G rated RV tires

[J.BURCHFIELD]

The thing that limits me is dimensions of the tire. They must be small enough to fit under the fenders. I have found a couple and looked at the specs and 1653 pounds on one and 1565 on the other. I found from experience that 14 inch is difficult to find. I will try to go to either 15 or 16 inch. It looks like 16 would be better, Michelin makes 18 tires that would work in 16 inch and 4 that would work in 15. The thing that limits me the most is diameter, can't be over 26. 5 inches. The 16 I am looking at is 26. 6 which is OK, The radius would be 13. 3 as 0opposed to 13. 25. A negligible amount. I have until next May to get ready, by then I will no doubt know more.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Glad to hear about the media attention. We all know if you play you have to pay, be it travel or whatever else we like to do. Getting blatantly ripped off is just not right. For me the worst part was changing the tires in 106 degree heat at the age of 79. I said no need to hurry and drank lots of water and took a couple of breaks in my air conditioned Ram. I am sort of a gadget freak and had a 12 volt scissor jack and a 12 volt Impact wrench which was a big help. Of course I also carry a torque wrench (doesn't everyone) to make sure the lug nuts are as tight as they should be. When you try to do everything right and make sure tire pressure is Ok and the tires look real good and can't get out of your state without 2 tires exploding and in the next state another tire throwing rubber all over the road you know something is seriously wrong. Then on the return trip going 170 miles and yet anyother tire flying apart is where you say what is going on. That day it was only 90 degrees, a real break. So now I have 4 new trailer tires on the ground, made in China and they make me nervous so as soon as possible thy will all go in the trash bin and the spare too, 2 years old, can't be trusted anymore than the people that make the tires. JD Powers rates the Michelin highest of all. Thank the Lord I have Michelins on my Ram

 

[Grizzly]

There is something wrong when that many ST tires fail you at one time. Maybe you should hire an Ambulance chaser and go after the trailer manufacture or the tire manufacture. A few millon dollar law suit ought to get their attention.

 

[HBarlow]

Yes, Mr. Burchfield has earned my respect. He shared his amazing story with me privately.



The basic problem with trailer tires, other than the Communist Chinese versions which are throwaway crap and would be comical if it wasn't so expensive and dangerous to use them, is the fact that most people don't pull their trailers as much as they sit parked, usually outdoors. Tires deteriorate from UV rays and from sitting, drying out just like a piece of fruit picked from a tree and left out. If trailer tires were used every day they would wear out and be replaced just like car/truck tires.



I read an interesting explanation somewhere, possibly on the TDR forum, in the last several years. The writer's explanation, intended for non-engineer laymen like me, was that you can think of a rubber tire as having life blood or a component of "rubber oil" contained within the rubber. I am paraphrasing. The writer explained that if the tire is rolled and flexed frequently, the so-called rubber oil is moved around throughout the tire carcass as it flexes, and this is the lifeblood of the tire carcass that keeps the rubber lubricated within, flexible, and alive. If the tires sits for months it dries out, weakens, and failures will result when it is returned to highway speed, particularly if loaded.



A good general rule of thumb that many understand and use is the life of a trailer tire is between three and four years, irregardless of the fact that the tire may have perfect, full-depth tread, may have only been rolled ten miles. It must be replaced every three to four years to avoid damaging tread separation and blowouts.



I know, it is painful to pay another $800 to $1500 for another set when the tires you own look perfect.



As for Communist Chinese tires, I have said it frequently: I wouldn't allow a free set of them to be installed on anything I own that rolls faster than my lawn tractor. I don't care which name of Communist Chinese junk it is, even if the name sounds Americanized or rugged, even if they have million dollar advertising on radio, television, and billboards proclaiming their rugged reliability, they are crap and I don't want any.



While I'm on my stand making a speech, I feel the same about ST tires. They are nothing more than a way to scam the uninformed. Some clever marketing guru at Goodyear tire and rubber came up with the clever idea several years ago and sold much of the American public that it is illegal and immoral to put anything but an ST tire on a trailer because the tire has to roll or was it because it has to slip sideways when the trailer is twisted. That is pure unadulterated BS. Show me an 18 wheel tractor trailer that doesn't slide its massive tires under 80,000 pounds, 40 tons of weight, when it backs, turns, etc. An ST tire has nothing that makes it better or different than an LT tire except BS used in advertising.



I'll step down now. If anyone would like to disagree with me fire away.



Harvey

 

[JOdell]

I feel the same about ST tires. They are nothing more than a way to scam the uninformed. Some clever marketing guru at Goodyear tire and rubber came up with the clever idea several years ago and sold much of the American public that it is illegal and immoral to put anything but an ST tire on a trailer because the tire has to roll or was it because it has to slip sideways when the trailer is twisted. That is pure unadulterated BS. Show me an 18 wheel tractor trailer that doesn't slide its massive tires under 80,000 pounds, 40 tons of weight, when it backs, turns, etc. An ST tire has nothing that makes it better or different than an LT tire except BS used in advertising.



