The China-Bomb debate Put to rest
Almost every week or more a thread appears with someone with a tire question. And just as predictably the China Bomb experts come out and start decrying all Chinese made tires. Then usually they re...
Forum Discussion
danimal53 wrote:dclark1946 wrote:
Michelin LT tires. The salesman indicated that option was now available due to tire quality issues with import ST tires.
Perhaps the China tire industry has made quality improvements in the last year or so but in my mind the jury is still out on that and as long as I can purchase LT tires for my trailer that is what I will use. I have never had an LT tire fail and I have had several tire explosions with Chinese manufactured tires.
I've read here several times about LT tires vs. ST. I would like to make the switch myself, however it seems not everyone's TT is able to have LTs? What would prevent me from taking the wheels to a tire shop and getting them switched to LT? Is it only certain size wheels that can have LT tires? Maybe I'm misunderstanding (definitely not a tire expert here), but what factors would allow me (or prevent me) from upgrading (other than $ of course).
My TT is single axle, so only 2 tires plus spare. This particularly causes concern as a blowout on a single axle would be pretty ugly. So I've been pretty meticulous about tire pressure, checking at stops etc. Still, not mind not quite at ease.
Things you'll need to know to switch to an LT tire---the amount of clearance in the wheel well between tire and trailer, the size of your rims, the pressure rating of your rims, the weight of your trailer, the availability of LT tires in the sizes indicated by the above.
In some cases it's not worth the effort to switch. I have clearance issues that made me keep the ST tires. I chose to go up a load rating to a "D" rated tire that will hold more weight. I bought Carlisle ST trail radial RH and have pretty good faith in them.
About Chinese tires---Since the largest portion of both natural and synthetic rubber are produced in Asia, it makes sense to Mfg the product there, close to the resource. Maxxis 8008 ST tires are made in Thailand, AFAIK. I believe the Chinese can make a good tire if they choose to do so.
Most of the Chinabomb fear is centered around cheap tires that the TT mfgs put on their trailers that barely meet the load restrictions that need to be met. If these TT mfgs chose to put tires on the axles that would carry the WHOLE weight load of the trailer, there would be a lot less talk about blowouts, IMO.
