Replacement tire for the Chinese OEM rubber

Merrythought wrote:
I have a question about PSI. The local Western Auto tells me that PSI ratings are not stamped on rims. If that is true, how do I know that the rim can handle the PSI rating of the tire? No one at the shop could tell me the rating but did say the new rim load capacity was the same as the load capacity of the tire.

Thanks!

The best information I have been able to gather is that PRESSURE isn't a big limitation for wheels, but LOAD is. I have talked to 4 wheel designers and none of them cited inflation pressure as something they look out for.

Why the federal government doesn't require the max load to be stamped on the wheel is beyond me - except to say, this is a good counter example for folks who think the government is too intrusive.

Some wheels used on rvs come with PSI/load capacity on a placard/stamped/etc and some don't.
Older 14"/15" wheels can have 50/60/65/75/80 psi ratings vs newer wheels the last 2-3 years may come with a 65 or 80 psi rating.
Same with the older 16" wheels with 80/90/100/110/120 psi ratings. Most may come in 80 or 110 psi ratings now.

Always check with the wheel mfg before up sizing load ranges from OEM. The wheel may or may not withstand higher pressures.

And yes wheels can crack/split because a newby operator over pressures them.

Merrythought wrote:
I have a question about PSI. The local Western Auto tells me that PSI ratings are not stamped on rims. If that is true, how do I know that the rim can handle the PSI rating of the tire? No one at the shop could tell me the rating but did say the new rim load capacity was the same as the load capacity of the tire.

Thanks!

From what little I've seen, I am seeing fewer and fewer rims in the 14" and 15" size with the psi rating. Only the load in pounds rating. All of my 16" steel rims have a psi rating stamped in them.

Edit: Also, someone mentioned going to 16". Going to 16" may not be an option at all for him. He may not have the clearance under the trailer. For that matter, even if going to a 15", it will be up to him to do the measuring under the trailer to ensure there is room.
The reason I suggested the Wrangler HT in 15" is because that tire has:

load capacity 2096 ( 8400 for four )

his trailer GVWR 7600

assuming at max load of 7600, he would have approx 1000 on tongue

.....leaving approx 6600 on the axles....

which results in over 20% load capacity reserve.

He likely has 3500 pound axles ? ( he could look at them and report back on that ).

Good practice according to the engineers though also indicates he would be smart to get actual weights on individual tires.

I have a question about PSI. The local Western Auto tells me that PSI ratings are not stamped on rims. If that is true, how do I know that the rim can handle the PSI rating of the tire? No one at the shop could tell me the rating but did say the new rim load capacity was the same as the load capacity of the tire.

Thanks!

If you have 14 inch wheels you might look at the Kumho 857 on tire rack. Very stout load range D tire.

I replaced my 7 year old, 15000 miles plus, ST 205's rated "C" with ST 205's rated "C" at 50 psi and "D" at 65 psi. for $20.00 more per tire.

Since both ratings exceed the axle ratings, the 65 psi "D" rating gives me a little leeway on the tire pressure. I put 6000 miles on the new tires in the last three months and so far so good.

bobndot wrote:

Will the mfg still cover you under warranty if you swap tire size?

Mine told me a big NO ! Reason : The tire rating exceeds the axle rating. . . no reason for it . (in their eyes)

That is a funny one! Someone clearly doesn't know what they are talking about.

Our manufacturer offers an upgrade option from 15" load range C to D in our model line. I wanted to see how much the sales guy at our dealer knows about tires when we ordered our TT so I asked him why anyone would want to upgrade to load range D, and his answer was "I dunno". Guess he didn't get the memo about exceeding the axle rating either. :)

I'm kicking around the same thing. I believe they build things as cheaply as possible to get through the warranty period . I would not like to get burned under warranty for trying to improve something because I thought it was inferior .

Will the mfg still cover you under warranty if you swap tire size ?

Mine told me a big NO ! Reason : The tire rating exceeds the axle rating. . . no reason for it . (in their eyes)

I can see to swap tire brands...but I question the tire size.

If the OEM tires malfunction because they are inferior, then the mfg will have a decision to make to also repair your torn apart trailer.

YOU will remove that option for yourself if you swap tire size .
If you swap brands, who knows how they will think.

15 inch 225 tires will give a much higher load capacity which is an upgrade in itself. I have 13,000 miles on my ST 225/75/R15 Hercules Power STR tires with plenty of tread left for another 4K this summer. There are lots of good tires out there besides Maxxis. I should mention I also got 9,000 miles and 4 years out of my OEM Duro 2100 radials. I only switched them out so I could upgrade to a higher load rating. Both sets made in China and both sets have been great tires.

I understand why you want to upgrade, but as far as I know, there's nothing in a 14" that will be an upgrade, and 15" is questionable except for the Maxxis. When you get up to 16" you can look at Goodyear G614 and Sailun tires, but that may be overkill. Someone mentioned etrailer.com, and having purchased a lot of stuff from them I believe them to be a very good company and would purchase from them again, but I don't know about tires.