Best trailer tires and source?

[Walkingtall]

Hurcules has distibuters in USA & Canada, also international sales. I read one review that they were started from an employee at Cooper Tire. The distributer closest to me is a Cooper Tire dealer. It's easy to believe as Cooper doesn't offer a trailer tire. (hercules power STR radial)



All I have learned on the Towmax is that they are imported, I'd guess either China or Korea.

 

[Walkingtall]

Just leaned that Hercules Tires are made in China, better than towmaster but now I am leaning toward Towmax. I'll keep looking until I find where they're made.

 

[bobwhite]

Not to get too far off-topic here, but alot of guys have recommended going to the 16" wheel over the 15" wheel. What are some good brands of wheels and where are the best places to get them? I have a 40' enclosed triple axle that has 15's on it and I would really like to switch to the 16's.

 

[MLee]

Here is the info your asking about WHERE they are made. Latest up date was 3-11-09

895 manf. listed and some of them have gone by the way side. I printed mine in 07 when I found it. Good ruk.



harriger's web page, site map!



I just went there and what your looking for is in red at the bottom of the page--DOT TIRE MARKINGS

 

[HBarlow]

Not to get too far off-topic here, but alot of guys have recommended going to the 16" wheel over the 15" wheel. What are some good brands of wheels and where are the best places to get them? I have a 40' enclosed triple axle that has 15's on it and I would really like to switch to the 16's.

See Southwest Wheel's website. Southwest Wheel Company Steel and Aluminum Truck Wheels They are located in Dallas and Lubbock. They sell a ChiComm utility grade painted steel wheel and a high quality aluminum alloy wheel. Both at reasonable prices.

 

[bobwhite]

Thanks, HBarlow. I won't be towing the trailer that much, but when I do it will be for a minimum of 800 miles one way and the added sidewall thickness would really make me feel better.

 

[Grizzly]

I'm also shopping for trailer tires. I will stay with 15" and am looking at Towmaster STR and Hercules STR 225/75/15. Has anyone used either of these and whats your opinion?

As you know by now both Towmaster and Hercules are made in China. I personally would not buy a Chinese made tire. If you must stay with a 15" tire consider a a 1/2 ton truck or a large SUV tire made in the US. American made tires are DOT regulated, Chinese ST tires are not DOT regulated.



george

 

[HBarlow]

Thanks, HBarlow. I won't be towing the trailer that much, but when I do it will be for a minimum of 800 miles one way and the added sidewall thickness would really make me feel better.

An ideal solution for you would be a set of 16" wheels and a set of Michelin XPS Ribs or BF Goodrich Commercial T/A. Either in size LT225/75 R16 LRE would be iinfinitely stronger and more reliable than 15" rim covers.

 

[VolCTD]

Well looks like you can add another one ready to move up from 15" to 16" with real tires. Had one of my China Bombs explode on me last Friday night in North Atalnta. Not a lot of fun changing that one.



One question though, did any of you upgrade your trailers suspension when you did this? Right now I have nothing other than the springs on the axles. Should I look into adding shocks and/or an EZ-Flex to the trailer to help absorb some of the shock due to the new tires being more rigid?



Thanks,

Bill

 

[HBarlow]

Well looks like you can add another one ready to move up from 15" to 16" with real tires. Had one of my China Bombs explode on me last Friday night in North Atalnta. Not a lot of fun changing that one.

One question though, did any of you upgrade your trailers suspension when you did this? Right now I have nothing other than the springs on the axles. Should I look into adding shocks and/or an EZ-Flex to the trailer to help absorb some of the shock due to the new tires being more rigid?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,

I don't think either of those upgrades are necessary just because of better tires. You might appreciate them if you want to make improvements but I would not expect any major ride improvements.

 

[fest3er]

... American made tires are DOT regulated, Chinese ST tires are not DOT regulated.



george

There may be little or no oversight of the manufacturing processes, but it is my understanding that imported tires are supposed to meet DOT requirements, regardless of their point of origin. Except for certain few exceptions, motorized vehicles in the US are required to operate with DOT-approved tires when operated on-road.



(Discussion of the effectiveness of the DOT approval process properly belongs in the political forum. )

 

[HBarlow]

There may be little or no oversight of the manufacturing processes, but it is my understanding that imported tires are supposed to meet DOT requirements, regardless of their point of origin. Except for certain few exceptions, motorized vehicles in the US are required to operate with DOT-approved tires when operated on-road.

(Discussion of the effectiveness of the DOT approval process properly belongs in the political forum. )

From something I once read, that is the key. Trailers are not motorized vehicles and not passenger vehicles so ST tires are not required to meet DOT standards.

