So i see that tires are purely a preference type purchase, but seeing that i am now in the market for some. The threads have been informative... but...load ratings or Ply counts... 8- 10 -12balancing or notbrand.tire rack has a power king... and firestones, and a bunch others... they all have different reviews.. every tire shop tells you... blah blah, blah...so how do you make sense of it. this is the first time I'm buying trailer tires... Marathons are what are on my rig now..

Maxxiss is the best. Everything else is chinese junk that fails prematurely.

For what it's worth, no problems thus far with the Kumho's, from Tire Rack..... I'm sure that you will get 100 ideas from 100 different form members, though......And the Kumho's are NOT Chinese! (at least the 14" Kumho's). They are Korean, and the get a great rating from most anyone who has tried them!

So i see that tires are purely a preference type purchase, but seeing that i am now in the market for some. The threads have been informative... but... load ratings or Ply counts... 8- 10 -12 balancing or notYes on balancing and yes on getting metal valve stems. brand.I replaced Marathons with Les Schwab's recommendation for Tow Max ST tires in the 15 inch size and so far have been happy. The Marathons started sidewall cracking at about the three year time frame. Lots of tread left but got concerned about sidewall integrity. Lots of folks like the Maxxis. tire rack has a power king... and firestones, and a bunch others... they all have different reviews.. every tire shop tells you... blah blah, blah...I went to Big O tires and they recommended Marathons. Les Schwab likes Tow Max and other like other brands. Who do we listen to? so how do you make sense of it. this is the first time I'm buying trailer tires... Marathons are what are on my rig now.. I would look hard at the Maxxis. Pretty good reviews on this forum from users.

IMHO, Maxxis. Reason - I do not like to change tires on a trailer on shoulder of highway, nor the damage "cheap" "china-will-pops" cause. But, hey, that's just me.

Fire Instructor wrote:For what it's worth, no problems thus far with the Kumho's, from Tire Rack..... I'm sure that you will get 100 ideas from 100 different form members, though......And the Kumho's are NOT Chinese! (at least the 14" Kumho's). They are Korean, and the get a great rating from most anyone who has tried them!JFYI the Kumho 205R14 are primarily made in mainland China but some are made in Viet Nam to…The 185R14 and the 195R14 are made in Korea…

the dreaded tire topic... | Good Sam Community

46 Replies

JJBIRISH
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
bigcitypopo wrote:
So i see that tires are purely a preference type purchase, but seeing that i am now in the market for some. The threads have been informative... but...

load ratings or Ply counts... 8- 10 -12

balancing or not

brand.

tire rack has a power king... and firestones, and a bunch others... they all have different reviews.. every tire shop tells you... blah blah, blah...

so how do you make sense of it. this is the first time I'm buying trailer tires... Marathons are what are on my rig now..

It sort of depends on the tire size you need… I myself am in the Maxxis camp and is the only ST tire I would buy today, if we are talking about 15 inch tires… I spent a lot of time researching and talking by E-mail and phone to Maxxis and other mfgs that would take the time to talk to me… I say 15 inch because they are the only size I researched , but I can only assume by the accounts I have read the other sizes seem to be built as well…

Kumho 857 tires mentioned earlier are euro-metric tires and the 195 more closely matches the OD size of the ST 205x75Rx14 tire even though it is a LR D tire with higher load ratings, if that matters and often it does…
JJBIRISH
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
Fire Instructor wrote:
For what it's worth, no problems thus far with the Kumho's, from Tire Rack..... I'm sure that you will get 100 ideas from 100 different form members, though......

And the Kumho's are NOT Chinese! (at least the 14" Kumho's). They are Korean, and the get a great rating from most anyone who has tried them!

JFYI the Kumho 205R14 are primarily made in mainland China but some are made in Viet Nam to…
The 185R14 and the 195R14 are made in Korea…
johnrbd
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
IMHO, Maxxis. Reason - I do not like to change tires on a trailer on shoulder of highway, nor the damage "cheap" "china-will-pops" cause. But, hey, that's just me.
jmtandem
Explorer II
Jun 07, 2013
So i see that tires are purely a preference type purchase, but seeing that i am now in the market for some. The threads have been informative... but...

load ratings or Ply counts... 8- 10 -12

balancing or not

Yes on balancing and yes on getting metal valve stems.

brand.

I replaced Marathons with Les Schwab's recommendation for Tow Max ST tires in the 15 inch size and so far have been happy. The Marathons started sidewall cracking at about the three year time frame. Lots of tread left but got concerned about sidewall integrity. Lots of folks like the Maxxis.

tire rack has a power king... and firestones, and a bunch others... they all have different reviews.. every tire shop tells you... blah blah, blah...

I went to Big O tires and they recommended Marathons. Les Schwab likes Tow Max and other like other brands. Who do we listen to?

so how do you make sense of it. this is the first time I'm buying trailer tires... Marathons are what are on my rig now..

I would look hard at the Maxxis. Pretty good reviews on this forum from users.
Fire_Instructor
Explorer
Jun 07, 2013
For what it's worth, no problems thus far with the Kumho's, from Tire Rack..... I'm sure that you will get 100 ideas from 100 different form members, though......

And the Kumho's are NOT Chinese! (at least the 14" Kumho's). They are Korean, and the get a great rating from most anyone who has tried them!
ScottG
Nomad
Jun 07, 2013
Maxxiss is the best. Everything else is chinese junk that fails prematurely.

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the dreaded tire topic...

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