Why ST tires?
Hey All, Total noob, trying to soak all this RV stuff in all at once. The Maxxis ST tires on my recently purchased 2001 TT "look" like new, but I don't know how old they actually are, so don't kno...
Forum Discussion
Most of the time when people try to compare ST and LT tires it's an apples to oranges sort of comparison in that they're comparing a considerably higher load rated and bigger LT tire to an ST tire running close to if not slightly over it's max load. (What the RV manufacture chose to save costs)
At one time, tire manufactures listed the tire ratings on a chart to include speed and load capability. The load rating dropped significantly with higher speeds. Now, they just list the max load for the max speed the tire is rated for. For LT tires, most of the ones I've seen on RV's are rated for 106 mph or so. If you looked on one of the old charts, if the speed you were looking at was 65 mph the load rating would be much higher. Of course it goes the other way too. An ST tire rated for the same load as most LT tires would have a considerably lower load capability at the same speed the LT tire is rated for.
What the above means in the end is that when you purchase LT tires, you'll probably end up with a larger tire, with a fair bit of load capability buffer, which is a big part of why they tend to be more reliable. If you oversize your ST tires by the same amount, you'll more than likely end up with a much more reliable tire as well.
At one time, tire manufactures listed the tire ratings on a chart to include speed and load capability. The load rating dropped significantly with higher speeds. Now, they just list the max load for the max speed the tire is rated for. For LT tires, most of the ones I've seen on RV's are rated for 106 mph or so. If you looked on one of the old charts, if the speed you were looking at was 65 mph the load rating would be much higher. Of course it goes the other way too. An ST tire rated for the same load as most LT tires would have a considerably lower load capability at the same speed the LT tire is rated for.
What the above means in the end is that when you purchase LT tires, you'll probably end up with a larger tire, with a fair bit of load capability buffer, which is a big part of why they tend to be more reliable. If you oversize your ST tires by the same amount, you'll more than likely end up with a much more reliable tire as well.
