Another blowout

[J&LRam]

It' time to say NO to ST tires.

you sound like my old Goodyear truck tire dealer some years back. With 5 flat bed construction trailers on the road [making a living] ST tires were about to bankrupt me with to much downtine. We carried two spares on each trailer. He steered me to LT tires on all 15" and even recommende the XPS Ribs on my 36' and 32' GN trailers with 16" wheels. That one simple move eliminated most of my down time on the side of the road changing ruined ST tires.

JIM

 

[Grizzly]

you sound like my old Goodyear truck tire dealer some years back. With 5 flat bed construction trailers on the road [making a living] ST tires were about to bankrupt me with to much downtine. We carried two spares on each trailer. He steered me to LT tires on all 15" and even recommende the XPS Ribs on my 36' and 32' GN trailers with 16" wheels. That one simple move eliminated most of my down time on the side of the road changing ruined ST tires.

JIM

I've been doing some research by calling some of the better 5th Wheel and TT manufactures and I have found that most of the better names, like Hichhiker, New Horizon and upper end of Excel all use LT tires. What I can't understand is why does a reputable manufacture like Northwood, makers of Arctic Fox, still use ST.

 

[rweis]

Most RV mfgs will put on what ever tires you want if you buy new and do not mind waiting an extra month to get delivery.



Bob Weis

 

[Grizzly]

Most RV mfgs will put on what ever tires you want if you buy new and do not mind waiting an extra month to get delivery.

Bob Weis

I have tried till I was blue in the face to talk Northwood Mfg. to install Michelin LT tires. They won't do it.

 

[10-9jc]

Carlisle tires are Chinese junk.

Many 'tales of woe" on RV net!

GY Marathons are also (now) made in China.



Go with Michelin XPS Ribs if you can.

Cooper would be my next choice - but nothing Chinese.

 

[WatsonJ]

I live in PHX and pull a 4000 lb boat trailer combination. When new my trailer had Goodyear Marathons. Never had a problem they just wore out.

I 2003 I bought a set of Carlisle's (now the fun began). I've had 7 blowouts with brand C. Since I bought them from Discount Tire, they kept replacing them with more brand C and I kept having separated treads (that's what ST stands for) I finally refused to take any more C's. I now have some off brand, and I now have two spares.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

It is common for one corner to be loaded heavier than the others. When you are near the max on the average, that corner could be dangerously overloaded. Get each tire load of the trailer weighed separately. I too have had trouble with radial trailer tires, and there doesn't seem to be a "fix-all" for the problem. Watch tire pressures, and at stops check the tire temperatures, and run a hand over the tread searching for bulges = ply separation.

 

[Grizzly]

It is common for one corner to be loaded heavier than the others. When you are near the max on the average, that corner could be dangerously overloaded. Get each tire load of the trailer weighed separately. I too have had trouble with radial trailer tires, and there doesn't seem to be a "fix-all" for the problem. Watch tire pressures, and at stops check the tire temperatures, and run a hand over the tread searching for bulges = ply separation.

Joe, pardon my ignorance, but how do weight each tire separately? Is there a scale here in Albuquerque where one can do that?

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Good luck on getting them to do it. All tire stores will only put Trailer Only tires on a trailer. They will say they are best. They lie, maybe some unknowingly, but Trailer only tires marked ST meaning Service Trailer are JUNK. They have been engineered to loose 1/3 of their strength in 3 years. We are not talking Dry Rot, this is intentional. The industry knows that the tread will almost never wear out (on A trailer) and they want you back buying new tires. I call ST Tires SCAM Tires. The industry is running a SCAM and should be exposed. Try and get a tire store to put ST tires on your car or pick up truck and they will refuse. They know they will get Sued for premature tire failure. If they are not good enough for your car or truck then they are not good enough for your trailer. They are a highway hazard and somebody could get hurt or killed but they don't seem to care about that. I found some Michelins for a light truck that will do the job on my trailer. After 4 blowouts in 1200 miles I set out to find out why. I could show you in writing where it says in 3 years a ST tire looses 1/3 of its strength. After a tire is made in China it gets shipped to a warehouse in the US and then to a Dealer. How long on a dealers rack you wont know. Trailer tires do not have serial numbers that contain a code as to when they were made. I have 4 new ST tires and guess which trash bin they are going in, that's right the closest one, I only bought them to get home on. $500 down the drain. What I learned was worth something and it won't happen anymore. I will still carry a spare incase of an unrepairable puncture but I won't be having anymore premature tire failure.

