Trailer tires

[tempforce]

i thought of going to 16" rims, but the tires would be way to close. but going from 8 ply to 10 ply should help. also knowing that i need to tow slower should reduce the possibility of a blow out. the lt235-70-r15 tires are to low in load rating to even consider.
but i plan on continuing to look, until i have to buy, later this spring.
cc

 

[Wooter]

16" tires are the way to go - Most 15s on the trailers that come with them, are usually below the load rating of the trailer anyway. Spend the money and get good tires!!



"16 inch 10 plys"

 

[HBarlow]

Unless you also replace the rims with rims capable of higher inflation pressure moving from LRD to LRE tires, if there is such a tire in 15" size, won't give you any gain. The advantage of a moving from LRD to LRE tire is gained by higher inflation pressure. If you are able to find a 15" LRE tire it will be a "willpop" made in Communist China.

 

[Mark31]

The Beacon (beacondrivein.com) in Spartanburg SC was at one time the second largest drive-in in the country. The Varsity Grill in Atlanta was the largest. A sign in the order line----QUALITY IS REMEMBERED LONG AFTER PRICE IS FORGOTTEN. I first saw the sign in '65. A farmer friend once had a bulldozer clearing up new ground and things kept breaking. It was finally pointed out to him that he had a low dollar flunkie on a high dollar machine. If he could afford a dozer, he could afford an operator. If you can afford a trailer, you can afford a set of Michelins. The costs of a ruined vacation, mechanicing in the middle of the night or in 120 degree Saturday afternoon, etc you name it. A good friend (who will laugh at you if you hit your finger with a hammer) has a saying that fits a lot of things. "Boy, if you are going to be dumb, you gotta be tough!" Not buying the best tire you can find is a little "not smarter" than hunting all over east Bangladesh trying to save $8 a tire. Just make sure you don't get some "stale date" tires. Mark

 

[Grizzly]

i thought of going to 16" rims, but the tires would be way to close. but going from 8 ply to 10 ply should help. also knowing that i need to tow slower should reduce the possibility of a blow out. the lt235-70-r15 tires are to low in load rating to even consider.

but i plan on continuing to look, until i have to buy, later this spring.

cc

Too close for what? Tires can be as close as 1/2" and still be okay. Just as long as they don't touch each other.



I hope you're not considering going with ST tires. If you are, that would be a big mistake. I'd rather get an 8 ply rating LT tire then a 10 ply rating ST tire.

 

[HBarlow]

I like that line, "if you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough. " It fits very well in this discussion about taking cheap shortcuts on trailer tires.

LT225-75 R16 tires in LRD will be only about 1/4" closer to to the fender wells or other sheet metal and 1/2" closer together than the OEM cheapo ST225-75R15 tires but will be rated to carry several hundred pound more weight and do it reliably for years. The six lug 16" wheels are available from Southwest Wheel.

 

[THoltz]

Looking for new tires for my 5th wheel. 225/75/16 or 235/80/16.

Anyone know of a good place to buy good tires at a descent price?

Discount Tire.

 

[FFeiller]

i went to goodyear's commercial outlet in San Jose, CA; ordered 17. 5" wheels punched for the 8 lug pattern of my 16's with the chinese 3520lb "E" rated junk tires and installed 17. 5 "H" rated kellys semi tires designed for heavy equip hauling rated at 4805 lbs ea. they are the same diameter of the junk 16's. cost 1600 total wheel and tire. track great, rated at 75mph and no worries of blowouts.

 

[tempforce]

thanks for the comments, i'll get the tape out and double check. as i need to replace them before doing any traveling this summer. i'm trying to do it right, on a budget is a challenge. a challenge that will be well worth it. to not worry about tearing up equipment. the days of just buying what i want are over. so the help you guys are supplying is very much appreciated.

 

[JLandry]

If you are able to find a 15" LRE tire it will be a "willpop" made in Communist China.

Maxxis makes a 225/75R15 load range E (10 ply rating) ST tire which seems highly regarded in RV'ing circles (based on Google searches I've done and the RV.net forums). They're manufactured in Thailand. Maybe Thai tire manufacturers know something the Chinese don't?



Maxxis load range E tires can be ordered through local Discount Tire stores or online from Discount Tire Direct for $121 with shipping included.



80psi capable aluminum or steel wheels can be ordered online from TrailerTiresAndWheels.com.



Best regards,



John L.

 

[pullya]

Most of the people I know that have not switched to 16" tires and wheels have gone to Maxxis 15" tires. I have not heard anyone complain about the Maxxis tires yet. Trailer tires, no matter what size or what manufacture, should be checked very closely for air pressure, condition of the tire, for the date of manufacture and when driving they need to be checked everytime you stop for temperature. IMO if you pull a trailer, your going to have some type of tire problems--not if but when, so plan accordingly.