Harvey

I agree. I have a 16' tandem axle flat bed trailer. It is nothing special. Used for everything under the sun. I had regular old car tires put on when I fist bought it in 1997. I didn't know they made trailer tires. I had my first blow out on that trailer in May of this year. I was hauling 2 ATV's in South Dakota and the next day I had one blow in Wisconsin. Now I have 4 new trailer tires made in Canada on it. So far so good. -Jason

 

[SnoKing]

An ST tire has nothing that makes it better or different than an LT tire except BS used in advertising.





Harvey

Different, yes! ST tires do not have to meet any governement standards, as they are certified to carry passengers, and are generally the bottom of the tire food chain. People have been fooled into thinking that they are something special, but they are junk, and now chinese fake junk.



SNOKING

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I can not see any difference in a ST tire slipping sideways and an automobile tire getting the same force applied when hard conering takes place. The scam with trailer tires is being exposed. Not fast enough to suit me but it is getting around. The people who have Tire Stores are well aware of it and they advise their friends. If a passenger car tire is rated to carry the gross weight you need carried and it is written on the wall of the tire it will work on a trailer. It will work for as many miles on the trailer as it would a car. You can no doubt find a Light Truck tire that will do the job if not made in Ching Chong Land. I found what I need in a michelin. LTX M&S, pricey but cheap insurance. It is dangerous to move over a couple of lanes on an Interstate to take care of a blown or disintegrated tire. This is a safety issue and these ST tires should be banned. If we don't buy them any more the problem will eventually go away on its own. The customer can control quality by refusing to buy junk. We need to stick together on this. It is a road hazard to say the least.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

Just to add what my experience has shown me is that ST does not mean Service Trailer, it means SCAM TIRE

 

[John - K5AWO]

I enjoyed the whole thread and learned a lot. One thing I concur with is that any tire labeled "ST" is pure junk. Lost too many of the damn things. I always replace my trailer tires with LT 'E' rated ones. And carry the full rated air pressure too. Let the tread slide, not the sidewalls bend down to the rims.

 

[CUMMINZ]

I just noticed in the New Day Dreamer (Forest River) advertisement booklet that they this year do not advertise G rated Goodyears anymore. They state High Performance G rated tires.



CUMMINZ

 

[Kirwin]

Good Year G-614 LR G tires

I picked up my new 08 Holiday Rambler travel trailer in May 2007 that was special orderd with 7K lb axles and LR G Good Year G-614 tires. It came through with Free Style brand made in China stamped on all 5 tires. I was not happy. Called and discussed my issue with the Holiday Rambler factory. I was told that the Good Year plant that makes the G-614s had been on strike and they were forced to source another tire for their heavy trailer tires. Funny thing, when looking at the tires/rims I noted that the aluminum rims were also made in China. I got the dealer to take the Good Year G-614s rims/tires off a 2007 trailer (which also made in China on the rims) he had on the lot and install them on my trailer since I had paid extra money for the tires, rims, and axle package. So I have 4 Good Year G-614s and one Free Style that is the spare. I had the G-614s installed on my 03 Holiday Rambler trailer and I feel they are vastly superior to any other tire I have personnaly had on my trailers. If I had to pick another tire, I think it would be the Michelin XPS Rib. IMHO Ken Irwin

 

[Grizzly]

I picked up my new 08 Holiday Rambler travel trailer in May 2007 that was special orderd with 7K lb axles and LR G Good Year G-614 tires. It came through with Free Style brand made in China stamped on all 5 tires. I was not happy. Called and discussed my issue with the Holiday Rambler factory. I was told that the Good Year plant that makes the G-614s had been on strike and they were forced to source another tire for their heavy trailer tires. Funny thing, when looking at the tires/rims I noted that the aluminum rims were also made in China. I got the dealer to take the Good Year G-614s rims/tires off a 2007 trailer (which also made in China on the rims) he had on the lot and install them on my trailer since I had paid extra money for the tires, rims, and axle package. So I have 4 Good Year G-614s and one Free Style that is the spare. I had the G-614s installed on my 03 Holiday Rambler trailer and I feel they are vastly superior to any other tire I have personnaly had on my trailers. If I had to pick another tire, I think it would be the Michelin XPS Rib. IMHO Ken Irwin

I agree, Michelin XPS Rib, LT is your best choose. The problem is these trailer manufactures keep installing the cheap China ST tires. They claim that the ST is still best, even if it is made in China. I have argued till I'm blue in the face with Northwood Mfg, makers of the Arctic Fox 5th wheel I have on order about China ST tires and Michelin LT tires. I can't get them to budge one inch and I have spoke with just about everyone out there. I'm convinced that the only reason they use the China ST is because they get them cheap, very cheap. What does get me is that a reputable RV Manufacture, like Northwood will do that. Other reputable manufactures like Hichhiker, New Horizon, Excel and others have long switched to a good LT tire. Maybe a few law suits to the trailer manufactures will get their attention.