 

[AMink]

After my Carlisles tanked, I put on Tow Masters or Tow Kings that I got a Schwab. Both sets of tires had a code that identified the month and year they were manufactured. As J. Burchfield noted, tires can sit a while. My trailer was new in 05; the tires on it were manufactured in 03. Two years old when they were "brand new". The new set was a few months old. Don't get me wrong. I think that ST tires are stupid. I can't believe the NHTSA allows tires on the highway that aren't even rated for some of the speed limits in the country. Yes, I do have have ST's, but it's what I could afford at the time to hold me over (I hope) until I can move up. Having 15" rims really limits your options in heavier duty tires and I don't have much room to go bigger.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I was able to buy LTX 215/75 R 15 M&S Michelins rated "C" 1760 pounds at 50 PSI. More than enough by more than 1000 pounds. Had to go up from 14 to 15 to do it. The 15's were 27&3/4 inch in diameter, 3/4 inch larger but that is only 3/8 inch in radius. Before I bought them I found some of those hard rubber bumpers that go between the frame and axle to prevent "bottoming out" I installed one and could see that it would prevent the tire from rubbing the underside of the fender when going over the bumps we find in construction zones. Now I am waiting for a shop to install a new fender. The last ST tire That flew apart destroyed the old fender. NHTSA should be made aware of the fact that trailer tires just are not doing the job and flying apart and causing a highway hazard. The sad part is that the tire industry can no longer be trusted. They purposely engineer ST tires (trailer only) to loose 1/3 of their strength in 3 years and they could be a year or more old when you buy them. My past experience with Government agencies has shown me you have to know somebody on the inside, someone that does not leave his/her phone off the hook during office hours. I just don't know how to get their attention. Hope some TDR Member gets interested and can make contact.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Grizzly, Some places will sell you the tires cash and carry and you can get somebody to mount them and then put them on yourself. I found a place (thanks to a friend) that would mount the tires on the new wheels and I brought them home and balanced them on my old bubble balancer. I know not many guys have a bubble balancer but I have one I got on sale years ago when they were no longer in demand due to the computer balancers. The places that refused my business will not see me ever again.

 

[CUMMINZ]

It stands to reason that if a TT or 5er is blowing tires regularly at a certain location on your rig it is not the fault of the tire per say. Weigh that axle and get a real comparison of front to back. Look at capacity of tire. If you are running it within a high percentage of tire capacity it is not the tires fault but the driver. There are too many variables. . If you are overloading the tire and just driving it with all the ups and downs of the road, curb and shoulders will do damage to the shoulder and ribs of the tire. The damage is done and the next time or two you drive it. BANG. The blown tire photo shows a tire with lots of tread and road gripping tread. Tire manufactures have built tires with rolled side rib with not much tread. They say these tires run cooler. What do I know.

My first 29' 5er I replaced the 15s with 10ply 16s. Was a foreign made tire but ran perfect. I was also way underloaded on the tire. 5er handled greatly better.



