RV Tires

[HBarlow]

The best tires for your application if you insist on sticking with 15" wheels and tires are Goodyear Marathons in the size you mentioned, but they typically develop small sidewall cracks in a few short years.

You could install a set of four 16" wheels and tires for a lot less than $1600. Try less than $800 depending upon where you live.

Here are the wheels: http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/p-408-nw128700.aspx for $39/wheel.

And here is an excellent tire: LT225/75R16E 115/112Q BFG Commercial T/A® A/S - Sam's Club for $149/tire.

Total for four wheels and tires would be about $752. Shipping costs would vary.

 

[Bob Cochran]

HB is right on the tire and wheels. However if I am reading right you are also overloading your axles. If this is true you are in danger of damaged and broken springs as well as ruining those new tires in a short period of time. You really don't want to do that or have broken spring leafs, broken or bent spring hangers, etc. This can be just as unsafe as overloaded tires and wheels.

What I have heard over the years this overloading of the axles and springs is pretty typical in toy haulers. So correct all those issues as you can afford it. It appears you have weighed the toy hauler wet so you know the exact weight. For those that have not weighed; if you look at the axles when loaded they should arc up slightly or if close they will be flat. If over loaded arc down and the tires and wheels will not be vertical but bow out.

Course one course of action is to not load it so much but I think that probably is not a suitable solution. So the tires, wheels, axles, springs all need to be addressed to truly be safe.

I hope this helps and I know you was only interested tires and wheels but seems you need think about the other things too.

A few months back we bought a 2006 21ft K2 toy hauler by Komfort that has it's original Chinese 225 75 15 tires on 6 hole rims and two 5k axels. I have weighed it several times wet and it comes to 7700 on the axels with 1k on the tounge. Since right now I can't come up with $1500 for 16inch wheels & tires I am wondering what would be the best I could do for tires in my size that would be safe? We put 3000-5000 miles a year on our rig and want to be safe and down the road we may upgrade wheels but for right now what would be our best option? Thanks for your help, Gerry

 

[gerry]

HB is right on the tire and wheels. However if I am reading right you are also overloading your axles. If this is true you are in danger of damaged and broken springs as well as ruining those new tires in a short period of time. You really don't want to do that or have broken spring leafs, broken or bent spring hangers, etc. This can be just as unsafe as overloaded tires and wheels.



What I have heard over the years this overloading of the axles and springs is pretty typical in toy haulers. So correct all those issues as you can afford it. It appears you have weighed the toy hauler wet so you know the exact weight. For those that have not weighed; if you look at the axles when loaded they should arc up slightly or if close they will be flat. If over loaded arc down and the tires and wheels will not be vertical but bow out.



Course one course of action is to not load it so much but I think that probably is not a suitable solution. So the tires, wheels, axles, springs all need to be addressed to truly be safe.



I hope this helps and I know you was only interested tires and wheels but seems you need think about the other things too.

Thank you both for responding. No the axels are rated for 5,000 each so two give 10,000 total of which I'm only using 7700 giving a cushion of 2,300 lbs to spare. Even with our fuel station full we barely make 8,000. I will check out your advice Harvey it's possible I may be able to get the 16 inch wheels but I'm sure I can get the Marathons now. They are the Goodyears I've looked at and called three dealers with one telling me they were Chinese, one telling me they were made in USA and the third saying they were not American, nor Chinese but were imported, go figure!!!!!

 

[Bob Cochran]

Awesome when I read it I was thinking you had 7700 on each axle. I am really glad that is not the case.

Thank you both for responding. No the axels are rated for 5,000 each so two give 10,000 total of which I'm only using 7700 giving a cushion of 2,300 lbs to spare. Even with our fuel station full we barely make 8,000. I will check out your advice Harvey it's possible I may be able to get the 16 inch wheels but I'm sure I can get the Marathons now. They are the Goodyears I've looked at and called three dealers with one telling me they were Chinese, one telling me they were made in USA and the third saying they were not American, nor Chinese but were imported, go figure!!!!!