 

[bobwhite]

An ideal solution for you would be a set of 16" wheels and a set of Michelin XPS Ribs or BF Goodrich Commercial T/A. Either in size LT225/75 R16 LRE would be iinfinitely stronger and more reliable than 15" rim covers.

Those are the two tires that I had in mind. I found a few places online that have 16" aluminum wheels for around $76 or so. Some others were around $126 a rim. I'll definitely have to do my homework because 6 wheels and tires for the trailer and 6 tires for the truck isn't gonna be cheap. . lol.

 

[BHaden]

I just dumped my GY Marathons. JUNK. While in AZ my brother in law who was following me said my LR trailer tire was bouncing all over the place. I still had pressure, but did look a little out of round. They had not been abused in my mind up to that point. I DID run them a little over 70 mph, but nowhere close to a heavy load. It's a flat bed that weighs 2000lb empty. The first half of that 1000mi trip I had it loaded to maybe 5500-6000lb all-up; barely 60% of the tire rating. On the way home, I figured if the tires had a problem anyway, I would just push home at a fast pace and see what happened while keeping an eye on them. I drove most of the 350 or so miles from Phoenix to San Diego

at 75-80mph. When I got home, the tires were completely failed. Massive tread separation with huge bumps in the tread. I took pics if anyone wants to see them.

You COULD say I asked for it and, yes, I did, but not without purpose. When I got home I cut them up and put them in the trash. I installed some used LT tires I had instead. I will NEVER again buy an ST tire. Any tire, regardless of make that can't handle the centrifugal force of highway driving when only loaded to 25% of rated load is junk and after my experience and all the reading I have done on trailer tire problems here and elsewhere, that includes ALL "trailer" tires.

 

[Boehler]

We have a Titanium fifth wheel travel trailer made by Glendale in Ontario. Upon checking our tires for an up coming trip we discovered one of the tires tread was seperated from the tire. Goodyear Marathon USA made ST235/80R16 LRD. Our wheels appear to be marked 60 psi. I understand that STtires should only driven at 65 miles per hr or under.



We purchased one LT235/85R16LRD and intend to replace the other three tires on the trailer with the same tire before we leave.



What if any problems will that cause? Would our best bet be to return the tire and purchase the same ST tires that came with our fith wheel?

 

[Dick Langendorff]

I also have a Titanium 5th wheel. Mine is an '04. Were you aware of the notice about the wheels Glendale used on our trailers? If you have the NevRLube hubs, Glendale did not use "Zero" offset wheels. This could lead to breakdowns while on the road. I had to purchase 4 new wheels and took Harvey's recommendation and purchased the Michelin XPS Ribs. You may want to do a little research on what you have and unfortunatly to get a good resolve, it will cost $.



If you have the NevRLube hubs, Dexter is offering at a reduced price 3 different options for the owners of a Titanium. Yours being a '05, would fall into that category.

 

[Boehler]

Thanks Dick,



We had our axels replaced with easy lube axels in Nov. of 2010. Dexter gave us a deal and we had the work done at MO Trailer in Goshen, IN. We were very pleased with the folks at both places.

 

[SnoKing]

Yes it is more than just the wheel offset, the axles are the wrong lenght also.



Regrading tires. I am replacing my 6. 5 year old RIBS with around 40K miles this week with Bridgestone Duravis R250's which is a similar all steel ply tire that is around $50 cheaper per tire.



ST tire are an inferior products that do not have to meet as rigid of DOT testing like LT tires.



BTW to the poster above about chinese tires. All tires sold in the US have to meet DOT specs for the tire type. Trouble is the chinese do not have very good quality control.



GY Marathon production is back in china again!!!



I call the ST235/80R16 LRE the "bunch of 35 pounders!" They all except the 43. 43 lb Maxxis weigh in at 35 lbs. Duro, Marathon, Tow Max you name it.



The much better LT235/85R16E's are 44 lbs for the Commercial TA, 55. 41 lbs for the XPS RIB, and 60 lbs for the R250.





SNOKING

 

[Boehler]

Thanks Snoking,

We are going ahead with the LT 235/85R16 LRE tires. I had been concerned about the "60 psi Max" stamped on the wheel, but I have been told by people who seem to be in the know that that is the maximum pressure to seat the beads during installation. The tires can be run at the max pressure on the sidewall of the tire.

 

[HBarlow]

Thanks Snoking,

We are going ahead with the LT 235/85R16 LRE tires. I had been concerned about the "60 psi Max" stamped on the wheel, but I have been told by people who seem to be in the know that that is the maximum pressure to seat the beads during installation. The tires can be run at the max pressure on the sidewall of the tire.

Sorry, that is not correct. Those wheels are the lighter duty version rated for only 60psi inflation and lesser weights. Running them at higher inflation increases risk of rim failure although it may be minimal if they still carry only the original design weight.