#ad

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I have posted this before but it is important. ST tires are trailer only tires. NOT TRUE. The tire industry would like you to believe you can only use ST tires on a trailer. We are being SCAMED. ST tires are engineered to loose 1/3 of their strength in 3 years. First they tell you you gotta have them and then when you buy them they fly apart in 3 years or less. Or less because they could be a year old when you buy them. A decent tire (a NON trailer tire) in most cases will never wear the tread out so the tire industry makes sure you are back buying more tires in 3 years or less. In order to make even more money ST tires are made in China for most of the tire companies. ALL GOOD YEAR TIRES are made in CHINA, passenger car, pick up trucks, the works. How do I know all of this, I read a paper written by the tire industry that states you must use a trailer only tire on a trailer. That is as far as they hope you read. The next paragraph says the tires will loose 1/3 of their strength in 3 years and should be replaced regardless of the condition of the tread. They are no longer srviceable. Just how are we supposed to believe that a ST tire is better when they will fly apart in 3 years. I will tell you what a friend and his friends do that pull horse trailers. When the rear tires on their Dualies wear down they put them on the horse trailers and put new on their Dualies. They never buy ST (trailer only) tires so they have NO TROUBLE. There is an old saying "don't get mad get even" I am not looking to get even, just want to spare someone the problems that there is no reason for them to have. At 79 I do not enjoy changing tires on the road in 100 plus degree heat. It is a serious highway hazard when tires fly apart. Someone on another post said something about getting NHTSA informed and involved. I sure would like to see that happen. I know this was long but it had to be said. Regards, -- email address removed --

 

[Servis]

Had same problem with my Carlisle tires when it blew it took the finder shirts and all the electrical wiring. My son works at Discount Tire and he said to get Trans Master Tires. I changed all five tires and have not had any

problems. We are full-timers and on the road since June 5th have travel

6,000 miles been in 10 states and one foreign country. Will be home in Tdexas in December.

 

[Grizzly]

Grizzly, Some places will sell you the tires cash and carry and you can get somebody to mount them and then put them on yourself. I found a place (thanks to a friend) that would mount the tires on the new wheels and I brought them home and balanced them on my old bubble balancer. I know not many guys have a bubble balancer but I have one I got on sale years ago when they were no longer in demand due to the computer balancers. The places that refused my business will not see me ever again.

I found a Discount Tire store that will exchange them for the Michelin XPS Rib 16's and offered me a good trade-in on the ST's. We're going to get our new 5er next week, then haul it directly to Discount Tire for the exchange. After the tire exchange, we're going to a Wal-Mart to pick supplies and groceries then go on a one week vacation to Oregon to visit my brother.

 

[JWGreen]

Recomend using a tire pressure monitoring system

I tow a 34 ft. Airstream TT that has triple axles, 9300 lbs. loaded. I'm running Goodyear Marathon ST225 R 15 load range D tires. Earlier this year I installed the Pressure Pro remote tire pressure sensing system. A pressure transducer is installed on each wheel valve stem and transmits tire pressure data to a receiver in the truck cab. If the pressure drops by 12. 5%, an alarm on the receiver will sound and show which tire has lost pressure. It's well worth the money for peace of mind about whats going on with the trailer tires. I've got about 5K miles on this set of tires with no probs. I run 60 lbs. of pressure, cold.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Sounds like a good set up. The thing I keep stressing is that by the tire industries own admission Trailer Only tires are made to loose 1/3 of their strength in 3 years regardless of whether the tire was used or not. ST Tires (service trailer) should be called SCAM TIRES. They give you a song and dance about how you just have to have them knowing full well they will fly apart in 3 years or less. After they are made in China they are shipped to a US warehouse and then to a Dealers rack. Could be nearly a year old when bought new, giving you 2 years before they fly apart. ST Tires are designed to make the tire industry lots of money. We should all quit using them, there are plenty of good Pick Up truck tires with the rating we need that will last like we would normally expect. I bought a set of LTX Michelins for my trailer with the proper rating. ALL GOOD YEAR TIRES ARE NOW MADE IN CHINA. THIS IS PASSENGER CAR PICK UP TRUCK, EVERYTHING. The industry deserves to be exposed for their SCAM.