( I wouldnt do it but it is legal in some states) If that trailer has ST tires on it , the driver could be ticketed for allowing passengers to ride in an unsafe vehicle .( ST tires are not for passenger vehicle use )

In Indiana , it is legal to ride in a 5th wheel , travel trailer and a truck camper . And Indiana is the state that produces the most campers , so by Indiana law a 5th wheel or travel trailer is a passenger vehicle , so any built in Indiana should leave the factory with tires capable of carrying passengers . Basically it is probably illegal to run ST tires on a travel trailer .

14 states allow it in 1 form or another

http://camping.about.com/od/frequentlyaskedquestions/f/Passengers-In-Campers.htm

BurbMan wrote:
JJ was asking about the "business mystery" and I can tell that it's no mystery at all....folks who buy LT tires for trucks will run them until they wear out...buyers expect performance for 50,000+ miles. On the other hand, 0% of ST tires ever wear out....they age out.

Look at the miles that most trailers travel over the 5-7 year life span of a tire: very few. Many, many trailer owners are weekend warriors, or even better, seasonal site users.

ST tires are made on the cheap, because their buyers don't expect to put many miles on them. Making them so cheaply means much bigger margins for the tire mfr. Tire mfrs have no good reason to encourage you to use an LT tire when they can tell you to buy an ST tires with 5x the profit margin.

ST tires work fine for the weekend crowd....but if you are traveling the country and putting on serious miles, you soon realize that the LT is the better choice. Look at the guys on here that are recommending LT over ST: these guys have towed trailers for thousands of miles and are speaking from experience.

Same reason that mfrs spec an ST tire: it's cheaper. Heck look at how tight they stretch the wires in your TT just to save an inch of wire.

So JJ and others, sorry to say that while this technical discussion has been fascinating, there is NO technical reason to use an ST tire instead of an LT tire. Mfrs only sell STs because they can get away with making them so cheap that they make huge profits on them.

This is a complete and total example of
1- poor reading comprehension, or
2 – an intentional misrepresentation of the question you can not answer, or
3 – a foolish way to continue the argument by making up something never said and attributing it to me…

the LT advocates have decided the LT tire to be superior to the ST tire… they have decided that it is a safer tire… they want to sell that idea based on their observations and don’t want to hear any different, because they independently have proven it…

with the exception of the kumho 857 and the Michelin, no manufacture has jumped on the band wagon with them, no manufacture is tooting their horn about this use… not only that they have scrubbed and sanitized their web sites, catalogs and brochures of even any hint that this can or should be done…

now understand these are legal businesses, licensed to sell legal and are in the business of selling tires… there is no legal, or logical reason the wouldn’t market their LT tires for trailer use if they believed it was a good fit, good idea, and a legal activity…

while they are for profit, they are not doing that, not marketing them, and are actually discouraging the sales for trailers… they do not support what the LT advocates are saying openly at least…

the business mystery exactly what it is, if I were to believe the LT advocates that the LT on light weight trailer is equivalent to the second coming… and that is close to what they are saying…

dieseltruckdriver wrote:
How many ST tires are rated to actually carry humans? How many lawsuits would there be if people died depending on ST rated tires?

LT rated tires are actually rated to carry humans. That means lower rated capacities. If you get the correct rated capacity LT tire, how many have blowouts? Many posters have already answered that.

How many lawyers does this thread need to support?

I drove truck for 17 years. That wasn't some little single axle camper. I pulled doubles (two trailers for those that don't know what double towing is), 8 axles, 120,000 lbs. Years ago, our company quit using trailer rated tires for the trailers, and started using steer tires that the tread was too low for steer tires, but still legal for trailers, and we stopped having blowouts.

All those arguing about this don't have a financial stake in this (compared to trying to make money per loaded mile). The saying is, follow the money...... .

Think about it, instead of trying to justify using the cheapest tires available, what are the companies trying to make money per mile do.

Everyone I have known in the trucking industry does the same thing Well stated !!