Jay

 

[JLandry]

IMO if you pull a trailer, your going to have some type of tire problems--not if but when, so plan accordingly.

Good points Jay.



Another worthwhile investment can be a TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) for at least the trailer tires, if not for the tow vehicle also. That way you'll always know the tire pressure real-time, and if a blowout occurs, at least you'll know about it immediately and can possibly get stopped in time to reduce some of the worst damage!



Happy towing,



John L.

 

[HBarlow]

Maxxis tires may be "highly regarded" somewhere but not among experienced RVers.

The only thing that makes Maxxis tires better than standard ChiComm tires is a very expensive marketing/advertising program in the US.

Each to his own. I wouldn't use one on a trailer I own.

 

[MoparDave]

I lost the tread on a 15in Maxxis last summer. At the time I had almost 5 yr's of service on them and the side walls look good. After i lost the first one I inspected the others and they all show cracking between the tread all around the tire. I replaced them with Goodyear's Marathon. Some Marathon tires are made in the USA I had all USA made tires installed. Time will tell.

 

[AMink]

They're manufactured in Thailand. Maybe Thai tire manufacturers know something the Chinese don't?

Does that make the Thaiers?:-laf

 

[Grizzly]

Maxxis makes a 225/75R15 load range E (10 ply rating) ST tire which seems highly regarded in RV'ing circles (based on Google searches I've done and the RV.net forums). They're manufactured in Thailand. Maybe Thai tire manufacturers know something the Chinese don't?



Maxxis load range E tires can be ordered through local Discount Tire stores or online from Discount Tire Direct for $121 with shipping included.



80psi capable aluminum or steel wheels can be ordered online from TrailerTiresAndWheels.com.



Best regards,



John L.

Maybe Maxxis tires are good, but there still an ST tire. Why take a chance on an ST when you can get a better LT, even if the LT cost more. My 5th wheel and the safety of me and my wife is worth much more than the price difference of a questionable tire and good tire.

 

[JLandry]

Maybe Maxxis tires are good, but there still an ST tire. Why take a chance on an ST when you can get a better LT, even if the LT cost more.

It's not always a cost issue...



Some travel trailers equipped from the factory with 15" wheels and tires (like mine) cannot accommodate anything larger. To do so would require extensive modifications to the travel trailer and possibly even moving the axles. This effectively prevents converting to LT tires and still maintain an adequate tire load carrying capacity. So ST tires are really the only option in this case. With that in mind, it then becomes a matter of trying to choose the best quality / highest load capacity ST tire and wheel combination. Currently Maxxis has a good overall reputation for their ST tires. Of course time will tell.



I've never yet had a tire blow on any of the travel trailers I've owned. This may partly be due to luck, but I never tow faster than 60 mph, am careful to regularly inspect the tires and monitor pressures real-time (with a TPMS), and all the travel trailers I've owned have weighed far less than the tire and axle load carrying capacities. In the case of my current travel trailer (an Arctic Fox 25R), the axle scale weight (not including hitch) is less than 7000 pounds when fully loaded and I'm using 4 each 225/75R15 load range E tires and appropriately rated wheels. This gives a total tire capacity of 11,320 pounds which is a large margin of safety.



Best regards,



John L.

 

[JLandry]

Some Marathon tires are made in the USA I had all USA made tires installed. Time will tell.

When I found out Goodyear Marathons were once again being manufactured in the USA, I really wanted to use them... to support them. Unfortunately Goodyear doesn't offer a 225/75R15 load range E ST tire, so I had to look at other brands to get the extra margin of load carrying capacity I wanted. But if I were in the market for load range D ST tires, I'd definitely go with USA made Goodyear Marathons unless widespread reports of failures start to surface (as happened with their Chinese and Canadian made tires).



Best regards,



John L.

 

[TFucili]

I have a friend who has Maxxis tires on a car trailer, and has had several of them come apart at pretty low miles. I'd think twice.

 

[jelag]

I use LT tires on all my trailers... you need to understand that LT and truck tires use a different chart for load and the markings on a LT or truck tire is not a max like it is on a car but a rating at a certain air pressure... to fully understand this you need to talk to the tire manufacturer commercial tire guy...



I've had a lot of problems in the past on our commercial trailers as well as our 5er. . and had a chance to run into a retired Bridgestone field commercial tire guy... it was an expensive lunch but I learned a lot...



Since the move to LT, I use Bridgestone, Michelin on my stuff we've not had a blow out... we sized a LT tire to about 1/2 taller than my take off 16" trailer only tires added a larger safety margin and have been happy for 4-5 years now...