 

[HBarlow]

Thank you both for responding. No the axels are rated for 5,000 each so two give 10,000 total of which I'm only using 7700 giving a cushion of 2,300 lbs to spare. Even with our fuel station full we barely make 8,000. I will check out your advice Harvey it's possible I may be able to get the 16 inch wheels but I'm sure I can get the Marathons now. They are the Goodyears I've looked at and called three dealers with one telling me they were Chinese, one telling me they were made in USA and the third saying they were not American, nor Chinese but were imported, go figure!!!!!

The tire salesmen you often encounter in a retail tire store are worse liars than the typical used car salesman. Their goal is to sell what provides the store the largest markup per tire and/or the largest commission to the salesman.

They can look you in the eye and tell you very convincing lies about the tire that is just right for your application. They will always prefer to sell you a Communist Chinese-made "Will-Pop" instead of an American made brand because they can buy the ChiComm tires for $20 or $30 per tire and sell it to you priced a little cheaper than a quality brand name American tire.

Goodyear Marathons are certainly not my first choice in tires but they are a quality tire made by a quality old American company, far better than any cheap ChiComm tire currently on the market. They have, at various times over the years, been molded in the US, Canada, or, perhaps, somewhere overseas. I don't know where they are made right now but Goodyear will stand behind their tires. If a GY tire fails and damages your trailer GY is known to step up to the plate and pay you a pro-rated refund for the tire and pick up the cost of repairing your trailer as long as you save the tire carcass so that GY or an authorized retailer can examine it.

Here is a link for GY Marathons: ST225/75R15 Goodyear® Marathon Radial - Sam's Club

As you can see, they aren't a lot cheaper than a BFG 16" truck tire. I would spend another $200 and convert to 16" tires and real truck tires but its not my business to make your decisions.

 

[GCroyle]

No Goodyear Marathons for me.



In less than one year of RV trailer camping my 9000 Lb TT has had the original 3 year old GYM's replaced due to belt separation, fortunately caught before blowing out. Replaced with 4 GYM's USA construction and in less than 300 miles the sidewalls bulged OUT, not IN. The retailer replaced all 4 w/o batting an eyelash. A major tire retailer website has a picture that shows a similar bulge and it is a big NO NO.



I have joined another forum for trailers and there is a split camp on GYM success stories, some swear by them but it seems like most swear at them.



And there are so many variables, 1-2-3 axles, base weight, loaded weight, pressure checking, sidewall damage, the list is very long and I think this has something to do with varied results.



But in my case trailer was not overloaded, about 300 total miles on new USA GYM's and sidewall failure.



I chose MAXXIS as many of the Uber Guru's on the other forum have, but there are GYM supporters also, but not me. I have a better picture of the bulge, but it is at home.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Good year Marathon's on B I L'S Trailer and the RV repair shop love's them when they blow take's out a bunch of the trailer side's and his heater and refrig. set above it. The repair shop said he should send G Y a thank you note.

 

[RustyJC]

Let's see if I can remember our last 3 5th wheels and our tire experience with each:



1996 Jayco 3030RKSS ~ 10,000 GVWR

Goodyear Marathons - 2 tread separations, all 4 tires bubbled the sidewalls



2000 Jayco 3610RLTS - 13,500 GVWR

Goodyear Wrangler HTs - 0 tread separations, changed on age

Michelin XPS Ribs - 0 tread separations



2004 Doubletree Mobile Suites - 16,000 GVWR

Goodyear G614RSTs - 2 tread separations

Michelin XTAs - 0 tread separations



Yes, Goodyear always stood behind their tires, replacing them and paying for the damages to the 5th wheels, but I'd rather go with a tire where I've never had a tread separation problem; thus, my preference for the Michelins.



JM2CW - YMMV.



Rusty

 

[GCroyle]

Rusty,



One of my problems was timing, in a State Park, with 3 GYM's with tread seperation, the 4th was already a MAXXIS from PO didn't allow for purchasing options. Gave the USA GYM's a 2nd and last chance.



I'm still a novice with my rig, but several others with similar trailers have switched to 16", pricey but it allows the use LT tires rather than ST and that starts another hot discussion all over again, ST No, LT Yes vs. ST Yes, LT No.



The other thing I did and feel very comfortable with my decision was when I got the MAXXIS, I added an internal TPMS at the same time.



Does not take the place of morning PSI checks, but it watches what you can't see.

