ST Tires Again - But Different

[NIsaacs]

What is that yellow piece in the center? Looks like an add on suspension lift or something. Does it use an equalizer at all?

Nick

 

[GSykes]

Nick, That is a suspension equalizer made by Lippert Ind. came on the 5TH wheel. There are three companies that make them: Lippert, Dexter Axle and Mor-Ride. Lippert calls theirs Equa-Flex, Dexters is E-Z Flex and Mor-Rides is CR-3000 or 4000, and every one of them say theirs is better. Our previous 5TH wheel had none so I installed the ones from Dexter with a wet bolt kit. They work. Next year when I do the bearings I think I will put in a wet bolt kit on this unit.

 

[NIsaacs]

Okay, thanks! I wondered what I was looking at.

Nick

 

[mpaulson]

Okay, thanks! I wondered what I was looking at.

View attachment 99525

Nick

I did this kit on my last trailer and never had to deal with elongated holes in the little flatbar hangers, bolt wear, stupid little plastic bushings etc. for the life of the trailer. I just greased them twice a year or so and never did anything else. Just installed the same system on my trailer that I bought last year this spring when I added the third axle to it. I can't testify to what ride difference the trailer gets, but the lack of wear on bushings and bolts etc. is worth every penny to me.

 

[Buffalo]

Two friends of mine & I all had Nash trailer's purchased in the late 1990's and came equipped with Goodyear Marathon's in the 205-75-15-LR-C size. One of the guys had a tire blow out somewhere on the east coast of the U.S. and had the 4 tires on the ground replaced with new Goodyear Marathon's. On the way back to AZ., his spare that was not even on the ground blew up while mounted on the trailer bumper. It had the cover on the spare and when he got home, a piece of the sidewall was inside the cover along with the blown tire. That's when I was "elected" to research trailer tires.
In my research, I found that Greenball Towmaster had their tires manufactured by Goodyear at the plant in Akron, OH. and they went down the same assembly line as the Marathon's. The only difference was the printing on the sidewalls. For a price, Greenball would even print your name on the sidewalls!!!! Greenball's looked the same but, were much cheaper.

What I found was that Goodyear was making the ST tires using ply's of steel and polyester and they had an S (for ST rated tires) stamped on the sidewalls. After so many blowouts, they changed the design by adding a ply of nylon to the outside of the tread belts. I was told that when the steel/polyester combo got hot (often from low air pressure) the steel would expand and contract and eventually, let go and blow up. The idea behind the nylon was that it was put on the outside of the tread belts and nylon does not expand or contract with different temperatures so, it kept the tread plies stable and problems with tires blowing up were significantly reduced. To tell the difference, Goodyear put a circle around the "S", and if you read the composition of the tires, nylon was now mentioned as a tread ply.
I've been told by Goodyear that if you want to make sure you don't have tire problems with S-rated tires, replace the tires every 3 years and watch the tire pressure's and keep the pressure's to the maximum. I've followed the recommendations from Goodyear and have never even come close to wearing out a tire on my trailer but, I've never had a tire blow, either.
I'm in my fourth year on the tires I have on my trailer, now, and think I'm going to extend my replacement interval by a year or two as I haven't used the trailer in quite awhile and the tread looks excellent and no where near being worn out and the sidewalls are not dry-rotted from the excessive heat from living in the desert (Phoenix, AZ.) I keep the tires covered when not in use.
One more thing that we did was increase the size of the tires. Our tires were all 205-75-15-C's and I did some measuring and figured I could easily get 225-75-15-E's in the wheel wells. This size tire fit all of our tires and none of us have ever had a tire blow out since our tire change.
One of the largest tire stores in our area is Discount Tire and for a couple of years, now, they have been recommending Carlisle's. In the past, Carlisle's were one of the worst tires available. Absolute garbage!!!! However, they have gone from the worst to one of the best, it seems. We all have changed to the Carlisle's and no one has had a problem. Carlisle has a new, improved ST tire, now, which I haven't tried but it is supposed to be even better than what my friends and I have, now. I understand that Carlisle got tired of their bad reputation and decided to make an effort to build a good tire and it seems they may have succeeded.
One more thing, I am NOT an expert in trailer tires or any other kind of tires. I'm not a tire engineer and I have never worked for any tire store or factory. I'm just an end user, like the rest of you guys, and saw that a lot of people, including one of my friends, were having unusual failures with trailer tires and was elected to research the problem, which, I did. What I've written here is just our experience with what we've learned over the years and, I thought I'd pass this info. on to the rest of you. I've benefited from the accumulated knowledge of the TDR membership on many occasions and am glad to be able to contribute a little of what I've learned.
Joe

 

[Buffalo]

One more thing, my friend had the eqalizers with the rubber shock absorber in it, installed on his trailer and seems to think that the trailer runs smoother, now. He mentioned that the canned goods and other things have not moved around the cabinets like they normally would have on the same trip. He also had new shocks installed so, that may have had some effect, also. He has the same equalizer's that are in the picture's posted on this link. He felt the money was well spent & worthwhile.
Joe

 

[GAmes]

The owner of the tire store where I do business quit carrying Carlisle tires because of their high failure rate.

