TIre recommendations? We are towing 8500# travel trailer. We’ve had numerous blowouts with China bombs over the years, partly due to Texas heat and high speeds. We are over the blow outs and need something that will hold. We currently have 15” but looking to go to 16” LT that can handle higher speeds of 75mph. What has worked for you with the higher speeds? Tia!

not agreeing with that at all. in the last 10 years I have had 1 ST failure (factory tire 6 years old) and 1 LT failure on my truck. both road debris issues in construction zones. but what I will concede is that the bottom of the barrel ST tires is what everyone is comparing their LT tires to, no one runs top tier ST tires and wishes they were running LT tires. here is a good explanation of the differences and why you shouldn't run st on a car and why you shouldnt run lt on trailer"Trailer Tire requirements differ greatly from automotive tires. Automotive tires must maintain traction during all driving conditions: pulling, stopping, turning, or swerving. Because of this they must have more flexible sidewalls to maintain tread to road contact. Since trailers have no driving torque applied to their axles, the only time trailer tires must have traction is during the application of trailer brakes.Trailers with heavy loads, high vertical sideloads (like camper trailers), or trailers with inadequate tongue weight can be affected by trailer sway problems. Automotive bias or radial tires with their more flexible sidewalls can accentuate trailer sway problems, whereas the stiffer sidewalls of the ST (special trailer) bias ply tires help to control and reduce sway problems. For this reason it is not recommended that (P) Passenger or (LT) Light Truck tires be used on trailers. Best trailer control will be achieved with (ST) Special Trailer tires."as for testing it is pretty much identical except for two tests, the P tires have one test that the ST does different, and the ST has a much more extreme full load test so how is that inferior, they are testing for two different things as neither is supposed to be used for the other.

Goodyear Endurance ST tires. They will meet your speed rating requirements and are US built

I had a 35’ 5er and used 16” Michelin XPS Ribs LT tires to replace the OEM Chinese tires. Rated for 3,042 lbs which was fine for my trailer. I also live in Texas and towed in temps as high as 106 at 70 mph for hours at a time. 1st set lasted 9 yrs and replaced due to age even though they only had about 17,000 miles and still looked new. (Michelin says inspect yearly at 5 and replace at 10). Replaced with another set and sold it 4 yrs later. Never a flat or even a low tire. Added 2-4 lbs air at the start of the season and good until next year. But they are not cheap.

I have had excellent service from Maxxis and Goodyear ST tires on my 4500 lb TT and I use only LT tires on my tow truck (Ram 1500). At your weight for the TT I would use LT tires. Rolling, rolling, rolling

15" trailer wheels can come in 5 or 6 lug hubs. If you have 6 lug wheel your part way there. I doubt you can find a 5 lug 16" trailer wheel. Trailer wheel need to have a zero off set. My old 1997 11200 lb 5th wheel trailer came with 5200 lb axles/6 lugs and 15" ST225/75-15 D Marathons. Sold wheels/tires to a guy with a lawn service trailer. I bought four 16" grey steel modular trailer wheels (1997) from my local commercial trailer mfg. I thought I had wheel well clearance issues so went to a LT225/75-16 E at 2680 lbs. Next sets have been a bit taller in a LT215/85-16 E at 2680 lbs. Run all my LT E tires on rv and non rv trailers at max 80 psi. The taller (32" dia) LT235/85-16 E at 3042 lbs capacity works better on heavier trailers with loaded 5.2k...6k axles. LT tires that their mfg has recommended to me for my trailer use are;; Cooper Discoverer HT-3 Bridgestone R-238 all steel ply carcass commercial grade Michelin XPS Rib commercial grade all steel ply carcass Goodyear Wrangler HT BFG Commercial A/T 2 Firestone Transforce HT Be sure and make your wheel well measurements first for proper clearance issues.

Tires- LT or ST | Good Sam Community

StirCrazy
Moderator
Jun 28, 2023
Huntindog wrote:

The fact is that the govt. LT tire testing standards are much more demanding than for ST tires. That being a FACT, it is not hard to understand why STs fail so often.
On another note: LT tire choices in the 16" rim size are many. In fact most if not all manufacturers offer Good, Better, Best models to choose from. Such selection just isn't availible in ST tires. There is a choice of ONE from each manufacturer...So if one wishes to buy a premium ST tire,,,There are none availible....But as an observation of the testing standards, the cheapest LT tire is tested to higher standards than any ST tire.

didn't we have a thread a while ago where we found that the testing standard for both tires is virtually the same, but the LT does one test to a higher speed (partially loaded I believe it was at 60PSI) where the ST does a higher max load test? doesn't sound like it is much more demanding, or a fact.
StirCrazy
Moderator
Jun 28, 2023
Grit dog wrote:
StirCrazy wrote:
time2roll wrote:
GY Endurance or Carlisle Radial Trail HD are both quality speed rated ST tires.
.

