Another tire question

[Hammerboy]

I've been searching the forumns but can't quite find what I am looking for as far as tires for my unit.

Our fifth wheel we purchased this past spring wieghs in just under 9k dry, has a gvwr a shade under 12k and a pin wieght of around 1500 pounds. These are published wieghts as I have not taken it to the scales yet for real world weight.

In all the years of owning a rv, I never had much concern or any trouble for that matter with the stock st tires they came with. We never took any really long trips either. Our unit has 15" aluminum rims with the dreaded Towmax tires. So my question is what tires would you put on? Would you move to 16" rims for better choices and Craigslist the old ones? Are all st tires rated for 65mph? My unit not a heavy beast like a lot of you guys pull so I'm not sure if I should go to lt tires or stick with st's.

[Dtank]

Ohio_Engineer wrote:

Esacnj wrote:
After towmax blowout @ start of my 3rd season I changed to LT's. Second incident with ST's. First with Mission (@ start of 2nd season) on a travel trailer after which I did extensive research and adhered to all I learned and still had the blowout on 5th wheel.

Was the "blowout" a Sidewall Run Low Flex Failure? or did you suffer a tread/belt separation before the tire lost all its air?

Also when you changed from ST type to LT type did you select LT tires with load capacity that was equal or greater than the ST type or did you select LT type that had same numbers for the tire size?

Load Range of ST? and of LT?

Ohio Engr:

You're beating a dead horse.....er..tire carcass!

There's a reason the majority of ST tire offerings have "off-brand" names!
Major tire mfgrs don't want the negatives associated with niche tires, which have bad reps (failures).

Consequently, we see a number of "new" brands of ST tires - mfg in China - which meet ST tire specs.

The USA 'exception' is GY, which had a (lengthy) bad rep even when Marathon ST tires were still mfg in the USA.
The "good" side of that (if you call it good) - is GY would replace the tires and *usually* pay for damages to the trailer caused by tire failure.
Of course - that didn't do anything for "down time" for the repairs!

Chinese tire mfgrs are very capable of mfg quality tires to the (any) desired specs.

Soooo for the OP - *if* you prefer to stay with 15" tires - the best choice would be Maxxis.
Mfg in many countries - including China with an excellent rep. Search the forums!..:W:W

The 'new' Carlisles are 'saddled' with the bad rep of their previous offerings - and lots, and LOTS of user feedback is necessary before they are an acceptable choice.

BTW - "Ohio_Engineer"- lots of previous posters on many forums with "in the know" ID's over many years who would differ (or agree) with your input - as well as several (like "Fast Eagle") with a documented background......who went thru many (he admitted to 22) ST tires, but wouldn't change his opinion on how wonderful they were.

Although his background was with the Air Force, many were of the opinion his dedication and devotion to ST tires made him a "shil" (or employee) for whatever tire company he was touting at the time.

OP: Bottom line - whatever rings your chimes!

Complete "due diligence" to make YOUR choice the right one for *YOU*

Roll on!

:C

[jaycocamprs]

I did make the change to 16" LT tires and would again. It's worth the cost.

[Esacnj]

Both failures were belt shift/separation as determined by both manufacturers as they both honored warranties. LT's are load range E as we're ST's. Capacities are standard for the LT's I selected but close to the ST's. Both failures were run @ full side wall pressures and were properly inflated as I run TPMS.

[Greene728]

allen8106 wrote:

Greene728 wrote:
I'll be the odd ball I guess. For that trailer and weight you have two excellent ST tire options with very good reviews. First is the Maxxis 8008. Excellent tire with a higher speed rating. Next is the Carlisle Radial RH (now called the Radial HD ). Again, a great ST tire that is holding up and performing extremely well. Also both are offered in LRE. Now if 16's are really what you want, can afford both wheels and tires, and will fit, then by all means have at it. I readily admit you do have more choices in 16in offerings. But, well made and reliable 15in tires are available and will save you quite a pretty penny vs swapping over to 16's.

I agree with all this except the Carlisle statement, only be cause I have no experience with them.

Fair enough. But is your experience with the Carlisle Radial RH or the older ones?

