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Trailer Tire MPH:

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Need help: If my tow vechile is traveling 60mph with 17 inch tires, how fast is the mph on the 16 inch trailer tires.



No matter how I try to figure this out, I keep getting a different figure.





Thanks,

Gary
 
They are traveling as fast as the tow vehicle is traveling, no slower, no faster. They will be turning more RPM to keep up with the 17's.



A point to remember is that if the trailer tires are ST, the top speed limit is 60 to 65 MPH and are not recommended for highway use 3 years passed the date stamped on the sidewall. LT tires can go faster and are good for 6 years passed the date stamped on the sidewall.
 
Thanks Grizzly,

The tires in question are GY LT235R16 Wrangler HT's and were mfg. in 08.

One tire blew in MT. in early Aug. while going eastbound on I -94, this started a chain of events of two other tires seperating, now my trailer has 4 new GY G614's on it & they were mfg. in 2011. I did file a report with the NHTSA and a claim with GY for new tires & damage repair to the trailer.



This was my second set of GY LT235's on my trailer and were replaced because of deep tread cracking in the grooves. I surely hope that the new ones will hold up much better?.



Thanks again,

Gary
 
The GY G614s are known to lose their treads also. GY makes good race tires but lousy light truck and trailer tires.
 
I had two (2) tread separations on the OEM-supplied G614s on our 5th wheel. I changed them out for 17. 5" J-rated (4805 lbs @ 120 PSIG) 215/75R-17. 5 Michelin XTAs. If you need a 16" E-rated tire, I would have gone with the Michelin XPS Rib. I've used them on my previous 13,500 lb GVWR Jayco 3610RLTS 5th wheel and never had any problems whatsoever. They're pricey, but they're worth it.



JM2CW.....



Rusty
 
Ditto here. The Wrangler HT is a bad trailer tire. I was very fortunate I caught mine separating before they grenaded. I replaced with XPS ribs which were excellent tires. Our new rig has the Michelin 17. 5 which I think will be a good tire.
 
As far as how fast a 16 vs. 17" tire would go I dont think that you can possibly calculate it. The overall tire diameter is what would change speed, a small overall diameter will spin faster then a larger overall diameter, unless there is a set ratio of rim dia to tire dia then you need a few more numbers to calculate. On tire manufactures websites they usually give you revolutions per mile, quick google search showed 718 rev/mile for 237/70R16
 
The OEM tires on my HitchHiker were Uniroyals. Two of them failed in one year and 16,000 miles. I special ordered the trailer and took delivery on the day it was completed so the tires were not old. DOT code showed recent mold date.

Replaced with Michelin XPS Ribs which are almost bullet proof.
 
Forgot to mention I do have the xps ribs on the 5er. Buying eight of them when I need to replace the work trailer would hurt the wallet.
 
Need help: If my tow vechile is traveling 60mph with 17 inch tires, how fast is the mph on the 16 inch trailer tires.



No matter how I try to figure this out, I keep getting a different figure.





Thanks,

Gary



As Grizzly said, the MPH is the same. The RPM may be different if the loaded radii are different.



Measure the loaded radius (LR) from the pavement to the axle center of the 16" wheels (LR16) and of the 17" wheels (LR17).



Then compute Delta% = 100 * LR17 / LR16. That will give you the percentage difference in RPM. If the 16" tire is smaller, the percentage will be greater than 100, and the 16" will be turning faster than the 17" by (Delta% - 100) . If the 16" tire is larger, the percentage will be less than 100, and the 16" tire will be turning slower than the 17" by (100 - Delta%).
 
Next week I am replacing my XPS RIBs after 6. 5 years and around 40K on the ground. Lots of tread left on the RIBs it is just time, the oldest one is starting to show some cracking on the sidewall and has a date code that says it is 8. 5 years old. The others are 7. 5 years old. I will not let that happen again!!!! Check the date codes before mounting.



Going with Bridgestone Duravis R250's which are also all steel ply tires like the RIBs. However the R250's are about $50 each less. I will let you know in another 6 or 7 years how they did.



If you want to stay with a poly carcass tire, then the BFG Commercial TA is used a lot and people report look luck with the Firestone Transforce HT.



Personally I think the extra money for the XPS Rib or R250 is a good investment.



SNOKING
 
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