LT tires on your TT? Let the fight begin

kellem wrote:
Most tire issues are user error.

Trailer unlevel loading up 1 axle.
Improper inflation, always on the low side.

That said,
When it's time for tires, always upgrade.

I'd love to see a data source on that, as it is far from my experience.

I check the tires themself and pressure before every trip. Yet, over the years, I have had more tread separations on trailer tires than I can count.

How many times have I had trouble with tires on cars/trucks? I can think of 3. And, like most, probably over 80% of my time driving is solo.

So why do I have trouble with trailer tires and not LT/P tires?

For those who want to discuss CALandLIN’s ST history, he has actually gone through at least 23 ST tires. That is by his own admission, though I doubt anyone will find it as he has a history of deleting incriminating posts.

Just sayin!

Keith

agesilaus wrote:
I just went out and looked at mine and heck, they are Marathons. I'm going to have something else put on them before we take off in May. They are 15 inch tho so I guess I'd have to go to 16 inch rims if I want to use LT. As I said up above. I have never really thought about this before tho I've probably had 10 or 12 blowouts over the years.

I've been around towing trailers since the early '60s. Sometimes pulling commercially. Whats new is so many folks getting into pulling a camping trailer. Most never pulled anything before so naturally tyhey fell for advertising mis info from mostly ST tire dealers and Carlise ST mfg.
LT tires on trailers are nothing new as it was done with P and LT tires even before my time started. Then ST tires came along on several types of trailers (non rv) some time in the late '60s/early'70s.
The '80s came along with a big jump in TTs and the new 5th wheel trailers on the road. ST tire production was mostly 13' and 14" sizes. Later 15" and even later 16" sizes hit the streets as campers got larger.

15" LT sizes;
1. Depending on room in the wheel well and proper wheel pressure/wheel width requirements the Goodyear Wrangler HT in a LT235/75-15 C (50 psi) at 1980 lb capacity. Most LT tire makers carry this size. And a Wrangler HT in a LT215/75-15 D (65 psi) at 2090 lbs capacity.
2..Maxxis LT U-168 are a commercial grade tire with several 15" sizes and have became popular with all types of trailer owners.

15"or 16" ST class tires:
My 1st choice is the Providers from Taskmaster. They're one if not the first new gen higher speed rated ST tires to come out in the 2010 era. SOme folks report them as OEM on higher end TT and 5ers.

Next would be a Carlisle HD or Endurance. Both came out about the same time and so far both have no reported issues like their predecessor ( Marathon and Carlisle Radial Trail).

Maxxis was good at first but now they're having problems. I had one fail internally and was covered by their warranty. Another failed but wasn't covered.

It's argued that LT tires are not built for the side forces a trailer tire sees but even if ST tires are built different in that regard (and I don't know that they really are), they're built so poorly that it may not matter.

I've never had LT's on my trailers but I can assure you some little sticker on the side has no impact on what I choose to put on it.

Terryallan wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
I just posted over in the NROA forum to see what their opinion of moving to 16 inch tires is. Seems like there is a lot of room in the wheel well. But $110 each for the tires plus, at a guess, $100/each for new rims is running up the cost.

is there room between the tires? Too close and they can heat each other up, and that will not be good.

I got a couple of replies, it is a common change for the 25Y owners to go to 16 inch. So I should be OK there.

agesilaus wrote:
I just posted over in the NROA forum to see what their opinion of moving to 16 inch tires is. Seems like there is a lot of room in the wheel well. But $110 each for the tires plus, at a guess, $100/each for new rims is running up the cost.

is there room between the tires? Too close and they can heat each other up, and that will not be good.

Huntindog wrote:

ScottG wrote:
The 16" GY Endurance's have been problem free on our TT and negate the need for LT's. However, I hate the co. and would pay 50% more for a similarly performing tire just to avoid them.
When the time comes for new tires, I'll be checking out all the options.

Agree. I owned a LOT of Marathons. They all failed in short order. At every replacement, I upgraded size and load range. That TT started out life with 205/14 LRC. the last set of Marathons were 215/15 LRE. All failed. I fell for all the propoganda which was parroted here by many about the NEED to run STs. That 2001 TT ended up with Michelin XPS Ribs in 2006. I have not had a single hint of a tire problem ever since.
When GY came out with the Endurance, many of the previous ST proponents here rushed out to buy them (in spite of their professed alliegance to the previous STs)

I having already found a solution that worked.... will not buy a tire from a company that repeatadly told how great their previous tires were.... IOW, they cheerfully took thousands of dollars from me selling me junk tires. They no longer deserve any more of my money.

For those of you trying out these new tires.. I wish you luck.
If you start having trouble, you can always go to LTs then.... And tire size upgrades are possible in many cases. That 2001 TT that started out life with 205/14s LRC had 225/16 LREs when I sold it. Yes I had to make a few changes to make the upsized tires work.... But I had so many failures that I needed to do something to stop them. I grew weary of sitting on the side of the road in 110 degrees dealing with tire problems.

I just got to ask. WHY did you keep buying Marathons? I lost ONE Marathon in it's fourth year. I then put on MAXXIS. I never had a problem with them.

The next TT came with tow Masters. I lost 2 of them in their fourth year. I now have Maxxis on it. As of yet no problems.

In truth. I really don't trust GY for tires. especially trailer tires. The GY Endurance have only been on the market for 3 years. I'll wait until they can build a reputation before I spend my money on them. As it is right now MAXXIS has the best reputation in the ST industry. so I'm using them.

Huntindog wrote:

CALandLIN wrote:
Hardly anyone learns from the ST - LT tire debates.

You, as an owner can use any DOT certified highway tire.The problem is, you violate tire industry standards when not using tires designated for use as displayed on the vehicle certification label. Or other options as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.

Sure, Airstream as a trailer builder can use LT tires as Origional Equipment on their trailers. That is not a license for others to follow suit. Only the vehicle manufacturer has the authority for OE tire selection. Without their approval, designates OE tire sizes rule.

Still at it Calvin.

For those that don't know, this from Calvins past:

This coming from a guy who had SEVEN oem tire failures. ( That should make anyone a disgruntled consumer) CALandLINs seven failures And from what you have also posted (staying with STs, and just increasing the LR) are still having troubles, though at a slower rate. Yea, keep right on drinking the kool aid and putting up with failures... At least you can take comfort in the fact that you are doing what you are supposed to do.

I have no problem with Calvin's tire choices.

I do think though, that continuing to try and scare people away from LT tire use..... Is despicable.

You muddy the water by not accepting facts. It's what's basically wrong with the LT ST tire debates. Reading things into posts just damages the validity of the facts in the post. I never recommended anything. If you would do some objective tire researching you will find that all I said in the post in question was from established tire industry SOPs.

Well, it was pretty objective for the first 2 pages...
Let the fight begin...

CALnLIN sounds like the ST tire cops, which stands to reason. We have the weight cops, speed cops, license plate cops and several other manners of self appointed authorities on here.

The original question on this post, like many, is so broad and open ended that a definitive or god forbid, a succinct answer is impossible to arrive at. (This question was like the "what speed and rpm do you tow at?" Answer, 40-90mph and 1600-5000rpms...., next question)
Not that the specific/pointed questions don't get drug off the rails as well here.

This is another cargo trailer I had for a short while, a 6x10.

I put ST 205/75R15 Goodyear Endurance tires on it last year

When I sold the trailer, I kept the tires for one of my other trailers.