I get a kick out of that every time I see it. Carlisle tires are one of the cheapest tires where I live and every tire shop steers you away from them as they have had to many issues with them, but down there everyone seems to love them.

As for endurance, I am sure they are great but at almost 450.00/tire they are not one I'll ever buy...

Except the OP is in the US, so the 15” GYE tires that are the right size and load range for his trailer are $160-170 and even 16” ones are 2 for $450….

Oh, I imagine they are even cheaper than that down there. makes me wish I did more trips to the US so I could do more maintenance to the truck and trailer ;) we get so hosed on pricing up here.
time2roll
Nomad
Jun 28, 2023
StirCrazy wrote:
time2roll wrote:
GY Endurance or Carlisle Radial Trail HD are both quality speed rated ST tires.
.

I get a kick out of that every time I see it. Carlisle tires are one of the cheapest tires where I live and every tire shop steers you away from them as they have had to many issues with them, but down there everyone seems to love them.

As for endurance, I am sure they are great but at almost 450.00/tire they are not one I'll ever buy...
Go ahead and beat me up on this... Not going to hurt my feelings or change my opinion. Are you sure you are talking about the exact tire? There is more than one line available.

Now try to actually add something to recommend for the OP
valhalla360
Navigator
Jun 28, 2023
Govt has been mandating tire pressure systems on cars/trucks for around 15yrs and aftermarket systems for trailers are also very popular, so apparently, someone feels underinflation is an issue and constant monitoring is important.

Most people who switch have no baseline to compare to. It's only after the blowouts that they start randomly trying things to improve the situation...like checking the pressure regularly (or adding a TPMS) or actually getting the RV weighed to make sure they aren't overloaded. Then they switch to LTs at the same time...low and behold, they are less likely to experience a blowout but never systematically tested to see what fixed the problem...then again blowouts are pretty rare to begin with so their changes may have zero impact.

Once you switch to LTs there is a bigger selection but that is mostly about tread patterns (and profitering). For a trailer, there isn't a lot of benefit to off road tires, so little reason to provide a wide variety of tread patterns in ST tires.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jun 27, 2023
valhalla360 wrote:
Have you weighed the trailer and checked against Payload rating of the tires?

Also, do you check the tire pressure regularly?

Most blowouts are overloaded or under inflation.

A lot of people going to LTs increase the payload rating and keep a closer eye on pressure...then credit the fact they are LTs.
I have not seen what you state of LT tire owners giving false credit to their sucess. I also have not seen any evidence of under inflation being a problem.
In fact every RV forum I have seen has a common theme, on ST tire care.
They check their tires at EVERY opportunity. I myself find this overkill...But then again, I switched to LTs in 2006.Ever since, I have been able to relax about my tires. Can you imagine have to check your automobile tires as much as RVers feel the need to for ST tires?

The fact is that the govt. LT tire testing standards are much more demanding than for ST tires. That being a FACT, it is not hard to understand why STs fail so often.
On another note: LT tire choices in the 16" rim size are many. In fact most if not all manufacturers offer Good, Better, Best models to choose from. Such selection just isn't availible in ST tires. There is a choice of ONE from each manufacturer...So if one wishes to buy a premium ST tire,,,There are none availible....But as an observation of the testing standards, the cheapest LT tire is tested to higher standards than any ST tire.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Jun 27, 2023
LT tire are fine IF the stated load (in lbs) stamped on the side of the tire meets your load requirements. Use the maximum pressure stated on the side of the tire.

There is a much larger selection on LT tires compared to ST tires. Better pricing.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jun 27, 2023
^Great points. And while I can’t argue the virtues of going to stout 16” LT tires IF they’re even remotely warrAnted and fit without any major modifications, the fact remains, the OP can get stout 15” ST 2800lb rated 80psi tires very conveniently and more economically.
And since the OP said his trailer is 8500lbs, there is less than 2000lbs load on each tire. If a 35% increase in tire capacity compared to the load isn’t enough, I’m not sure what’s being gained by up-sizing even more.
Not to mention that virtually any 15” trailer tire made today is actually within capacity for his camper, albeit with less reserve capacity.
valhalla360
Navigator
Jun 27, 2023
Have you weighed the trailer and checked against Payload rating of the tires?

Also, do you check the tire pressure regularly?

Most blowouts are overloaded or under inflation.

A lot of people going to LTs increase the payload rating and keep a closer eye on pressure...then credit the fact they are LTs.
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Jun 27, 2023
Carlisle Radial Trail HD have great reviews.
Durb
Explorer
Jun 27, 2023
Mine were $600 and some change for a set of four three years ago. I doubt they have tripled in price.