Yup, another tire question? - same old... same old..

[DutchmenSport]

My Outback has the standard 15 inch tires that came from the factory. Trailer is 35 feet long and weight is suppose to be around 8000 pounds empty. We've had the trailer 3 years now and it's been towed a good 20 thousand (or more) miles. So I feel my tires served well.

Returned home last Monday from another mini-trip and when covering the tires (like I always do), I noticed one tire is balding some (really, a little beyond my comfort zone balding). I thought ... oh yuck! It's now MY turn. Talked to the wife and she didn't blink an eye... get new tires... the sooner, the better.

Last time I purchased TT tires was about 7 years ago. Got Carliles and they sold with the camper after being on the road 4 years. I never had problems with them. I've never had problems with any tire I've ever owned on 3 different TT,and all 3 TT's were factory installed tires. Normal wear and tear is expected. Reason I changed out those Duro's from my previous camper was because they started dry rotting (side walls cracking) after 5 years. So, I feeling I have good success with tires. But I know some have not.

I've kept up with the many threads and posts on RV.net, it seems the strongest contender is Maxxis tires.

So, I'm just going to toss it out there. Anyone who purchased TT or 5er tires in the last year or so, what did you get and why? No need to bash any brand, just ... what's good about the one you purchased and why?

I'm prone to go with Carliles again, because of price and they are easily obtained. Been reading on these forums that Carliles once had a bad reputation but that's changing. I never had problems with them. So, just wondering what's changed with them. But I don't mind going a little beyond for a better tire either if it can be proven there is such a thing as a "better" tire. So... what's your choice and logic for choosing it? Give me your BEST sales pitch!

[PUCampin]

Biggest thing I can suggest to anyone, no matter what brand, is to get a load rating with as much reserve capacity as possible. Many many of the tire failure stories I read here have a common theme of being close to the rating.

My ST 205 75r14 load C tires are rated at 1760 each x4 = 7040lbs My trailer is about 5200 loaded with about 700lb tongue weight, so travel weight is 4500-4600lbs. That is A LOT of reserve, and I have not had a failure that was not road hazard or age on the basic towmaster type tires I use.

[sd75mac]

In July, I noticed one of my factory tires was very badly worn and a tornado watch was in effect. No one would come out to mount my spare (DUH!!!!) so I limped into OKC and got a D rated tire which got us home. Ordered 4 new D rated Maxxis from Amazon and had them mounted, balanced and metal stems installed. Sure rides much better.

[JIMNLIN]

He's good with the high pressure rubber snap ins rated up to 100 psi. Same as our 3/4 and one ton trucks.

[gmw_photos]

80 psi requires metal valve stems, so you should check what you have.

EDIT: Jim is of course correct that some of the high pressure stem are snap in type. I didn't word my initial reply very complete.

Here's a good description of the typical types of valve stems:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=208

[DutchmenSport]

Well, I'm getting ready to head home from work. The tires are currently at 65, so they'll have to stay that way going home (about 25 miles). Once home, I'll go ahead and blow them on up to 80 psi and go out for another road test.

Why 55 previously? On my previous 2 TT's I ran 55 psi in all my tires. Never had problems, except for aging and dry rot. First camper, which was about 5000 pounds, second trailer about 7000 pounds. That's the reason why.

Current trailer came from the dealer with 50 psi in the tires. I remember that. Thinking the trailer was heavier (which it is), I pushed it up to 55. Still, at 55, 3 of the tires responded well. Only one did not.

I'll get them up to 80 once home. Thanks everyone!

[JIMNLIN]

deleted double post...Jim

[JIMNLIN]

I'm curious why you ran at 55psi.

On your rig, put the full 80psi in those erated tires. You are going to be pleasantly surprised how much less wobble the TT has while pulling. It will fill much more solid behind you going down the road. The tires will age out long before you wear them out.

That's a lot of trailer and you need some reserve capacity on the tires to allow for uneven loading, and speed.

Don't sweat the tread wear. The tires will age out long before the tread is gone. Go with 80 psi and the extra capacity. IF the tread wears more in the middle, which I doubt, it will be so slight as to be inconsequential.

Good smack on advise.
The benefit of the 80 psi E tire over the 65 psi D tire comes only at those higher 80 psi pressures.
Having pulled and used dozens of tires on trailers I've found 80 psi E tire is a heavy tire and will run hotter at those derated 65 psi pressures than the D tire.
Also the E tire at 80 psi stands up to side stress much better than at 65 psi on that 35' 9500 lb trailer.
Other than new tires your not gaining much.

[Huntindog]

Don't sweat the tread wear. The tires will age out long before the tread is gone. Go with 80 psi and the extra capacity. IF the tread wears more in the middle, which I doubt, it will be so slight as to be inconsequential.

[93Cobra2771]

If memory serves, d rated tires are 2540# at 65psi.

