80 MPH, 85 MPH fast enough?

[scarpa]

My Providence rarely sees 65+. I'm not in any kind of hurry to get places these days and if you figure in all the comments above regarding safety, etc. then any sensible person pushing 35k lbs and 60+ feet down the highway would not push to the limit less he wants to meet his maker early.

[Crasher]

Since there is not a semi or RV tire rated for more than 75 mph, how will an insurance company look at an accident caused by a tire failure due to excessive speed? If you knowingly exceed the design limits of your tires, does that give them a way out of the claim? What about the liability you could have in the event of an excessive speed tire failure that caused a fatality even though you were within the legal speed limit. I bet a good lawyer could have a big pay day with that. I have never understood the need to drive fast in an RV. Aren't they supposed to be for relaxing and taking life easy????

[ahicks]

Not that I'm generally driving that fast, but it seems to me tires letting go when run faster than their design limits hasn't been a very big issue to date?

[IC2]

NY still has a 65 mph speed limit which is seldom enforced by any LEO - he would get writer's cramp from the tickets written. With that said, it seems that ~80 is the usual rate of speed for passenger vehicles. I generally, with the speed limiting Blow Max ST tires on our current 5er, try to stay at 60-65 mph - and am usually passed on the local interstates, I-87, I-88 and I-90 by everything with tires including every Class A in sight. Those tires on our 5er are now 2.5 years old and with their poor history, will get replaced next month by some Bridgestone LTs capable of 106 mph. I guess I'll never get to utilize that 'improved' capability as my speed will be ---- 65 mph and maybe a little more and a speed that I consider safe for an 8360 pound pick up truck and a 12-13,000 pound trailer (59 feet long and 10+ tons worth).

There is a pretty deep paper (over 700 pages) if you want to really get into tire design and analyses. Plug this in GOOGLE, open, and wait for sleep to arrive -
The Pneumatic Tire - NHTSA

[sknight]

Inflation/loading is far more critical to tire life than speed. I'm not abdicating testing your cruise at 90, but your tires aren't going to suddenly fly apart at 66mph either.

As technology advances, speeds will increase. Unfortunately that puts us in a bad position because the Hurt report shows that the greater difference in speed between fastest to slowest is greater risk than the speed itself. I'm a 65ish guy, but I won't hesitate to march it up to get around a gaggle of big trucks blocking the highway, but when traffic is rolling at 80 that 15-20mph difference in speed is pretty serious.

I'm suspecting that we'll see RV speeds increase over time, I've spoken to old timers that thought towing or driving a motor home over 50 was madness. Now, 65-70 is the norm. With modern trucks having the tech they do I believe within ten years 75+ will be common. The tires will be addressed by either demand causing the manufacturers to up their rating or owners will buy higher speed rated tires.