 

[BarryG]

We have about 2k on our Endurance 235/80/16 E tires now and so far so good. Got another 1k trip coming up next week

 

[Buffalo]

GAMES,
Regarding your tire store no longer handling the Carlisle Trailer Tires, is this a recent occurrence? I've heard nothing but good things about the latest generation's of the Carlisle tires. However, I will agree that their tires that were manufactured a number of years ago were not very good and had lots of problems. I remember that they were the "poster child" for bad trailer tires, at one time.
The story I heard was that Carlisle, in trying to rebuild their reputation and sell more tires, decided to make an effort to design and build a quality trailer tire. Once they felt they had a good design, they came to Discount Tire and persuaded them to give the Carlisle's another try. They gave tires to Discount Tire for use on their own personal trailers and Discount did their own testing of the new tires and found them to be a significant improvement and decided to carry them, again.
If I'm not mistaken, Carlisle's are the only trailer tire carried in the stores. Other tires can be ordered, per request but, on their shelves you will only find Carlisle's. They only carry the load range E tires, also, I was told. You can order tires with less load range carrying capacity.
GAMES, I'm not trying to say that you are wrong in this matter but, it is not what I'm hearing here, in the Phoenix market. To be honest with you, I'm not absolutely sure that the Carlisle's are the finest trailer tire on the market, today. I have not used mine enough to be convinced of their reliability. Discount Tire seems to be convinced since the Carlisle's are the only trailer tire they are 'pushing'. I hope they are right since, I don't know what other tire to choose.
Joe

 

[DavidC]

I am running my own test. I have 2 Maxxis on one side and 2 Carlisle (Newer Style) on the other side of the 5ver. They have approx. 6k miles on them, 2.5 trips from Tempe Az. to Minot ND along with a few trips from Tempe to Flagstaff Az.. All are holding up well and I was very hesitant of putting Carlisle tires on the 5ver mainly from prior experience and posts on websites. Same goes for Marathons and it finally got to the point that Maxxis was the only tire I would run. Discount Tire did not like the idea of ordering Maxxis as I was told there was always a fight during warranty exchanges. Carlisle tires during the ugly years could be purchased anywhere around 60 to 80 dollars. With their improved rated tire they are up there with Maxxis now. This has been the most miles and longest time I have had a set of tires last (hope I am not jinxing myself).

Dave

 

[Buffalo]

DavidC,
I, too, have heard that the Maxxis tires are supposed to be pretty good & thought of trying them the last time I bought trailer tires. The Discount Tire Stores in my area of Phoenix don't keep Maxxis in stock and have to order them whereas, the Carlisle's are on the shelves of their stores and they keep them in stock. I thought if I was on the road and developed a tire problem, I would rather not wait for the delivery of a Maxxis especially if, the Carlisle's were in stock. I hope that the Carlisle's live up to the reputation that Discount Tire gives them.
BTW, I'm the guy that bought your old electric trailer jack from you, years ago. Hope all is well with you. I'm fine, finally retired.
Joe

 

[DavidC]

Yeah Joe, I retired also after the tri-level neck fusion. I hope the Carlisle's hold up also (because I have 2 of them). Discount Tire always bothered me because they always had a different flavor of the month on tires and it seemed like the tire they could make the most profit on. We will see as it is Maxxis against Carlisle on my rig.

Dave

 

[GAmes]

I don't know how long ago he quit carrying them. I had a 4 year old tire fail on my boat trailer (broken belt) and he is now carrying another brand that he is happier with. I'm not at home so I can't tell you what the brand is. I won't do business with Discount tire after they once told me one of my Michelins was unrepairable and tried to sell me another one Sunday. (My dealer was closed). I declined, left the spare on the truck and went to my dealer the next day. It was a leaking valve core.

 

[GSykes]

Just returned from putting about 900 miles on the new Endurance tires. Drove up through the Owens valley to Carson City with the ambient temps ranging from 104-107*. They seemed to ride smoother than the old tires (could be just me), so far so good. Trip coming up in Oct. so time will tell. I'm happy with them so far.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Digging up an old thread.

How are the Endurance tires doing? Later this fall / early next year I'll need to buy a few sets for my trailers.

I might go to the 16" route for the equipment trailer, but the RV is a 5 bolt pattern and I can't find 16" for the 5 bolt.

 

[Tractorat]

I hope you get good service out of your new tires, but that statement is blatantly false. When I'm towing, not matter the state, I'm at 57-60 mph

I tow between 57 and 60. If anything, cars have to watch out for me. My full size 3/4 ton diesel ram pulling my 19 ft travel trailer is a lot bigger than any car. They normally give me a lot of room. If they done, I try to scare them a little.

 

[GSykes]

Just put another 5,500 miles on them. All are looking good, wearing even, very pleased with the 16" E rated Endurance. They are working for me, still looking like new. My towing speed is 63-68 MPH.

 

[Tuesdak]

Even the cheap no name China bombs on the low priced new trailers will last 1500 miles. I put about 3500 miles on the Marathons, most of them summer heat miles, that came on my trailer before I switched over to 16 inch wheels and Michelin LTX tires. The test is three plus years and 8 or 10k miles.

Well delivery from the factory to the dealership would use most or more of the 1500 miles! New 5th wheel down the street from me blew a China bomb on their 1st trip out. $7000 in damage. Goodyear can't do worse, period.

 

[GSykes]

Dan_69GTX,
Goodyear makes the Endurance in a 15" E load rating. I think the 225 15 E is rated at 2833 lbs per tire with an N speed rating. Check Goodyear's web site to be sure.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Dan_69GTX,
Goodyear makes the Endurance in a 15" E load rating. I think the 225 15 E is rated at 2833 lbs per tire with an N speed rating. Check Goodyear's web site to be sure.

Yes, I saw that on their website. Looks like we will not be going anywhere with the camper this fall. So, I will wait until next year and buy the endurance tires. We are hoping to get to Columbus for the TDR rally. In the meantime I will look for 16 inch rims for the equipment trailer. No problem with space there, I don’t have any fenders. I also moved the axles farther apart when I welded on taller shackles.