At 55psi, your capacity drops to 2270

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that you were right at 8500# on the tires, give or take. This is assuming your 9500# number you mentioned earlier is accurate.

2270x422 is 9070# tire capacity.

You were running your tires way to close to capacity. My numbers above assume equal weight distributed between all four tires, which is rarely the case. So it's possible one or more of your tires were overloaded. If sidewall cords were indeed broken, it does sound like underinflation.

I'm curious why you ran at 55psi.

On your rig, put the full 80psi in those erated tires. You are going to be pleasantly surprised how much less wobble the TT has while pulling. It will fill much more solid behind you going down the road. The tires will age out long before you wear them out.

That's a lot of trailer and you need some reserve capacity on the tires to allow for uneven loading, and speed.

[DutchmenSport]

Followup for anyone interested.

I did go with the Carlile tires. Got them from Indy Tire in Fishers, Indiana and replaced all 4.

Talked to the folks at Indy Tire and they examined the one faulty tire. I had two different guys give me their opinion. Both agreed there was nothing wrong with the trailer alignment.

Both agreed the side cords has broken down on the side wall of the tire, probably as a result of turning too sharp causing the side stress on the rear tire. One of them suggested over and under inflation, with the side motion could have caused the side wall stress. I've been carrying 55 pounds in my TT tires. I'm thinking they might have been under inflated, and I just wasn't watching for tread wear on that side of the trailer as I usually do not cover the tires on side when home, since it's always on the shade side and not exposed to the sun. And another guy pointed out the bad tire was beginning to show signs of dry rot, which really surprised me. The other 3 did not have any signs. So, looks like it was just a little bit of an inferior tire compared to the other 3.

New tires have a max PSI of 80. He asked where I wanted the PSI, I told him 65. He said watch for early signs of wear. If wearing in the middle, too much PSI, if on the edges, too little PSI.

So, after I get home tonight, I'm off to Wall Mart for some shopping with my wife and going to pick up a simple tire tread gauge so I can track what's happening on all 4 tires for a while. We still have many week-end trips planned for the remained of this year, and Christmas in South Carolina this year, so I'll be rolling the miles.

Anyway, I though everyone would appreciate a follow up, and it gives me a little better feeling knowing the tire just reached the end of it's life. I'm not complaining, those were the original tires that came with the camper and I'm sure I've rolled a good 20,000-25,000 miles on them in all kinds of weather conditions. Not bad for 3 years on the original Chinese tires to say the least!

And oh, the guys at Indy Tire said the newer Carliles are definitely improved over the old ones. (And are actually $10 less per tire too.) They evidently sell a lot of Carliles for TT's and 5er's based on what we talked about.

So, I'm a "happy camper" again! Ready to hit the road again!

[DownTheAvenue]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Trailer is 35 feet long and weight is suppose to be around 8000 pounds empty.

You are an experienced Rver and often provide good, sound advice to other posters. And that is what surprises me about your statement quoted above. Do yourself a favor and actually weigh your trailer before buying tires. You may find you have been loading your tires to a maximum rating and your luck with tire success is about to change.

[bstar1952]

kcfissel wrote:
We just put a set of Carlisle HD on my trailer in prep for a trip out west. I too have been reading all the commentary, and after talking with the guy at Discount Tire I decided that was a good option. I was told the tire was engineered from the ground up, and it was the best trailer tire he's seen in his sixteen years. I guess we'll see.

I contacted the wheel mfgr. and was told the wheels are rated for 80psi. I bought 5 as I went up a size and load range so I'm sure I have plenty of tire.

I did the exact same several months ago. These new Carisle's seem to be a great tire. With about 500 miles on them, there's no visible sign of wear. Heading out on a 5,000 mile trip next week, I'll post a review on them when we return.

[DutchmenSport]

To answer the question about weight? I've never weighed the camper, so going to the manufacturers figures:

2013 Outback 298RE

Shipping Weight = 7447
Carrying Capacity = 1553
Hitch = 795
Fresh Water = 43 (356.9 pounds if full)
Grey Water = 30 / 30 gallon = (2 tanks) (498 pounds if full)
Black Water = 30 gallon = (249 pounds if full)
(Water at 62 degrees F weighs 8.3 pounds)

If loaded to the max:
7447 + 1553 + 356.9 + 498 + 249
Equals = 10103.9 max pounds for the camper.

I'm not loaded that heavy and I always run with empty tanks. Add the battery and propane back in though, it averages out. My guess, somewhere around 9500 pounds.

93Cobra2771 you were pretty close! And to think, they call this camper "Lite!" Makes me cringe thinking what "heavy" would weigh?

[93Cobra2771]

downtheroad wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
I bought Maxxis Load Range E to get some reserve capacity over the previous D rating. They have proven for me (I'm the only one I have to convince) to be about the best ST tire available.

Exactly what I did...

Times 3.

I'm betting OP TT has gvwr of almost 10,000#.