Travel Trailer Tire Choice

[katoom400]

last fall we had a blowout on our way up to Lake George. We had the original tires on our 2014 Outback 250rs. Which I thought were good tires..at least as far as OEM tires go.

the blowout occured on the side that gets a lot of sun in our driveway so I suspect that had something to do with it. I always check tire pressure and keep at 65psi. The blowout caused a good amount of damage so we are looking to replace the other 3 OEM tires before another one occurs.

On the highway we had to take what we could get from a local tire shop which was a Duraturn ST 225/75 r15 10ply load range E.

Now I'm going to replace the others tires, should I buy 3 more of these? I can't seem to find much about them on the net. or replace all four with Maxxis ST's and keep the duraturn for the spare?

[Tvov]

RAMwoodworks wrote:
Tire thread. Great, I have a tire question.

Should I get my tires balanced? They are new and only have the mileage from delivery and the 122 miles I put on them bringing my trailer home.

I only found one article online and the author said trailer tires don't need to be balanced because there is no lateral load on them at speed. Doesn't make sense to me.

If I do pull them off to get balanced where do I put the jackstands on my dual axle travel trailer?

I would get the tires balanced. You are towing at highway speeds. Balancing may reduce vibration, and may help the axles and bearings last longer. May also highlight a tire that is out of round or badly out of balance, which otherwise may not be obvious.

Lots of "may reduce" and "may help" -- Is it critical? No, but for the relatively low shop fee I do it for my camper tires. On my equipment trailers that almost never go on the highway and rarely go over 45mph I don't bother balancing the tires.

[katoom400]

As I said, I plan on running them at 80 PSI unless there is some issue with that...can't imagine there would be.

[MFL]

JIMNLIN wrote:

I don't think you're "de-rating" your tires by running less pressure than the maximum. There's load charts available at the tire manufacturer's website most times that tells you what pressure to run depending on the weight each tire will carry.

This isn't the best idea for tires used in a trailer position as Roger Marble in rvtiresafety.com explains and other industry experts tell us.

Then along with ply shear and tread separations caused by derating the tire pressure to a minimum is the OP went with the Carlisle ST tires which require using max sidewaLL pressures to satisfy Carlisle tire warranty.

Carlisle says;
-Maintain air pressure at the maximum PSI recommended on the tire sidewall.

**The Warranty is void if the tire or wheel fails due to damage from improper inflation pressures, exceeding the maximum speed limit, or overloading the tire beyond the maximum load capacity stated on the sidewall**

This ^^^^^

Most of us run our TRUCK tires at a lower pressure, when not towing/hauling. Big difference, with forces/shear, and running temps when running ST tires at lowered pressure.

With all the tire opinions thrown out, it is best, if you follow tire engineer recommendations. Kind of like taking your doctors advise, or listening to the guy on the bar stool next to you. 🙂

Jerry

[JIMNLIN]

I don't think you're "de-rating" your tires by running less pressure than the maximum. There's load charts available at the tire manufacturer's website most times that tells you what pressure to run depending on the weight each tire will carry.

This isn't the best idea for tires used in a trailer position as Roger Marble in rvtiresafety.com explains and other industry experts tell us.

Then along with ply shear and tread separations caused by derating the tire pressure to a minimum is the OP went with the Carlisle ST tires which require using max sidewaLL pressures to satisfy Carlisle tire warranty.

Carlisle says;
-Maintain air pressure at the maximum PSI recommended on the tire sidewall.

**The Warranty is void if the tire or wheel fails due to damage from improper inflation pressures, exceeding the maximum speed limit, or overloading the tire beyond the maximum load capacity stated on the sidewall**

[katoom400]

I got the Carlisle Radial Trail HD's in the E range and plan to run them at 80 PSI and see how it goes, if it's too rough I'll back it down to 65-70. I don't think there is anything wrong with running less pressure if you are running less load also...I do this on my f250 which is running around empty most of the time at 60 psi for a better ride.

It seems really tough to find any decent trailer tire made in the USA. I hope these will do okay, they seem to get very good reviews.

[Fisherguy]

What tires did you get? I wouldn't put any Chinese tires on my trailer, I'd get E rated LT's, not ST's.
I don't think you're "de-rating" your tires by running less pressure than the maximum. There's load charts available at the tire manufacturer's website most times that tells you what pressure to run depending on the weight each tire will carry.

[katoom400]

I was going to just go with LOAD RANGE D's , but they were out of stock, so I ordered the E's and they just came today. the manufacture date was 5216, so hopefully I'm good for a while. not too expensive @ $67 each.

Now I have to pull the wheels off and have them mounted, was going to just bring the trailer to the tire dealer, but after 3 years, now is a good time to inspect bearings/brakes!

[bobndot]

do a search for "Roger Marble" to learn about tires. I think he is the man on the tire safety site. He actually has an email address and he will answer you. He is on youtube as well.

found this info there. I guess im older than i thought , i still call it ply. :S
Actually, the ply rating is old school. Bias tire days old school.
With the newer nylon then later steel added to tires it became more important to have a psi rating than a ply rating.