 

[Mark31]

Some Marathons in the Chinese Factory Outlet, alias Walmart, had Made in China on 'em.

 

[GCroyle]

Picture speaks.

I think this picture shows my experience from my GYM purchase, and I was wrong, it was only 200 miles. And the size, PSI and load capacity was OE spec.



On the other forum I suggested running your hand over the tire to feel bulges or what I clearly had on the previous OE GYM's was tread separation that was very easy to feel and see. I got some don't do that, you'll cut your hand comments from other members. Yup, I'd say that is possible, but I am continuing to monitor the new tires for bulges and separations, the TPMS is worthwhile and I also carry a hand held InfraRed Thermometer, shoot the tires, hubs and rotors once in a while to learn what is normal for my rig.

 

[Matt42]

A few months back we bought a 2006 21ft K2 toy hauler by Komfort that has it's original Chinese 225 75 15 tires on 6 hole rims and two 5k axels. I have weighed it several times wet and it comes to 7700 on the axels with 1k on the tounge. Since right now I can't come up with $1500 for 16inch wheels & tires I am wondering what would be the best I could do for tires in my size that would be safe? We put 3000-5000 miles a year on our rig and want to be safe and down the road we may upgrade wheels but for right now what would be our best option? Thanks for your help, Gerry

What is the tire load range and type. Since they're Chinese, I am going to assume that they are ST rated tires, and not LT rated tires.

Based on that assumption, I'll make another assumption, and that is that they are a load range C. If they are a load range D or E, any information or suggestions that follow will not apply to you and may actually be dangerous if you use them.

If the tires you have are a load range C, I suggest stepping up to a Michelin LT235/75R15C truck tire. My second choice would be a BF Goodrich commercial truck tire in the same size. That should work if you have the room in the wheel wells. If you do not have room in the wheel wells, you may be stuck using the type of tires that you already have, and limiting your travel speed to 65 MPH or slower. And also replacing the tires every 18 months or so. I have little to no faith in Far Eastern tires.

At four years old, the Chinese tires you have, in my opinion, are already dangerous. They may already be coming apart inside. You cannot tell from external cracking, or the lack of it, what the internal condition of a tire is. That's especially true of a tire that is made of inferior materials to begin with. Please do not fall for the tire salesman line that is "you must use an ST rated tire on a trailer. " Go somewhere else. Here in the southwest, good tire stores really understand the problems.

Here, the information and opinion stops being dangerous, and just becomes expensive, for which I most bodaciously apologize.

The absolute ideal for you would be to retrofit to the 16 inch wheel and to install the Michelin XPS Rib LT215/85R16E. But as you have noted, they will be expensive. Actually, they will be expensive on steroids. :{

 

[tron1959]

This past weekend I destroyed one of my LQ Horse trailer tires. I have always worried about them as they are made in China. I dont know if it was punctured and went flat or blew out as I never noticed anything.



I never heard anything. I only had one horse in the trailer and it is a 3 horse trailer so I was no where near max weight. The tires are ST 235/85 R16 E and max pressure is 65 psi. The brand of the tires is Carlisle.



I definitely wont be using trailer tires again. I do plan on changing to 4 truck tires and keeping the China willpop tire for a spare for the time being.



It was raining and I had the cruise set on about 65 mph. When I drove out of the rain I noticed the tire shredding in the mirror. Luckily I was about a mile before an exit ramp which I took to a truck stop near the ramp and changed the tire. The fender is steel and appeared there is only cosmetic damage to the inside of the fenderwell. The tire had been flat for several miles...



I also read some interesting things about trailer tires on the link listed below about trailer tires (ST).



Trailer Tire Facts - Discount Tire



One of the items was that trailer tires are speed rated for 65 mph. Another item was the expected life of a ttrailer tire.



I have a question. Should my rims have a pressure rating on them? If I switch to truck tires such as LT235/85R16(E) it most likely will have a higher max pressure than the Carlisle's that were OE on the trailer and have a max pressure rating of 65 psi.



I am thinking of trying the BF Goodrich tires as I think they are made by Michelin.



Any advice is most welcome. Thanks.

 

[Bob Cochran]

Well I run the Michelin XPS ribs on my trailer and steer tires. On the rear duals the XPS traction. here is a link the the ribs.



