Tires

[SHobbs]

Ok I know this subject has been hashed out over and over. I have been through the search forums till my eyes started to bleed,,,lol.



I currently have the cheap Kenda tires on my 5er LT235/85 R16 LR E ( 5 years old)

the load rating is 3042 lbs/single at 85 psi. I know my 5er is around 12k right now 3k lbs per tire and with a trip planned next year I will be around 12,5k maybe 13k. My 5er is rated for a loaded weight of 14k. Now if I go with the load range E I will be over weight as far as the capacity of the tires which is 12,168 lbs. multiplying 3042/each by 4.



Would I be better served by going with a load range G tire for a single load rating of 3700lbs at 110psi each? I looked at many rv manufacturers sites and they have several 12k lb 5er's with load capacities exceeding 13k on load range E tires, what gives am I missing something here? Seems to me that alot of 5er's are riding on overloaded tires.

 

[mberry]

You should be fine with E tires. Take into account the hitch weight in the bed of the truck reduces your GVW of the trailer, or so I've been told. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.

As for tires, Michelin XPS Rib will be my choice of tire for my trailer. If you do choose to go with a G rated tire, make sure your wheels are rated for them too. Just because they may be metal doesn't mean they can withstand those loads and pressures safely and over the long-term.

 

[SHobbs]

mberry,



I did see that about the rims and to be honest I never thought about the tongue weight. Unfortunately it will come down to cost for me as far as my choice in tires. I have read alot about the ones I have now and they scare me so I will not take a 1500 mile round trip next year on them.

 

[Grizzly]

Scott, I had Discount Tire install 5 Michelin XPS Rib LT, 235-85-R16, Load Range "E" on our New Arctic Fox 5er as soon as we got it home from Pinehurst, ID, by way of Washington and Oregon. I believe that the same size Michelin XPS Rib tire will work well for you.



I also what to confirm that you do reduce the pin weight from your trailer weight, as mberry said, which is about 1500 lbs. Also, keep the air pressure up to the maximum of 80 psi on each tire.

 

[Slow Six]

Put on the Michelin XPS Rib and enjoy your trip.

 

[HBarlow]

About 25% of your trailer's loaded weight is on the kingpin, not on the trailer's axles, wheels, and tires. Your trailer will be comfortably supported by a set of LT235/85 16s in LRE. You don't want LRG tires. The only tire manufacturer that makes LRG tires is Goodyear and their tires are famous for blowouts.

As the others suggested above, Michelin XPS Ribs are the best LRE trailer tires available. If you want to save a few bucks and get "almost as good", buy BF Goodrich Commercial tires. BFG is owned by Michelin and makes very good tires also. I have a set of Michelin XPS Ribs on my HitchHiker 5er.

 

[SnoKing]

You are right on the border line of a Load Range E tire. I would put XPS RIBs on it and run the max 80lbs.



The GY G614 seems to be having some issues and your wheels are most likely not rated to 110 lbs. XPS RIBs are not cheap, but cheaper than G614s, and then you need rims also.



Many are now going to 17. 5 tires and rims on larger trailers because of issues with the G614s. I would only consider XPS RIBs if you are staying with E rated tires. No free lunch here, sorry. I would not consider the Marathon E rated (3420lb rating) chinese made GY either. Montana is currently field testing it on all the new trailers!!!!! Stay tuned!



If your trailer is GVWR at 14K, what is the GAWR? 14K times 20 percent is 2,800 lbs (pin weight). That should put at 11,200 on the trailer axles.



You must not tow your trailer much if you still have the Kenda maypops installed! I got 110 x 5 to remove my Kenda's a few years ago.



SNOKING

 

[SHobbs]

SNOKING,



I usually take short trips around 5 miles round trip, next year will be as I said about 1500 miles towing and these current ones will be over 5 years old then. Just trying to figure out this whole tire confusion.



Also the 14k might be a high estimate, I know the 5er was right around the 12k mark off the lot before I placed all my junk in it. I might actually be around 13k after the folks toss their stuff in for the trip.

 

[WILLD420]

I've had good luck with BFG and Michelin. Nowadays I run just about anything except Bridgestone/Firestone tires.

I think all the manufacturers have had issues with their tires. Cooper has several recalls, but considering the ratio of recalled tires, to the ones manufactured at their plants, I wouldn't hesitate to run them.

1500 mile isn't that far, but tires that are 5 years old are looking for a good place to throw the cap off. Especially if the temps are over 90 degrees ambient. At 110 Deg ambient, the pavement temps can be 140 and up. At 135 Deg. ambient, I've seen pavement temps hit 165-170 on concrete and 180+ on black pavement.

At those temps, not even $$$ tires live more than a couple years.

 

[GAmes]

I have GY G614 RSTs on my 5er. They are the second set of GY G rated tires I've had, and never had an issue. Harvey, I'm sure, is referring to the GY Marathons, of which I've really had bad experiences with. The 614s are American made. About $250 each to the door online. If you want to know who I got them from I'd be happy to post that.

 

[georgej]

SHOBBS



My 29' Alpenlite 5er weighs a little over 10000 empty. When ready for the road, full water, food, clothes, etc. it goes about 12500lbs. These weights are distributed as such,trailer axles = 9800lbs. pin weight= 2700 lbs. Each tire supports less than 2500lbs so an E rated tire is ample. By the way we travel coast to coast each year and we too use Michelin XPS Ribs.

 

[SHobbs]

I meant to say around 500 miles round trip in last post. Most of the time I run to San Antonio or the hill country for weekends. I have ample time to prepare for this trip and few things to do to the 5er and tires will be the first to get changed.



Thanks for all the info guys I appreciate it.

 

[SnoKing]

So if you can not afford the XPS RIBS, then get the BFG Commercial TAs.



But, have a tire shop let to look at the lift and poke at both, then install the ribs. Snoking