There Oughta Be A Law...

[sag2]

With all the negative experience with ST tires, has anyone just run a passenger tire with a weight rating high enough to carry the load?

 

[SnoKing]

With all the negative experience with ST tires, has anyone just run a passenger tire with a weight rating high enough to carry the load?

P rated or passenger tires have to be derated by 10 % for trailer service. So a tire rated at 2000 pounds is only good for 1800 pounds in trailer service. Snoking

 

[KATOOM]

With all the negative experience with ST tires, has anyone just run a passenger tire with a weight rating high enough to carry the load?

The odd are that you wont find a passenger car tire with the weight capacity of a comparable size ST tire. Even when some switch to 16" LT tires the ratings are not as high as you'd think. And in saying that, tires which are used to haul people are rated with a reserve capacity whereas trailer tires which aren't intended to haul people are not. Along with a different construction design, thats why they have higher capacity ratings.

 

[Bill Stockard]

With all the negative experience with ST tires, has anyone just run a passenger tire with a weight rating high enough to carry the load?

Yes, I have for thousands of trouble free miles all over the lower 48. I ran 15" passenger car tires on a 29-ft. 1976 Airstream travel trailer that I purchased new back in the days before radial trailer tires became popular and before ST radial tires were imported from China. I wore out two sets of passenger car tires on that trailer... no blow outs or flats.

Bill

 

[SnoKing]

The odd are that you wont find a passenger car tire with the weight capacity of a comparable size ST tire. Even when some switch to 16" LT tires the ratings are not as high as you'd think. And in saying that, tires which are used to haul people are rated with a reserve capacity whereas trailer tires which aren't intended to haul people are not. Along with a different construction design, thats why they have higher capacity ratings.

I would argue that ST tires have a higher rating ONLY because of their speed restriction. The marketing claims of special construction and materials just does not seem to be there. They rot quickly and fail way to often. ST manufacturers also note that they loose 10 percent of their capacity for each year is service. Three years and a tire rated to 3420 is only good for 2394 pounds, 5 years and you are at 1710 pounds. Send them back to local utility trailer service, they are NOT for SEEING America with a large 5th wheel trailer.

If you have 7K axles get GY G614 or Sailun S637's. If you have 5.2 or 6K axles, get a good LT235/85R16E or LT245/75R16E. If you have 15" rims and tires upgrade to 16" LT's, even if you have to change hubs.

SNOKING

 

[JR]

We use Hercules tires on our ERS trailers 7x16 box trailer always loaded at Max GVWR or close to it. Have 7 trailers on the road. We have tried so many different brands I have lost track including Uhaul's own bias tires (they were the absolute worst of all btw). Carlisles not much better.
The tires we settled on were Hercules and despite people repeatedly telling me they are China made, they are US made(stamped on tire) (maybe local to our area, not sure). However they wear out at approx 25K miles consistently because of much tight turning. They are a hugh improvement over anything we have tried previously.

Are these LT or ST tires?

I've gotten 5 trouble free years out of my 16" LRE ST tires. Between the treads wearing to the edge of my comfort level and the age of them, I'm replacing them this spring before my first long distance road trip. I've always had ST tires on this trailer and never had any failures that weren't self inflicted, but with all the reviews on this site I'm really considering switching to LT's.

 

[AMink]

I, too, have been the victim of shredded tires and broken trailers. I have gone to the GY Marathons and have had no problems so far. That said, I believe my biggest issue on my TT was alignment. I had ALCO torsion axles and apparently somewhere in my travels I managed to mess them up. I now have Dexter torsion axles that aim the tires in the right direction. I have 15" rims and not a lot of room to move to 16". It seems that with the number of TT's and 5er's with 15" rims someone would manufacture a true HD 15" tire for trailering. We'd all have to upgrade our rims to meet the demands of higher pressure but I'm guessing from what I've read all of the internet, many would.

Michelin, are you listening?

 

[JR]

I would argue that ST tires have a higher rating ONLY because of their speed restriction. The marketing claims of special construction and materials just does not seem to be there. They rot quickly and fail way to often. ST manufacturers also note that they loos bye 10 percent of their capacity for each year is service. Three years and a tire rated to 3420 is only good for 2394 pounds, 5 years and you are at 1710 pounds. Send them back to local utility trailer service, they are NOT for SEEING America with a large 5th wheel trailer.

