Trailer Tires ????

[FastEagle]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Based on what we see being delivered from trailer mfg are tires of the smallest size and lowest Load Range (i.e. lowest cost) that will meet the regulations.

Its unfair to point a finger at trailer manufacturers for their tire selections without pointing the same finger at NHTSA for allowing different fitment standards for RV trailers as compared to automotive fitments.

When reading the logic in the final rules document of 2007, reserve load capacities for RV trailer tires were highly recommended by such people as the RMA, but no action was taken and the status quo was maintained.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by FastEagle

Its unfair to point a finger at trailer manufacturers for their tire selections without pointing the same finger at NHTSA for allowing different fitment standards for RV trailers as compared to automotive fitments.

When reading the logic in the final rules document of 2007, reserve load capacities for RV trailer tires were highly recommended by such people as the RMA, but no action was taken and the status quo was maintained.

I have heard from a party that is in the industry, that the RV industry lobby pushed hard against the tire industry recommendation.
One significant contributor to the failure to get meaningful change in the regs in in the lap of RV owners who can't be bothered to file complaints with NHTSA. Without numbers, how can anyone direct NHTSA to take action. I would not be surprised if RV mfg lobby simply asked NHTSA if they have a high % of tire failure complaints in their database relative to the number of tires delivered & sold each year.

"We have met the enemy and he is us"

[1bigmess]

Nowadays, NHTSA reports are pretty easy to fill out. You can do it in bed if you like.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

[mrpep]

Oh...

[JIMNLIN]

Go easy on me guys but I've been wanting an opinion on these tires. I replaced old dried out tires with these and I realize that they are cheap brand but it brings some peace of mind that my tt requires a load C tire and I used load D. There is some cushion there , what do you all think ??

Their still a low cost tire but moving up from a 50 psi C tire to a 65 psi D tire some times helps. If your previous ST tires gave you no problems these may not either if you stick with the same type of miles per year.

The cushion of the D tire over a C tire comes at those higher 65 psi numbers.

[mrpep]

Originally Posted by JIMNLIN

Their still a low cost tire but moving up from a 50 psi C tire to a 65 psi D tire some times helps. If your previous ST tires gave you no problems these may not either if you stick with the same type of miles per year.



The cushion of the D tire over a C tire comes at those higher 65 psi numbers.

Thanks , the last tires were a different brand but were 7 years old so held up well for a load C. I hope that these D loads do well. I've been looking for some opinions on this so thank again.

[FaithBowls]

Not sure what all the fuss is about. My trailer came with Goodyear G rated / 110psi tires. Not cheap and correct for the trailer specs. I would say if people are having problems with tires, they're probably buying cheap quality to save some money. I'd say it's not the best place to try to save money. Why is it such an issue? Buy quality tires according to the trailer specs and keep them at the manufacturer's specified pressure.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by FaithBowls

Not sure what all the fuss is about. My trailer came with Goodyear G rated / 110psi tires. Not cheap and correct for the trailer specs. I would say if people are having problems with tires, they're probably buying cheap quality to save some money. I'd say it's not the best place to try to save money. Why is it such an issue? Buy quality tires according to the trailer specs and keep them at the manufacturer's specified pressure.

Absolutely! This is not rocket science!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[ralphie]

Originally Posted by FaithBowls

Not sure what all the fuss is about.............

There's two issues, I think. First, some folks are simply looking for information because TT/FW tire issues are new to them. I see this on boat sites because similar trailer tire problems surface there, too.

Second, many rv'ers shop for value and not everyone has a lot of money to drop on tires without researching for best bang (no pun intended) for the buck.

[1bigmess]

Originally Posted by FaithBowls

I would say if people are having problems with tires, they're probably buying cheap quality to save some money. I'd say it's not the best place to try to save money.

Tell that to the trailer manufacturers when the under spec tires for their brand new trailers. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

ORV put axles and tires on my trailer that were more than needed for the GVWR of the vehicle. The tires are still cheap tires that don't have a web site, just a web page.

[charliez]

Hopping in at the tail of this thread. is there really such a thing as a GOOD E rated 15" ST tire? I'm beginning to think not. Our 5'er came with the factory Carlisle C rated tires. I changed then to a D rated Goodyear Marathin tire. They only lasted about five years. Split to pieces and that was with them covered when we weren't on the road. We did go alot of places with them. I guess 5 years is about the life of a trailer tire even with no miles on it at all. Then we went to the Transmaster made my Greenball. I saw alot of reviews about these that said they were good. I stuck to the D rated because E's weren't available at that time. They now have them in E rated. I had to replace 1 last year about this time. I replaced it with an E rated. We just had another one tear apart for no particular reason. Wasn't flat. Wasn't low. Just decided I quit. The tread peeled and wrapped itself around the hub. I was afraid I wasn't going to get it free but I did.

I am going to put solid steel bolt in valve stems. I intended to already but just didn't. I have had one instance in the psat where a valve stem was at the bottom when we parked and someone stepped on it somehow. It went slowly flat when parked so I found it and replaced it before we hit the road again. I guess this could have happened again, or maybe we ran over a nail. I guess there's just no way to know for sure.

Our Discount now had an E rated Hartland tire. Anyone ever try those before? I hate to have just one tire that's different.

[timetogo]

Might look at the new Carlisle Radial Trail HD.

[Tireman9]

Need to remember that the Federal Regulations are MINIMUM standards. I see nothing in the regs preventing an RV company from applying tires and wheels with greater load capacity than the minimum needed to support the "normal" load.

As I understand it RVSEF makes the real life weights information available to companies that are interested so ignorance on their part is no excuse.

[Hatchee]

Originally Posted by timetogo

Might look at the new Carlisle Radial Trail HD.

Just got my Carlisle Radial Trail HD mounted yesterday morning at Discount Tire. 235/80R16s were around $120 less (for 4 tires) than Maxxis and rated @ 3520# load capacity while Maxxis are 3420#....both at 80psi.