Tires

mosseater wrote:
I'm on my second set of Maxxis 8008's, and I have been very pleased with them. I also had my axles aligned and have been running balancing beads for several years. How much effect those two things on tire performance cannot be underestimated. But, the original tires were Kenda, and I'll never buy another one. I bought on line and tires were two years old when received, so pretty good for the price. The last thing I need when camping is mechanical issues, tires, brakes, springs, etc. Have been very satisfied with Maxxis performance.

The only trailer tire I've had that failed was a Maxxis 8008. Was a 14" version on a 21 foot Skyline Koala. The steel belt broke. I was lucky, I noticed it while parked. The steel belt had broken.

I was lucky a) I had to stop and use the trailer's bath room, b) The business parking lot I stopped in was covered with a white powdery substance, c) it was the front right tire, d) I came to a stop with the correct portion of the tire showing, e) I happened to notice the tread pattern outlined in white was strange looking.

Only maybe the center couple of inches of the tread were covered in white dust. From the tread shoulders in to about the center 2 inches of the tire tread, were not touching the surface. The other 3 quarters of the tire was covered in white powder from tread shoulder to tread shoulder.

This was in southern South Carolina on US-17. Put the spare down on the ground and continued home to Virginia. They had a fair amount of miles on them, so I just replaced all of them with the then new Carlisle HD's. The tire dealer said the steel belt had broken.

Don't know about now, but those old Maxxis M8008's were limited to speeds no greater than 65 mph. The new Carlisle's were rated in the 80's, not that I would ever think about driving that fast. I just feel the higher rating gives extra margin of safety from heat damage.