Tires for the Cougar

[frizfreleng]

I have a 2004 Keystone Cougar 278EFS 5th wheel. Loaded (gross?) weight around 8100 lbs. I bought the unit last fall. The tires that came on it are 205 75R 15 load range D. Some oddball brand which I don't recall at the moment. I was reading a forum post that Sailun tires are the go to brand. So I went to their web site but did not find a trailer tire in that size. Got me thinking that maybe my installed tired are not the right ones. Haven't found the manufacturers recommended size. Can anyone help me here?

Thanks, Friz

[frizfreleng]

End of my story. Just delivered to the homestead a set of Maxxis ST205 75R 15D, date code 2618, 6 year manufacturers warranty from date of manufacture, $85 each, delivered. Looking forward to seeing you down the road (not on the side of the road).

[hussbuss]

Friz. After I sent the Maxxis back, I ordered a different set thru my dealer and asked for the newest dates I could get. Came in 6 weeks after production. I would not go over 6 months from production. Maxxis only had 3 year warranty at that time. I am running Gladiator QR 22 TS 10 plys. 225/75/15.. This is my 2nd set of these tires and they are probably the best of the China tires out there. First set lasted 5 years and looked like new. Just aged out and had a long trip coming up, so I changed them.

[shadows4]

FYI, when I put new tires a year and a half ago I took them to Discount Tire to be mounted and balanced. (Ordered Carlise HD's off of Ebay.) The kid helping me sold me a tire warrenty which included the mounting and balacing for less than just the mounting and balancing alone. Was a great deal I thought. Good luck with your Maxxis, OP'er.

[frizfreleng]

frizfreleng wrote:

hussbuss wrote:
For what its worth, make sure you check the production dates on those Maxxis tires before you mount them. I ordered a set a year ago and they were over 3 years old when shipped to my dealer. I refused to accept them and sent them back. They have a lot of old stock they are trying to get rid of. Per my dealer, no warrant the minute you drive away. Good luck and don't scrimp on good tires.

Good point I had forgotten. So what is the oldest date code you would accept when buying new tires? Haven't looked at tire warranties yet. Are they warrantied by the manufacturer of the dealer? Pretty sleazy if the warranty period is from date of manufacture.

Was just on the Maxxis website. Apparently it is a manufacturers warranty. Maxxis states 6 years from date of manufacture. Yeah, pretty sleazy of a dealer to try and slip 3 year old tires by you.

[Cummins12V98]

The Endurance I put on my Boat Trailer were about two months old. Discount Manager said he has a hard time keeping them in stock and usually orders them.

[frizfreleng]

hussbuss wrote:
For what its worth, make sure you check the production dates on those Maxxis tires before you mount them. I ordered a set a year ago and they were over 3 years old when shipped to my dealer. I refused to accept them and sent them back. They have a lot of old stock they are trying to get rid of. Per my dealer, no warrant the minute you drive away. Good luck and don't scrimp on good tires.

Good point I had forgotten. So what is the oldest date code you would accept when buying new tires? Haven't looked at tire warranties yet. Are they warrantied by the manufacturer of the dealer? Pretty sleazy if the warranty period is from date of manufacture.

[larry_barnhart]

when we buy tires I am the boss. Get what I ask for and date of manufacture and call when they arrived but check what I ask for. Two times the tires were not accepted buy dealer Tires go 5 years and I start over. This has worked great for us. Never had a tire issue on the road. But ya never know.

chevman

[JIMNLIN]

Thanks Jerry/goducks10 for the feedback. My analysis was quantitative. Your feedbacks were qualitative albeit worth looking into. Will take your comments and do more research. Interesting spec: the Goodyears (highest prices of those I compared) had 28% less tread depth than the Trailer King.

As others mentioned tread depth isn't a big thing with most RV folks as many have reported maybe 5k-7k miles in 4-6 years of service. The tire works fine in that scenario.

Keep in mind ST tires are used on non rv trailers also.

Tread depth is very important to a operator with trailers in commercial service where we may run 80k-90k miles a year.
A ST D and E tire may have 9/32nds of tread depth and some have been lucky to get 18k-25k miles before the tread is gone in this type of work. Most serious haulers don't use them......can't afford them.

This is where a LT tire or the 16" ST Load G commercial grade tire with 15-16/32nds of tread depth makes a huge difference in miles of service. I've ran LT tires up to 65k miles on my trailers in service. Another plus for this type of work is the tire runs cooler with the deeper tread.....and runs hotter as the tread wears down closer to the tires carcass.

Sometimes lay persons out here on the road using tires in a load carrying position day in and day out find different results than tire manufacturers adds/tire mfg engineering says.

[hussbuss]

For what its worth, make sure you check the production dates on those Maxxis tires before you mount them. I ordered a set a year ago and they were over 3 years old when shipped to my dealer. I refused to accept them and sent them back. They have a lot of old stock they are trying to get rid of. Per my dealer, no warrant the minute you drive away. Good luck and don't scrimp on good tires.

[frizfreleng]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Without digging into tire specs I simply go with ya get what ya pay for and my personal experiences.

Fair enough and thank you. As a retired Engineer I guess I am somewhat OCD about numbers. No intention to have started an argument. Sincerely appreciate everyone's advice. For the record, today ordered 4 Maxxis ST205 75R 15D tires through Amazon, $86 each delivered.

[Cummins12V98]

Without digging into tire specs I simply go with ya get what ya pay for and my personal experiences.

[laknox]

frizfreleng wrote:
"Tread depth is irrelevant as tire wear rate is far more important along with the fact you will never wear them out within the time they naturally expire."


Cummins12v98,

Thank you for the feedback. Curious as to what you base the "irrelevant" statement on? The 10 tires manufacturers specs I looked at, maybe 10 specs per tire, all list "Tread Depth". None have a spec about wear rate although I would like to see that quantified. Possibly there are too many variables involved to make it a metric: tire pressure, load, speed, weather, surface driven on, etc.

Most likely his own, and hundreds of others', experiences with tires. As I said before, you almost =never= hear of towable RV tires wearing out, unless there's an underlying problem, usually with alignment. Almost invariably, they "age out", meaning they're going on +/- 5 years old, and getting to the point where UV and chemical degradation is taking their toll and weakening the tire carcass. Yes, you'll see people run 7+ years, even with junk tires, but they're the (very) lucky ones, IMO.

Lyle

[frizfreleng]

"Tread depth is irrelevant as tire wear rate is far more important along with the fact you will never wear them out within the time they naturally expire."


Cummins12v98,

Thank you for the feedback. Curious as to what you base the "irrelevant" statement on? The 10 tires manufacturers specs I looked at, maybe 10 specs per tire, all list "Tread Depth". None have a spec about wear rate although I would like to see that quantified. Possibly there are too many variables involved to make it a metric: tire pressure, load, speed, weather, surface driven on, etc.

[larry_barnhart]

MFL wrote:
Agree with goducks10, the cheapest is not always the best choice. Going to an E rated tire not necessary either. A newer type 205 to 225 75R 15D is all you need. IMO, 3 main choices...Provider ST, Carlisle HD, or GY Endurance, all better built, with higher speed rating, due to cooler running temps, and more quality construction. I run the Providers, and like them. They are a quality build, at a reasonable price. You can see, read about them at E-trailer, and order from them too.

Jerry

neighbor with a brand new Jayco TT has Endurance tires from the factory.

This is very good news for TT owners.

chevman