Other reasons ST tires fail??
There have been soooo many threads and posts on ST tires here about what the best one is and why they fail sometimes. I was just reading one of those "threads from heck" - ST tire thread from heck......
Forum Discussion
I agree LT tires are a better choice in most cases but quality ST tires have their place as well. Overloading and improper inflation are the major culprits for catastrophic ST tire failure although some brands are just poorly manufactured.
In our case, our rig came with 15" D rated ST tires able to carry a 10K load. Our 32' TT fully loaded scales in at 9K with a 1500 pound tongue weight which puts a 7.5K load on our tandem axles, over 2500 pounds less than their rated capacity. We always have our ST tires set to max psi as stated on the sidewall and have metal valve stems for added durability.
Our stock china bombs delivered 20K miles across 3 camping seasons before I relented and replaced them with Maxxis ST tires for peace of mind. This same set of Maxxis tires currently has 30K miles over the last 4 years and they will still go another season or two before we change them out. They have 303 protectant applied regularly and are covered when not traveling in the RV.
I would definitely consider having LT tires on heavier rigs with GVWR in excess of 10K pounds as these weights can be pushing the limits of what a ST tire is capable of aptly handling. To add fuel to the fire, many manufacturers install axles and tires barely capable of doing the job with very little safety margin thereby making the occurrence of catastrophic ST tire more commonplace.
We have over 50K miles on two sets of ST tires with never an issue or even a flat, and most of our camping is out west where we have exceeded 65mph on 75mph interstates too many times to count. The manufacturer installed axles and tires that can easily handle our rig's entire GVWR and then some even though a significant amount is tongue weight, and that huge safety margin means our tires are nowhere near overloaded, thankfully delivering many years and miles of trouble free tire service.
In our case, our rig came with 15" D rated ST tires able to carry a 10K load. Our 32' TT fully loaded scales in at 9K with a 1500 pound tongue weight which puts a 7.5K load on our tandem axles, over 2500 pounds less than their rated capacity. We always have our ST tires set to max psi as stated on the sidewall and have metal valve stems for added durability.
Our stock china bombs delivered 20K miles across 3 camping seasons before I relented and replaced them with Maxxis ST tires for peace of mind. This same set of Maxxis tires currently has 30K miles over the last 4 years and they will still go another season or two before we change them out. They have 303 protectant applied regularly and are covered when not traveling in the RV.
I would definitely consider having LT tires on heavier rigs with GVWR in excess of 10K pounds as these weights can be pushing the limits of what a ST tire is capable of aptly handling. To add fuel to the fire, many manufacturers install axles and tires barely capable of doing the job with very little safety margin thereby making the occurrence of catastrophic ST tire more commonplace.
We have over 50K miles on two sets of ST tires with never an issue or even a flat, and most of our camping is out west where we have exceeded 65mph on 75mph interstates too many times to count. The manufacturer installed axles and tires that can easily handle our rig's entire GVWR and then some even though a significant amount is tongue weight, and that huge safety margin means our tires are nowhere near overloaded, thankfully delivering many years and miles of trouble free tire service.