Michelin Americas Truck Tires XPS RIB® Page



And here is the link to the traction's.



Michelin Americas Truck Tires XPS TRACTION® Page



You can read about them yourself and a lot of us like them but they are real proud of their tires($$$).



Some wheels have the pressure rating stamped in the back side. Others have to break down tire and is on the inside of the rim. All wheels I am aware of have the pressure rating on it someplace.



Additionally I believe all tires when investigated have a speed rating as well with the XPS rated at 75.

This past weekend I destroyed one of my LQ Horse trailer tires. I have always worried about them as they are made in China. I dont know if it was punctured and went flat or blew out as I never noticed anything.



I never heard anything. I only had one horse in the trailer and it is a 3 horse trailer so I was no where near max weight. The tires are ST 235/85 R16 E and max pressure is 65 psi. The brand of the tires is Carlisle.



I definitely wont be using trailer tires again. I do plan on changing to 4 truck tires and keeping the China willpop tire for a spare for the time being.



It was raining and I had the cruise set on about 65 mph. When I drove out of the rain I noticed the tire shredding in the mirror. Luckily I was about a mile before an exit ramp which I took to a truck stop near the ramp and changed the tire. The fender is steel and appeared there is only cosmetic damage to the inside of the fenderwell. The tire had been flat for several miles...



I also read some interesting things about trailer tires on the link listed below about trailer tires (ST).



Trailer Tire Facts - Discount Tire



One of the items was that trailer tires are speed rated for 65 mph. Another item was the expected life of a ttrailer tire.



I have a question. Should my rims have a pressure rating on them? If I switch to truck tires such as LT235/85R16(E) it most likely will have a higher max pressure than the Carlisle's that were OE on the trailer and have a max pressure rating of 65 psi.



I am thinking of trying the BF Goodrich tires as I think they are made by Michelin.



Any advice is most welcome. Thanks.

 

[Matt42]

Goodrich is now a subsidiary of Groupe Michelin. So in that respect, I suppose it could be said that their tires are made by Michelin. I'd still prefer to use the XPS steel sidewall tires if they are available in a size that would fit my trailer application. For you, they are. For me, they aren't. Still, a Goodrich truck tire will be superior to a Chinese ST tire. I suggest going to a commercial Goodrich truck tire and avoiding the mass-market Radial TA tires. I have too many evil memories of those. Granted, the memories pre-date the acquisition of Goodrich by Michelin, but those memories die hard.

 

[HBarlow]

This past weekend I destroyed one of my LQ Horse trailer tires. I have always worried about them as they are made in China. I dont know if it was punctured and went flat or blew out as I never noticed anything.

I never heard anything. I only had one horse in the trailer and it is a 3 horse trailer so I was no where near max weight. The tires are ST 235/85 R16 E and max pressure is 65 psi. The brand of the tires is Carlisle.

I definitely wont be using trailer tires again. I do plan on changing to 4 truck tires and keeping the China willpop tire for a spare for the time being.

It was raining and I had the cruise set on about 65 mph. When I drove out of the rain I noticed the tire shredding in the mirror. Luckily I was about a mile before an exit ramp which I took to a truck stop near the ramp and changed the tire. The fender is steel and appeared there is only cosmetic damage to the inside of the fenderwell. The tire had been flat for several miles...

I also read some interesting things about trailer tires on the link listed below about trailer tires (ST).

Trailer Tire Facts - Discount Tire

One of the items was that trailer tires are speed rated for 65 mph. Another item was the expected life of a ttrailer tire.

I have a question. Should my rims have a pressure rating on them? If I switch to truck tires such as LT235/85R16(E) it most likely will have a higher max pressure than the Carlisle's that were OE on the trailer and have a max pressure rating of 65 psi.

I am thinking of trying the BF Goodrich tires as I think they are made by Michelin.

Any advice is most welcome. Thanks.

Your rims should be fine. They would normally be rated for 85psi inflation and about 3500 to 3700 lbs. As Bob Cochran wrote above, you should be able to find the rated carrying capacity of the wheels stamped inside the wheel when you dismount the old tires.