If you have 7K axles get GY G614 or Sailun S637's. If you have 5.2 or 6K axles, get a good LT235/85R16E or LT245/75R16E. If you have 15" rims and tires upgrade to 16" LT's, even if you have to change hubs.

SNOKING

10% each year???

I've never heard that, that is down right scary. Using that math, if you run your tires to 75% of their capacity they are unuseable in 3 years. Wow.

 

[SnoKing]

Are these LT or ST tires?

I've gotten 5 trouble free years out of my 16" LRE ST tires. Between the treads wearing to the edge of my comfort level and the age of them, I'm replacing them this spring before my first long distance road trip. I've always had ST tires on this trailer and never had any failures that weren't self inflicted, but with all the reviews on this site I'm really considering switching to LT's.

Go buy a Powerball or Megamillions ticket! Read my post above about the loss of capacity each year with ST tires. Then buy one each of Powerball and Megamillions! SNOKING

 

[SnoKing]

10% each year???

I've never heard that, that is down right scary. Using that math, if you run your tires to 75% of their capacity they are unuseable in 3 years. Wow.

Copied right from Carlisle's site just now:

"It is estimated that in approximately three years, roughly one-third of a tire's strength is gone!"

SNOKING

 

[KATOOM]

I would argue that ST tires have a higher rating ONLY because of their speed restriction. The marketing claims of special construction and materials just does not seem to be there. They rot quickly and fail way to often. ST manufacturers also note that they loose 10 percent of their capacity for each year is service. Three years and a tire rated to 3420 is only good for 2394 pounds, 5 years and you are at 1710 pounds. Send them back to local utility trailer service, they are NOT for SEEING America with a large 5th wheel trailer.

If you have 7K axles get GY G614 or Sailun S637's. If you have 5.2 or 6K axles, get a good LT235/85R16E or LT245/75R16E. If you have 15" rims and tires upgrade to 16" LT's, even if you have to change hubs.

SNOKING

Oh I agree but lets be clear here..... ALL tires have a scheduled service life and all tires essentially time out in approximately 5 years. Dont believe me?..... Call up a few reputable tire shops and ask them. Thats not an definitive statement for all tire types either but a general rule of thumb for the tire industry. And ST tires also have higher load ratings because their construction is designed to hold up the load "laterally" whereas passenger tires are also designed to hold all forces equally in acceleration, deceleration, and turning. So the capacity in ST tires is more like a jack stand.

Not to mention that people often misunderstand the tire capacity which should be under their 5th wheel. Unlike TT's, 5th wheel axles only hold a percentage of the weight as the truck axle holds the rest. So for example, my 14,000 lb 5th wheel is a triple axle. I have six E rated 10 ply tires which have a capacity of 2830 lbs each. At their maximum psi rating (which all ST tires should be run at) have the capacity to hold up a 17,000 trailer. That said, my pin weight is roughly around 3000-3500 lb depending on the load. So therefore my axles are only seeing around 10,000 lbs at most given times. That means I have around 7,000 lbs of reserve capacity in my tires. Far more than the trailers capacity. Even if after the supposed 5 year / 10% theory, I still have the tire capacity.

Now all that said, if you see a 5th wheel with only four axles which weighs anywhere over 11,000 lbs then its likely that even if that trailer is equipped with E rated 10 ply tires, over time there will be capacity issues by running the tires at their maximum weight capacity rating. Not to mention people have a habit of letting their trailers sit for months and months on end without moving and also running tires at too low of pressure by either thinking this helps soften the ride of they just fail to check period.

Lastly, in reality that 4 axle trailer weighing in around 11,000 - 12,000 lbs should have 16" rims and be running a G rated tires but thats not always the case. So point being..... We can get all ****** off at ST tires but the blame game doesn't lie completely on the shoulders of the tire companies as the trailer manufactures and the consumer play much larger roles in tire failures than these forums give credit.

 

[gerry]

You are probably out of luck trying to deviate within that bolt pattern.

I have had very good luck with the 15" Goodyear Marathons on my trailers, USA made for quite some time now. Budget uses them on the galvanized car trailers that they rent, the tires stand that very abusive chore quite well.

A couple of years ago I went to buy new 15'' Marathons for my toy hauler and found they have been making them in China for some time, so I bit the bullet stepped up to 16'' and got Michelin LTX. Too bad because Marathons were about the last US made tires for RV's.