 

[SnoKing]

Well we pretty much know that Chinese tires are junk, but what is with Goodyear? Marathron is now made in China and others have said that more of GY production is moving there. Yet each night I see another news story about Chinese products with problems.



Maybe it is just time for us all to stop buying ANYTHING from there. WallyWorld stores would be boarded in a few months. It would be a clear message that we have had enough for our jobs being outsourced to third world counties. And dig this, this week the news says that the cost of products will have to go up so that they (Chinese) can now start adding quality.



All of this so a handful of exec's can have larger yachts!



Grizzly, do not take it off the dealers lot until they install real tires!



SNOKING

 

[JRBurton]

Nice post members, let me tell you I just purchased a 2007 Honda and was happy to see goodyears on it until I saw that they were made in Japan. Enough said, I just replaced my travel trailer tires, original ones were goodyears which I had on since 1996. The trailer manufactures put the bare minimum on, once I had the trailer loaded the tires were overloaded. I replaced them with a D rated tire, the tires are made in tiawan, not happy about that but there rated higher than my old ones.

 

[JOdell]

Well we pretty much know that Chinese tires are junk, but what is with Goodyear? Marathron is now made in China and others have said that more of GY production is moving there.

SNOKING

I bought a set of Goodyear Marathon's last year and they are made in New Zealand. I know a lot can happen in a year, but do you just the pick of the bunch? Some made in China, some in USA, and some made in New Zealand. -Jason

 

[CROW]

I have a Kountry Star fifth wheel that is made by Newmar. As a general rule Newmar products are heavier than some of the other brands. All Newmar fivers come with LT tires, not ST tires. One of their fivers has tandem duallys. They come with Goodyear tires that I have not had good luck with. The solution to fiver tires seems to be Michelin LT XPS ribs, expensive but you know the saying. I agree with the previous posts and would not have a set of Chinese tires if they were free.

 

[CUMMINZ]

Chinamen tires should start making tires with respect to an AK47. They had good luck with them things.



CUMMINZ

 

[cwsoules]

Goodyear Marathon 15" tires are on my trailer, and it eats them regularly. We have traveled each year from California to South Carolina and visited all over the USA on each trip. We loose at least one Marathon each trip. Our last 6. 6K mile trip cost us two Marathons. I check air pressure daily when towing and maintain 65 psi on all 4 tires. The tread has separated a couple of times and the side walls have bulged or blown out on the other failures. So far the trailer has not been damaged by the failures. If a name manufacturer made a 15" Load Range E tire I would get rid of the Marathons.

 

[georgej]

One thing you should be aware of most ST tires are rated for a 65mph maximum speeed. I'm not sure of the G rated Goodyears. Both of my trailers came with Goodyears as did my Dodge. I had balance problems from the getgo on the truck and replaced them with Michelins LTXs. Didn't know my truck could be this smooth!. Blew out a marathon on a trip home from Georgia and did a couple hundred dollars damage to the trailer. Tires were 4 years old. On the new trailer the first trip this year finds two bulges on the sidewall of the still new looking Goodyears (ST235/80-16)that I've used for two summers so I replaced them with XPS ribs(LT235/85-16). No more ST tires for this guy... .

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I recently found a series of statements from the trailer tire industry. First they say you should only use ST tires, (trailer only) because they are made stronger to handle the load imposed upon them. Then they say the tires should be replaced every 3 years because by the time they are 3 years old they loose 1/3 of their strength regardless of the condition of the tread. Counting time spent in the warehouse after they are shipped from Communist China and time on the dealers rack they could be a year old when you buy them. This is all a SCAM as I have said before on here. Just a few hours ago a friend told me of a common practice among those who pull horse trailers with Dualies. They take the worn down tires off the dualey and use them on their horse trailers and put new on the Dualy. They have no trouble with these tires on their horse trailers because they are not trailer only crap desigened to fly apart in 3 years. Good Year Marathon tires (ST) are made in China and so are all of their other tires. The Scam is that they know trailer tires almost never wear out so they want you back to buy more so "engineering" trailer tires to be useless in 3 years brings you back for more. This is not "Dry Rot" it is material that will self destruct. It is a safety issue. When you blow a tire on the Interstate it could get somebody hurt of killed, do they care, hell no make the money. Today I picked up some Michelins LTX M&S "C" rated, 6 ply, 1,765 pounds at 50 PSI. I pull less than 6,000 so nobody can tell me I have not solved the trailer tire problem. The Scam artist can go fly a Kite.