Texas Bob 140 wrote:
On our annual trip from Double Oak, TX to South Padre Island, TX we blew out two tires and the wheel opening J wrap, fender and wheel well liner and damaged the wheel. The blowouts were within 5 miles of each other. The tires were ST225/R/15/D's. One was a 4 year old Goodyear Marathon with little mileage on it that blew a hole the size of a tennis ball in the sidewall. The second tire was a Mission that had never been used and was the spare and had been covered its entire life. The Mission spare shredded after 5 miles and caused the damage. Weight on the tires is around 8,000 lbs. as measured on the Cat scale at the local truck stop and all tires were aired up to 65 PSI. I also have Tireminder sending units on each tire and there was no warning of any problem.
I'm planning on upgrading to a 16" wheel with a BFG Commercial T/A LT225/R/16/E tire. The BRG's have a diameter of 29.4" per BFG and the Goodyear ST's have a diameter of 28.3" Center to center distance on the tandem axles is 33" so I will have clearance between the wheels of about 3.6". There is plenty of room between the ST's and the frame of about 3". I have checked out the slide out mechanism and the closest the slide out bar/track comes to the ST tire is somewhere between 5 1/2 to 6 inches.
The limiting factor seems to be the distance from the tire to the wheel well liner. On the present ST's, the distance is 2 1/2" With the LT tires, that should be reduced to about 2". Interestingly, there is no real liner on this trailer - it appears to be plastic coated fabric which looks like the cheap plastic coated tarps they sell at the home stores.
I will be replacing the wheels with 80 PSI wheels and metal valve stems.
Any thoughts or counsel, especially anyone who has made this modification to this year and model trailer, is appreciated. Thanks.
FWIW, my 11,300 GVW FW came with 5,200 lb axles and D-rated tires. I had one failure my 2nd year < 1,000 total miles. I replaced it with another D-rated tire and ran them another 2 years when the other 3 separated and I replaced with a set of Greenball E-rated tires. These all failed after 5 years and I put on a set of the new Carlisle E-rated tires, when I couldn't get the Maxxis I really wanted. I was lucky in that my aluminum wheels were rated for 80 psi and I didn't have to swap. If you =know= your rims are 65 psi, the switch to 16" wheels is the best way to go. If they are already 80 psi wheels, consider using the Maxxis to save some bucks.
Lyle
