Load Range E 15" tires

[cwsoules]

My ST225/75R15 Goodyear Marathon tires are not reliable. I maintain the pressure at 65 psi and check it at least every three days while on the road. I've replaced the rubber stems with steel and still I am having prioblems. I'm looking to replace another blowout. My load range D tires may be part of the problem. I thought that Michelin made a load range e trailer tire but can not find it. Can any of you help? A search of the various forums indicate that there are no tire manufacturers that get a high rating.

[cwsoules]

My ST225/75R15 Goodyear Marathon tires are not reliable. I maintain the pressure at 65 psi and check it at least every three days while on the road. I've replaced the rubber stems with steel and still I am having prioblems. I'm looking to replace another blowout. My load range D tires may be part of the problem. I thought that Michelin made a load range e trailer tire but can not find it. Can any of you help? A search of the various forums indicate that there are no tire manufacturers that get a high rating.

[jojolima]

Goodyear makes E rated RV Tires. They also make G tires. You need to check whether your rims are rated to handle the higher tires. Problem is probably in your tire bead or bent rims. Overload will not cause loss of air, but low air will cause blowouts.

[BeenThere DoneThat]

Your problem may be your rim width. It's stamped on the inside of the wheel. When I went about replacing the factory bias-ply tires on my TT, I found that the wheels were too narrow for the GoodYear Marathons. (They were also too narrow for the factory tires.) Your tires need a 6" rim. (Approved widths are 6"-7"). Marathon specs

[CyberVet65]

My 12,000 pound, dual axel 5th wheel came equipped with 235/85R/16 Load Range "E" tires. I had that rig for four years and never ever had an issue with tires.
Plus they were the same size that my dually TV used. It was like having a lot of extra spares!
Chet

[Vette Racer]

We're talking about 15" tires here, not 16's.

The only ones I've heard of in 15's E rated are Titan and Denman or something like that. Not heard anything good or bad on either.

[SuperGewl]

As someone else stated, you may have bad rims, especially if you had a blowout of a tire on that rim before.
The other thing to consider is that if you still have any of the OE tires on that old of a rig then they all need replacing anyway. The tires have dates stamped on them now from the factory. This is very important to look at because even the thread is OK the rubber could be failing due to age. The typically are good for only 5 years and should be replaced no matter what.
Chances are your tires were bias ply to start off with and if you are going to replace them now, then you will do it with steel belted radials, you should also invest in new rims just due to their age
Just my .01 worht of knowledge

[cwsoules]

My tires were all new as of Dec 1999. I have no idea of the width of the rim. When I had the tire replaced by Camping World yesterday they could not find any stamp indicating the maximum pressure.

[BeenThere DoneThat]

Then the Camping World guys did not look. All wheels are required to have their capacities stamped in the wheel.
On my 'standard white trailer wheel', the information is stamped on the 'backside' of the wheel about the center-line of the rim. I would suggest you pull one off and look yourself. You might first look at your spare, but it may be a different size from your main tires.

[Mark Kovalsky]

I recently learned from RVSEF (RV Safety Education Foundation) that all wheels manufactured in the US are required to have this info stamped on the rim. A rim manufactured in another country for sale here does not have to have this info!

I also learned from Goodyear that the load rating is at a maximum speed of 65 MPH for the 15" trailer tires. If you tow above that speed reduce the load capacity by 10% for each 5 MPH over 65 MPH.

[cwsoules]

The trouble is that before I asked Camping World to look I had struck out in finding the rim rating myself. I thought it might be on the inside of the rim and so I asked them to look when they replaced my destroyed tire. These rims are probably 11 or 12 years old so perhaps the rating requirement is too new. All my rims are the same and I rotate my tires about every 7000 miles. When I next get a chance I'll pull the spare and look at it carefully. Can you see the rating even if the tire is mounted?

[BeenThere DoneThat]

I just happened to be moving my spare from one compartment to another today. So I looked at the stampings. It was a little hard to read, but only because the paint was applied after the numbers were stampted into the wheel. But, it was there. I know my spare rim is the wrong size because I did not bother to replace it when I found that the other wheels were too narrow. My spare was only 5" wide. 1" too narrow for what Goodyear says to use.

[SuperGewl]

You stated earlier that your tires were new in 1999. If you are still running those tires then get rid of them. Also get yourself 5 new rims. You stated that your rims were 12 years old and have had blowouts on them. Put those puppies to rest they are well past their time.
Spend the extra money now and do the right thing so you don't have to spend even more money on the road & I won't have to say "I told you so" later

[BeenThere DoneThat]

FYI. The best price I found for tire and wheel sets was at SouthWest Wheel. The white 225/75/R15/load range D wheel and tire are $107. Don't let the shipping cost scare you. Call and talk to them as they can do a palet shippment when you buy a set of 4 and save over their web shipping cost of $50 per tire. I think I paid about $100 for the full pallet and I added two additional wheel/tire sets for my motorcycle trailer to the palet.