So we made our purchase of a 2016 Shasta Oasis 25rs travel trailer and I took notice of the tires which are Constancy brand 205 75 14 load range C. According to the counsel here I know these tires may have a short lifespan and my hope was to trade them to Discount for Maxxis and pay the difference but they do not do trades so I am stuck with these tires. The Constancy website is very sparse no phone number just a hotmail address.My hope is that these tires will last a year and then I will discard them. No question here but these tires will be on my mind during travel and i will be on the alert for a POW! at some point.

Make sure you maintain the air pressure at the proper pressure...check it each morning before hitting the road. If you use blocks to level make sure the blocks are bigger than the footprint of the tires. You don't want the tire hanging over the edge of the block.If you strike a curb pay close attention to the tires, watch for knots appearing on the tread or sidewall.I would get better tires as quickly as possible.

The Les Schwab I use gives me money on new tire take-offs and will order Maxxis, no problem. I know they have stores in Utah.

The tires should be OK for awhile. As stated above, watch out hitting curbs. Another thing to watch for is how much sideways pressure you put on those tires. In other words, when back up, the tires will not pivot freely because of the tandem axle, causing stress on the tires side-ways. This is not good for any tire, but on tandem axle trailers (and even triple axle trailers), it's really unavoidable. When back up into campsites, or your drive way, or your parking spot, attempt to keep the tow vehicle and trailer as straight as possible, thus reducing that sideways force on the trailer tires. I (still) think, this is the biggest reason trailer tires have failure rates, it's the inability to handle that sideways pressure when cornering. Some tires are made better than others to handle that. I (still) think that's the difference between a tire and a (good) tire. Because of the cornering, the tire looses its integrity (side wall) and then when driving down the road at 60 mph and heat builds up, there's tire failure because of broken or weakened side wall.

So Coolbreeze01 I called Les Schwab (it's 5 minutes from my house) and a quote on trade-in value on Constancy tires the rep was not able to give without seeing the tires but he said typically he gives a $20.00 trade in per tire. I want 4 Maxxis ST Radial M8008 ( I will give up the 5th Constancy spare tire) is $110.00 per tire, mounted, balance with steel valve stems is another $20.00 per tire thus cost is $130.00 x4.that puts me in the $420.00 out the door. Of course DW(mission control) would need to be in on the decision. Guess we will see.

Consider a larger size and D or E ply rating while you are at it. The added confidence in the tires is worth it to me.

as you have advised... | Good Sam Community

coolbreeze01
Explorer
Jan 27, 2016
Again, check with your local Schwab. If they don't have a tire in stock that you want, they will order any tire brand and size out there. Research is a good thing.
rbpru
Explorer II
Jan 27, 2016
I just purchased four ST205, 15 inch, radial, load range "D", new valve stems, balanced and mounted for $345.00 from the local Goodyear dealer. They were not the cheapest but they had had good luck with them and were not afraid to recommend them.

They replaced the seven year old ST205 load range "C" that were on the TT when I bought it used two years and 15,000 miles ago. There is enough tread left to use them on my farm trailers.

I paid extra for the balancing and the "D" load rating. We will see how they work when we head for AZ.
DinTulsa
Explorer
Jan 27, 2016
There are trailers other than Rv's. I have ran westlakes on my mowing trailer for years with no issues.
bobndot
Explorer II
Jan 27, 2016
Come on now, we are all RV people here , we try to help each other whenever possible.
Think about it.....for $80 ( 4 x $20 )
If you are afraid to use those Westlake tires or you think they are not up to do the job, do you really want to take the chance of someone else trashing their trailer or worse yet, have someone get into a serious accident ?
Donate them to a go-cart track to use as bumpers .
DinTulsa
Explorer
Jan 27, 2016
I'm in the same boat as your, except I bought a used RV. I'm going to be swapping my Westlake's out for Maxis tires as well. I'm going to sell my used tires on Craigslist, I would suggest you try the same. I'm sure you will be able to get more than 20 a tire on CL.
FLY_4_FUN
Explorer
Jan 27, 2016
My take on this is if the tires are going to stress you out then the financial outlay for peace of mind is worth it. If you can recoup some cash and trade them in then do it. If you roll the dice and keep them that little devil is going to be on your shoulder the whole time. If you upgrade after a year the tires will be worthless for trading. After ten years on here reading about blowouts not many folks get away without costly damage if a blowout occurs.

Daryll
LarryJM
Explorer II
Jan 27, 2016
nephi007 wrote:
So after researching 205 75R 14 tires (Maxxis, Carlisle etc) looks like the Kumho 857 has a higher max load rating 2271 lbs versus 1760 for the others.However they are somewhat expensive.. Tire Rack per tire is 4 x $129.22= $516.88, shipping $79.92 (unless I want to drive to McCarran Nevada to pick them up 850 miles round trip) then mounting, balance and steel valve stems another $81.00 so they whole sheebang would cost $677.80. Meanwhile I'm still thinking....

I would suggest you read about my KUMHO TALE OF WOE HERE.

Now have close to 2K on my current Marathons w/o any further tire issues.

Needless to say NO MORE KUMHOS for me:p

Larry
bobndot
Explorer II
Jan 27, 2016
Lots of threads re: tires. I am looking into this as well .
Things to consider :
tire diameter, make sure the new ones do not rub.
Wheel tire pressure rating.
Wheel width.

http://forums.woodalls.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22357817/print/true.cfm

http://rvingwithmarkpolk.com/2012/11/08/trailer-towing-st-tires-vs-lt-tires/

Someone here uses commercial tires, im trying to find that info.
When I find it, I will forward it.
nephi007
Explorer
Jan 26, 2016
So after researching 205 75R 14 tires (Maxxis, Carlisle etc) looks like the Kumho 857 has a higher max load rating 2271 lbs versus 1760 for the others.However they are somewhat expensive.. Tire Rack per tire is 4 x $129.22= $516.88, shipping $79.92 (unless I want to drive to McCarran Nevada to pick them up 850 miles round trip) then mounting, balance and steel valve stems another $81.00 so they whole sheebang would cost $677.80. Meanwhile I'm still thinking....
aftermath
Explorer III
Jan 26, 2016
Not having the actual numbers in front of me I would say your take is correct. When planning for hitches and tires and TV capacities it is best to always figure the GVWR of the trailer, not the unloaded or partially loaded numbers. As I recall, this is what happened to me. The weight bearing tires were over when compared to the dry weight but not enough for the gross weight.

All that said, some of the weight is placed on the ball of the TV so it isn't as clear as you might think. If you have the trailer, take it in and have it weighed. You will then know how much weight is sitting on the axles. When you get new tires make sure you have a buffer above the actual weight of your loaded trailer.

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as you have advised...

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