[bobndot]

katoom400 wrote:
AT 7500lbs GVWR, my trailer should be more than fine with D Range tires @65PSI

My question is: Since it is only $6 more per tire, is there any drawback to going with E (10 ply) tires? Overkill? maybe! but for the price of a 12 pack of decent beer why not?

this is just my opinion:
Due to the fact that your TT is only 7500# the "D" ply is enough or a little more than enough. The drawback 'might be' a harder ride or 'possible' premature bearing wear if the ride is too hard, which i suspect it will be, unless you deflate the "E" to 65# then what's the point, its the same as running a "D" at full 65#.
If your TT had a set of shocks installed, it 'might' mask the harder ride so you DO NOT feel it in the trucks seats, transferred through the hitch and frame . Remember the WD hitch distributes some TT weight thru/onto the truck.

At that point, if that should happen to you, then the gain to an overkill "E" was not worth the $24 and the "D" ply and beer would have the better option. :B

I would run the "D" and balance them correctly. Im not sure if trailer wheels are hub centric or lug centric but make sure the shop does a correct balance to match the hub or lug. That way you will NOT confuse any hard vibration of any beefier tire opposed to a unbalanced tire.

[rbpru]

The illusion is a heavier rated tire is safer.

A safe tire is one that is well maintained and capable of handling the load. Safety is also related to how you drive.

Raising the tire rating only allows more leeway on tire maintenance, my 65 psi D rated tire is still C rated at 50 psi. It does not help with sun damage, axle mis-alignment, poor construction or road hazards.

How much extra capacity you want is a personal choice. Most folks settle on what makes them feel better.

For instance I always have my TT tires balanced because I think it is a good idea. I have never seen any data that it showed it makes any difference.

[katoom400]

JIMNLIN wrote:


Just a comment here but at some point more tire on a trailer isn't the best idea.
If you think a load E tire at 2830 lb capacity is a good idea then another upgrade to a 16" load G tire at 4440 lb capacity would be better ? Not trying to be a wize azz but justy making a point.

not calling you a "wize azz" at all, but you give a pretty extreme example here of jumping a few classes to a G rated tire. which is way more than "overkill" in this situation.... But the question remains the same: If the wheel can handle the tire/pressure, then is there anything wrong with someone doing this other than a large dent in their wallet?

In my example which I believe is not as extreme, jumping up from D to E may not be excessive and minimally more $. Would I have anything to gain by going to E (10 ply vs 8 ply) tires at their full 80 psi? and is there any possible negative of this sort of jump?

not trying to stir the pot or get an engineer to explain in great detail all the forces at play...just thought to myself..."heck, for $24 why not bump up "2 plys"? Now if it was $240...that would be different!

[JIMNLIN]

katoom400 wrote:
AT 7500lbs GVWR, my trailer should be more than fine with D Range tires @65PSI

My question is: Since it is only $6 more per tire, is there any drawback to going with E (10 ply) tires? Overkill? maybe! but for the price of a 12 pack of decent beer why not?

Your 7500 gvwr trailers tires may have 1600-1800 lb load per tire now add a good 10 percent reserve capacity = 2000 lbs per tire.

Just a comment here but at some point more tire on a trailer isn't the best idea.
If you think a load E tire at 2830 lb capacity is a good idea then another upgrade to a 16" load G tire at 4440 lb capacity would be better ? Not trying to be a wize azz but justy making a point.

For years the website wanted a tire engineer to help out with tire questions. WE finally got what we needed in members CapriRacer and Tireman9. Both have offered lots of input for new folks with tire questions for their trailers.
For your question is a load E better than a load C or D check out Tireman9 rvtiresafety.com thoughts.....
http://www.rvtiresafety.net/2013/10/will-you-increase-load-capacity-with.html

and for those that derate a over size tire on a trailer with low pressures.... this about inter ply shear forces at work on trailer tires
ply shear

and his home page has lots of input about tires for a trailer .....home page

CapriRacer........see Barry Smith blog or over on allexperts.com website where he answered same type question about tires and trailers.

[MFL]

katoom400 wrote:
AT 7500lbs GVWR, my trailer should be more than fine with D Range tires @65PSI

My question is: Since it is only $6 more per tire, is there any drawback to going with E (10 ply) tires? Overkill? maybe! but for the price of a 12 pack of decent beer why not?

There is nothing wrong with putting the E rated on, if you plan to run them at 80 psi. It may shake your trailer a little more on rough roads. Some folks over tire, use E rated, when D rated are more than ample, then derate them by putting 65-70 psi in them, to smooth the ride, or fit their wheels specs. Special Trailer tires are designed to run at max sidewall psi, for coolest running, less squish/scrub when turning/backing. You can't go wrong with either E or D, if used at max pressure. At 2540 load rating the Ds are almost overkill for your trailer, as the tongue will be carrying at least 12 percent of your loaded weight.

I enjoy "decent" beer myself, and would use the money saved for the 12 pack! :C

Jerry

[katoom400]

AT 7500lbs GVWR, my trailer should be more than fine with D Range tires @65PSI

My question is: Since it is only $6 more per tire, is there any drawback to going with E (10 ply) tires? Overkill? maybe! but for the price of a 12 pack of decent beer why not?