The China-Bomb debate Put to rest
Almost every week or more a thread appears with someone with a tire question. And just as predictably the China Bomb experts come out and start decrying all Chinese made tires. Then usually they re...
Forum Discussion
I forgot to kind of summarize things on my last post, so I'll do that first:
Since some trailer manufacturers haven't done a good job of sizing tires (load carrying capacity-wise), I recommend everyone weigh their trailer - fully loaded, including water tanks! If possible do each tire individually. If you can't you need to account for side to side and front to rear variation. I earlier pessimistically guess a 15% variation, but I am beginning to think 10% is a more reasonable value.
I also recommend that tires never be loaded to more than 85% of their rated capacity at the pressure they are operated.
Further, remember that the published load tables are MINIMUMS, not recommendations. Round UP!! (or down, depending on how you want to look at it.)
Also, one way to tell if you are in trouble is pressure buildup. It should be no more than 10%. If you get more, then you need to do something - buy a load capacity tire. If it's more than 15%, you need to do something IMMEDIATELY - like slow down!
OK, now onto addressing the comments other have made:
No one can get access to the data except people who work at NHTSA. That was the deal with the tire manufacturers who are very protective of this sort of competitive information. They only agreed to send it in because NHTSA gave them a guarantee it wouldn't be published.
And, of course, the tire manufacturer who ought to be looking at the data BEFORE he sent it in.
Except that this is the situation with LT tires. They GREATLY exceed the minimum standards - and there was no push from the government via the regulations to make that happen. It is the marketplace that is determining what the acceptable level is.
Since some trailer manufacturers haven't done a good job of sizing tires (load carrying capacity-wise), I recommend everyone weigh their trailer - fully loaded, including water tanks! If possible do each tire individually. If you can't you need to account for side to side and front to rear variation. I earlier pessimistically guess a 15% variation, but I am beginning to think 10% is a more reasonable value.
I also recommend that tires never be loaded to more than 85% of their rated capacity at the pressure they are operated.
Further, remember that the published load tables are MINIMUMS, not recommendations. Round UP!! (or down, depending on how you want to look at it.)
Also, one way to tell if you are in trouble is pressure buildup. It should be no more than 10%. If you get more, then you need to do something - buy a load capacity tire. If it's more than 15%, you need to do something IMMEDIATELY - like slow down!
OK, now onto addressing the comments other have made:
mrekim wrote:
.......CapriRacer wrote:
The US Federal government has since passed the TREAD Act, and one of those things that it requires is the reporting of tire failures on a quarterly basis - starting in 2008 (Yes, it took that long to get the system in place. It was very difficult to get the system designed and get everyone on board)
Do we (consumers) get access to this data? I'd like to see the stats on my "Trail Express" tires. My guess is that there are zero failures. ......
No one can get access to the data except people who work at NHTSA. That was the deal with the tire manufacturers who are very protective of this sort of competitive information. They only agreed to send it in because NHTSA gave them a guarantee it wouldn't be published.
And, of course, the tire manufacturer who ought to be looking at the data BEFORE he sent it in.
Huntindog wrote:CapriRacer wrote:
So I am of the opinion that changing the government regulations for ST tires isn't the way to go. I am also of the opinion that ST tires will pass the LT tests as they are on the books now - hence the justification for not changing the regulations
This as you stated is your opinion.
My opinion based on my many ST tire failures vs zero LT tire failures is just the opposite.
Some ST tires may pass the tests, but certainly not any of the multitude I owned.
As for higher standards not being the answer... I disagree with your reasoning that they are already being exceeded by the manufacturers, so there is no need... If this is true, then higher testing standards would make the manufacturers increase their quality to exceed the new standards as well... The result would be better tires.
Doing nothing with the standards is not improving anything.
Except that this is the situation with LT tires. They GREATLY exceed the minimum standards - and there was no push from the government via the regulations to make that happen. It is the marketplace that is determining what the acceptable level is.