BF Goodrich Commercial T/A tires in size LT235/85R16 LRE should give good service.

BF Goodrich is OWNED by Michelin but their tires are not exactly made by Michelin. Michelin also owns Uniroyal. My HitchHiker fiver came from the factory equipped with Uniroyal tires in the size above. After 13 months and 16,000 miles coming home from May Madness one of them lost a tread and did about $800 damage to the side of the trailer. A second tire on the same side was found to be suffering from beginning tread separation and would have failed in another 100 miles or so. I replaced all four with Michelin XPS Ribs. Michelin reimbursed me for the two failed tires and paid for the damage to the side of the trailer.

 

[Grizzly]

This past weekend I destroyed one of my LQ Horse trailer tires. I have always worried about them as they are made in China. I dont know if it was punctured and went flat or blew out as I never noticed anything.



I never heard anything. I only had one horse in the trailer and it is a 3 horse trailer so I was no where near max weight. The tires are ST 235/85 R16 E and max pressure is 65 psi. The brand of the tires is Carlisle.



I definitely wont be using trailer tires again. I do plan on changing to 4 truck tires and keeping the China willpop tire for a spare for the time being.

It was raining and I had the cruise set on about 65 mph. When I drove out of the rain I noticed the tire shredding in the mirror. Luckily I was about a mile before an exit ramp which I took to a truck stop near the ramp and changed the tire. The fender is steel and appeared there is only cosmetic damage to the inside of the fenderwell. The tire had been flat for several miles...



I also read some interesting things about trailer tires on the link listed below about trailer tires (ST).



Trailer Tire Facts - Discount Tire



One of the items was that trailer tires are speed rated for 65 mph. Another item was the expected life of a ttrailer tire.



I have a question. Should my rims have a pressure rating on them? If I switch to truck tires such as LT235/85R16(E) it most likely will have a higher max pressure than the Carlisle's that were OE on the trailer and have a max pressure rating of 65 psi.



I am thinking of trying the BF Goodrich tires as I think they are made by Michelin.



Any advice is most welcome. Thanks.

tron1959,



You have already had good advice and your thinking is good, except for one thing. Get a new LT spare, which should be the same as the other LT tires. I've had bad experience with a bad spare and a Carlisle ST is the worst of the worst, IMO.



When I purchased my new 08 Arctic Fox, I had Discount Tire change out all five ST tires for Michelin XPS Rib. I sold the ST tires cheap on craigslist and warned the purchaser of the potential problems he could encounter.



george

 

[Bob Cochran]

Just a thought to ponder here. A actual manufacturer can make tires for several brands of tires. They are made to the specifications of the brand paying to have the tire made. So just because a brand is actually manufactured by a good name company it does not necessarily make it a good tire of a different brand. It seems like to me anyway it will not be to many years and there will maybe only 2 maybe 3 manufacturers making all brands. just a nickels worth of thoughts.

 

[HBarlow]

The major tire manufacturers do manufacture "house brand" tires for retailers such as Pep Boys, Wal-Mart, etc. In some cases the buyer gets the name but not the quality. In other words, the buyer gets what he pays for.

The tire and battery team leader at my local SAM's Club (whom I know very well) told me that the "Michelin X" (not LTX or any other designation) was molded for SAM's Club only. Don't know if he was correct.

That was the 16" tire that I used several sets of on my '01 Ram dually. I got 110,000 miles of service out of each of those tires I bought at SAM's so they were clearly the Michelin quality.

 

[Bill Stockard]

The major tire manufacturers do manufacture "house brand" tires for retailers such as Pep Boys, Wal-Mart, etc. In some cases the buyer gets the name but not the quality. In other words, the buyer gets what he pays for.



The tire and battery team leader at my local SAM's Club (whom I know very well) told me that the "Michelin X" (not LTX or any other designation) was molded for SAM's Club only. Don't know if he was correct.



That was the 16" tire that I used several sets of on my '01 Ram dually. I got 110,000 miles of service out of each of those tires I bought at SAM's so they were clearly the Michelin quality.

IIRC, Michelin does the same for Sears. I ran a set of Michelin X tires on my previously owned '92 D350 dually back in the mid-90 that I bought from Sears. The tires gave excellent "Michelin type" service.



Bill