Replaced TT Tires

[Jbechtoldt]

I just replaced the tires on my TT due to 2 tire failures on my last road trip. After much research, I went from ST225/75/r15 LR:E to LT225/75r16 LR:E... The new tires are michelin's. Before I mounted the new tires on the TT, I weighed them and (mounted on the rims) each tire weighed exactly 65.5 lbs. I then weighed the st tires (Carlisle): one was 55 lbs, one was 56.5lbs, and the other two were 57.5 lbs. I also weighed the spare (PowerKing) and it weighed 52lbs. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Jbechtoldt]

________________________________________________________________________________
If you went from 15" wheels to 16" wheels some of your added weight from that.
________________________________________________________________________________ I know that a 16" tire and rim will weigh more than a 15" tire and rim. My point is that the 5 Michelin's all weigh the same while the 4 Carlisle have a 2.5 pound difference in weight. And what's really eye opening (to me) is that the one PowerKing that was left of the original 5 only weighed 52Lbs! The Carlisle and PowerKing were the same size and load rating... I would think they would be closer in weight.

[Lowsuv]

In a perfect world You have done exactly the right move .
You took every advantage .
Load Range E
Upgrade in size .
LT instead of an ST .
Michelin's ( they charge more than anybody else ).
My logic is that if millions of folks repeatedly pay the biggest price for Michelin's , they must be the best .
You can make the argument for Bridgestones and Continentals for similar reasons .
Nice Move .

[Jbechtoldt]

The trailer is a 2007 Forest River Wildwood LA, 31 foot, with 2 slide outs that we bought new January of 2007. It came with Carlisle ST225/75/R15 load range D tires that I ran at 65psi. I always check tire pressure when I hookup. These tires had 3 failures, 1st happened when 3 months old... lost some tread and did very minor damage. July 2011, as I backed the trailer onto the driveway, my wife noticed a bubble in one of the tries. At that point I decided to upgrade to load range E tires. The replacement tires were PowerKing ST225/75/R15 LR/E, with steel valve stems, and balanced. That's all I could get at local tire dealer.

July of this year is when I had the two failures (the PowerKing's). One lost tread, second tire blew (1st 45 minutes into trip and 2nd 3 hours later). Tires were on front axel one on each side and did $4600 damage. Thank god I had insurance! Tires were inflated to 80psi and I was running at 62mph. At our final destination I had the 4 tires (that were on the ground) replaced with the Carlisle ST225/75/R15 LR/E, filled with nitrogen (80psi), steel valve stems and balanced. I drove the trailer back home with no problems (62mph).

While the trailer was being repaired, I did a lot of research and decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to 16" rims and tires. Since I don't have confidence in ST tires I decided to go to LT tires so I selected Michelin (LT215/75/R16 LR/E at 80psi with steel valve stems). They're exactly 1" taller and fit well on the trailer (plenty of clearance). Time will tell if these hold up.

By the way, before I bought the Michelin's, I weighed the trailer and it weighs 9400lbs (fully loaded) not attached to truck. Attached to truck it weighs 8200lbs with 1200lbs on hitch. All numbers are within stated capacity range listed on trailer... on the higher not lower end.

I sold the Carlisle tires and rims on Craigslist to help offset the cost of the new ones.

[smccollamjr]

If you went from 15" wheels to 16" wheels some of your added weight from that.

[maxwell11]

JB,

How old were your (Carlisle) tires? Did you check the PSI that morning before you pulled out? had you added anything to the trailer that would have added a lot of extra weight to the trailer, how fast were you driving when the tires failed?

just checking as my new trailer, jayco has the same tires, so far I check the psi (50) each morning before we pull out and I drive at around 62 mph.

so far, so good, but I am concerned about the tires, however, most all the trailers we looked at had the same tires.


if you bought the trailer new, they should have install tires that were made at least in that year, but sometimes the manufacture could install older tires.

I know it's hard but tires about 4+ years old and still looking new, its hard to spend the money to change out trailer tires.

I kept the first tires on my other trailer 6-7 years, I was lucky, but they should have been changed by 5 years at the most, but I had to learn the hard way.

I also lost all the valve stems on one set of TT tires, tires were fine, but valve stems were crap,

I always spend extra for the heavy duty valve stems on my trailer and truck.

[ib516]

Tires made in China = junk. Powerking = Chinese "quality". I have them on my RV - came that way from the factory. I'm just happy the Chinese figured out they need to be round and black - but that's about all the credit I give them.

#Chinabombs

[Jbechtoldt]

I bought the tires and wheels from a local RV dealer. He was able to beat local tire dealers and tire rack.com

[Ron3rd]

Considering what China Bomb quality control consists of, your findings do not surprise me.

[TucsonJim]

I've never weighed my tires, but that just goes to show you the manufacturing variation that some brands have. I'm planning on doing exactly the same thing. Where did you get your new wheels and tires at?