5th wheel tire review

[gusco01]

I have been reading on this and other rv forums about replacement 5th wheel tires. I do not want to ever have ST tires again. The size I use is LT235-85-16 E Rated. I found information about the Bridgestone R500HD. I had 5 installed, my weight on the axles is correct for these tires. I had rig weighted when I was going on a trip with all loaded. These are commercial rated tires for work vehicles. Good tread for a trailer tire. I removed the Carlisle tires the trailer came with. Mostly because of there bad failure rate. I have spent too many times on side of interstate changing tires. Yes I have tire pressure monitor system. Anyway I think these tires are worth considering for 5th wheel use. They are poly cord sidewall with steel belts. Reports of them lasting over 100,000 miles. I'm sure they will rot out before I ever were out the tread. I could not find out where they were made before i bought. On side of tire it says made in Japan. The date code was 1120. So the tires are about 1 year old before installed. Dont like that, time will tell. I only have 150 miles on them now. My trailer weight I did not need the all steel that the heavier 5th wheels need. I hope this helped someone looking at 5th wheel tires.

[JIMNLIN]

I found information about the Bridgestone R500HD. I had 5 installed, my weight on the axles is correct for these tires. I had rig weighted when I was going on a trip with all loaded. These are commercial rated tires for work vehicles. Good tread for a trailer tire.

The R500 Bridgestones LT E at 3042 lbs per tire have been around for years and have always been one of the better choices for rv trailers and commercial work trailers with 5.2k and 6k axles. Commercial haulers find with a LT tire we don't need a huge amount of reserve capacity like ST E tires require.
If you do a lot of road miles per year you will find more miles of service with a LT E with 14 to 16/32nds of tread depth than any ST E tire like a Endurance with just 9/32nds tread depth. Big deal for those of us that see high miles of road service.
Keep those R500 Bridgestones pumped to the max for max service

[fj12ryder]

Yeah, but with less than 3,000 lbs. on a tire, a tire with a load rating of over 4,000 lbs. is not needed, and, in fact, may give a much rougher ride. More is not always better.

In fact when I get new tires I may go to LT E-rated tires. I have 12,000 lbs. on 6 tires, and have weighed all tires, and my heaviest load is 2,500 lbs. on two tires. Tell me why I need G-rated tires on my toyhauler.

[guidry]

Notice how many comments mention “load”. Upgrade to a higher load range tires and you’ll notice a big difference. I have G rated tires on my 5th wheel and have had great luck with them.

[fj12ryder]

From what I've read those Carlisle ST tires are supposed to be pretty good. Personally I wouldn't use a Carlisle after my experiences with them, but they are getting good reviews.

[gusco01]

I just looked at the dot code on the Carlisles was 3619 on all 4. so I bought the 5th wheel march of 2020. So the tires were built in August 2019 in China and loaded in a slow boat to America and sold to the previous owner. So the tires were sitting round for about 6.5 months. My new Bridgestones tires are 1 year old before I bought them. I wonder why so long maybe the covid slowed things down.

[Cummins12V98]

That size tire I would go GY ENDURANCE. Can’t beat their track record. Made in USA.

[fj12ryder]

3,000 miles, but how many years? Most RV tires age out before they wear out. Might check the date code, the seller may have been storing them before putting them on to sell with the trailer.

[gusco01]

I know some say they are better. I only have about 3,000 miles on mine. They were on the used 5th wheel I bought. Seller just put them on to sell unit. I kept the tires.

[fj12ryder]

Of course you're assuming that all tires carry an equal weight, which may not be accurate. But you'd still have a little leeway if the tire weights are a little different. My triple axle tires vary around 600 lbs.

I got rid of the Carlisle that came on our toyhauler new in 2010, but I've heard that the new ST tires are considerably better than the ones from a few years ago.

IMO you're probably alright, but could be borderline on a tire or two. No way to tell without weighing each tire individually.

[Sandia_Man]

No doubt that LT tires are better overall than ST tires, primarily due to them being produced here than China. I know we have been pretty lucky according to what is said online, over 3 decades of RVing and we never had a blowout, not even a flat from using ST tires. We always replaced them after 4 years of use, biggest issue with ST tires is overloading and under-inflation, unfortunately RV manufacturers send their units out with barely enough tire to begin with.

Most of us would agree that towable RV manufacturers would be smart to have LT tires standard on rigs weighing over 10K#, just won't happen as penny pinching reigns supreme in their manufacturing concepts. Thankfully there are better choices for ST tires now, they will always be around since many towable RVs come with 14" and 15" stock tires, where locating a decent LT tire in those sizes can be troublesome.

[gusco01]

3042 pounds at 80 PSI, my axle weight is 10,000 # on the scale. This tires are correct for this weight. My 5th wheel weighs 12,000 total ready to camp.

[Old-Biscuit]

What is the Load Rating and PSI stamped on sidewall?