[Ohio_Engineer]

Esacnj wrote:
After towmax blowout @ start of my 3rd season I changed to LT's. Second incident with ST's. First with Mission (@ start of 2nd season) on a travel trailer after which I did extensive research and adhered to all I learned and still had the blowout on 5th wheel.

Was the "blowout" a Sidewall Run Low Flex Failure? or did you suffer a tread/belt separation before the tire lost all its air?

Also when you changed from ST type to LT type did you select LT tires with load capacity that was equal or greater than the ST type or did you select LT type that had same numbers for the tire size?

Load Range of ST? and of LT?

[Esacnj]

After towmax blowout @ start of my 3rd season I changed to LT's. Second incident with ST's. First with Mission (@ start of 2nd season) on a travel trailer after which I did extensive research and adhered to all I learned and still had the blowout on 5th wheel.

[allen8106]

Greene728 wrote:
I'll be the odd ball I guess. For that trailer and weight you have two excellent ST tire options with very good reviews. First is the Maxxis 8008. Excellent tire with a higher speed rating. Next is the Carlisle Radial RH (now called the Radial HD ). Again, a great ST tire that is holding up and performing extremely well. Also both are offered in LRE. Now if 16's are really what you want, can afford both wheels and tires, and will fit, then by all means have at it. I readily admit you do have more choices in 16in offerings. But, well made and reliable 15in tires are available and will save you quite a pretty penny vs swapping over to 16's.

I agree with all this except the Carlisle statement, only be cause I have no experience with them.

[Greene728]

I'll be the odd ball I guess. For that trailer and weight you have two excellent ST tire options with very good reviews. First is the Maxxis 8008. Excellent tire with a higher speed rating. Next is the Carlisle Radial RH (now called the Radial HD ). Again, a great ST tire that is holding up and performing extremely well. Also both are offered in LRE. Now if 16's are really what you want, can afford both wheels and tires, and will fit, then by all means have at it. I readily admit you do have more choices in 16in offerings. But, well made and reliable 15in tires are available and will save you quite a pretty penny vs swapping over to 16's.

[Ohio_Engineer]

riven1950 wrote:
Not all ST are 65mph rated.

Just bought a new TT. I was surprised to see they have a speed rating of 75 mph, rated as L I beleive. Can't remember the brand but they are ST, and yes, made in China. BTW I have no plans to test the speed. Usually towing 60-65 mph.

That's true but the load on an ST is higher than the load on an LT. Physics doesn't change. The main difference in the load numbers is based on ST formula written for 65 mph MAX.
There is no magic involved in placing the letters ST on a sidewall instead of LT.

If you want to run your tires like they were LT then the LT loads are what you should be using.

[ghiotom]

I just replaced my Tow Max with Bridgestone LT tires after a blowout on Thanksgiving. Personally, I wouldn't put a Tow Max on a wheelbarrow!

[riven1950]

Not all ST are 65mph rated.

Just bought a new TT. I was surprised to see they have a speed rating of 75 mph, rated as L I beleive. Can't remember the brand but they are ST, and yes, made in China. BTW I have no plans to test the speed. Usually towing 60-65 mph.

[_DJ_1]

donn0128 wrote:
Sorry but one simple answer is YES, I would swap to 16 inch LT tires and enjoy the safety and longevity they will provide.

^^^^THIS^^^^

[Ohio_Engineer]

Dry weight number is of little value unless you only tow the trailer with nothing in it.
GVWR is just a number you should not exceed but without actual scale weight there is no way to know the real tire loads.
The reality is that over half of RVs that have been weighed discover they have one or more tires or axle in overload. This may be due to just having too much stuff in the RV or the load not being evenly distributed. Individual tires do not care if the tire on the other end of the axle is underloaded by 10% if the tire we are looking at is 5% overloaded.

It is suggested that tire load capacity be at least 15% above the measured scale weight for every tire.

Tires on trailers should be run at the tire sidewall inflation to lower the belt Interply ShearInterply Shear force that is trying to tear the belts apart.

[Ivylog]

I use nothing but used takeoff LT tires on my many trailers. You can find a match set less than three years old mounted and balance for less than $50/tire. At 10 years of age from new I think about replacing and rarely are my trailers lightly loaded and I've been doing this for decades. By going up a size you should have plenty of carrying capacity even with a LT 15" tire.