Travel Trailer Tires

What is the axel rating and what is the axel weigh of the TT.

Across the scales, my loaded for the road TT weighs 6400 lbs. 750 lbs. are on the tongue 5650 lbs. are on the dual axels. The axels are rated 3500 lbs. each or 7000 lbs. total My four D rated tires have a total rating of 8600 lbs. I bought D rated tires because they were only $20.00 more a tire.

The GY Endurance is the latest and greatest on the RV scene. How they will hold up is anybody's guess but they are a premium tire.

Some people seem to have disproportionate issues with tires, the rest are happy with the 2,000,000 tires a year the TT makers supply.

I put 20,000 miles or so plus whatever the previous owner added on my China bombs, I traded then because they were seven years old. I can tell you from experience that road hazards do not care how much your tires cost. :)

prichardson wrote:
The new Goodyear and Carlisles have not been out long enough to tell if their lifespan is any better than earlier iterations. We can only hope.

They've been out long enough to tell they are a marked improvement.

In a 14" tire, one worth considering if you want to go LT is the Hankook Vantra RA18. Load range D. Discount tire can get them.

I believe in a 195-14 that is load index 106 which is 2100 pounds at 65psi

that's a 82 series section height, so a 195 size is 26" diameter

Heat not load causes tire failure. Now if you are carrying a heavy load at high speed you will be cause the tires to overheat, so load does enter into it.

You may or may not need a higher load rated tire. You need better heat dissipation. A larger load rating may not solve your heat buildup problem, if it is caused by the speed you are driving. ST tires cannot handle heat very well. They have thick side walls and retain heat.

Go scale your trailer and then find a LT tire with a load range for your trailers weight. IF none are available for your weight then look at 15 inch tires. LT tires have a much better ability to dissipate heat and can be driven faster without a heat buildup.

The new Goodyear and Carlisles have not been out long enough to tell if their lifespan is any better than earlier iterations. We can only hope.

westend wrote:
Goodyear Endurance, Carlisle HD, and Maxxis have all been Forum favorites for ST tires. If you have the clearance and can get the right offset rims, LT tires remove a lot of headaches.

I agree although I did have a Maxxis come apart just short of four years.
No air loss yet, just the tread separating.
Currently I have GY Endurance. Time will tell on these.

As for sizing I recommend tires rated to carry the full trailer GVWR.

prichardson wrote:
If you switch and stay with ST tires you gain nothing.

With the introduction of the new Goodyear Endurance this is certainly not true. :R Although the OP never indicated the load range of his current 14" tires I can't imagine they're anything but load range C ... simply installing Endurance tires in this size will by definition move him up to load range D as this tire in this size is not offered in a LR C. The same would apply if he alternately chose a set of load range D Carlisle HD tires in the ST205/75 R14 size.

I have a 25 ft TT with 15 inch tires that I bought used. I tried to replace the tires with bigger and wider because they were seven years old and I had put over 20,000 miles on them.

As it turned out, my wheel wells were too small. Therefore, the larger, wider tire would not fit.

So, I changed from C rated tires to D rated tires of the same size. They do ride harder because they run at 65 psi rather than 50 psi but they have performed well over the last 10,000 miles. Also, the D rated tires are rated about 20% over the weight rating than the axle.

Good luck

Agree with gmw photos and Terryallan. The only reason to switch to 15" is availability of LT tires. A 14" and a 15" of the same width and load range have the same capacity. If you switch and stay with ST tires you gain nothing.

I've had excellent success, never a blow out, with Carlisles on 2 different trailers now, but mine are 15 inch also.