New Tires need advice

I will just add a few thoughts I have on TT tires in no particular order of importance.

1. While GY has a quality problem with their Marathon ST tires (15" size as I remember) a few years ago I don't think if they are made in China is a bad thing. BTW from what I understand GY is now making them in the U.S. and you can order/get them thru WM for around $100 ea.

2. I've been using GY Marathon ST tires for the last 13 years and have put close to 40K miles on like 12 or so tires with never a problem. I've also heard good things about Maxxis trailer tires. These two would be the only ones I would put on my trailer.

3. If you trailer is stowed where the sun hits the tires replacing them about ever 6 years is probably a good idea. My trailer tires are never in the sun so I will probably go 10 years unless I see them start to crack. I also douse them with 303 every couple of months.

4. I would not use LT tires on a trailer. ST tires are different and have stiffer side walls and are designed to hold up under the racking or scuffing that happens in tight slow turns/maneuvers in tandem axle trailers with closely spaced axles. Also you have to be absolutely sure that your rims are matched pressure wise to the inflation requirements of what ever tire you put on the rim. A lot of rims are stamped with the max pressure inside so you have to remove the tire to see what your rim is rated at.

5. I feel that most tire failures are from either under inflation or excessive speed. At normal inflation pressures ST tires are limited to 65mph. You can add 10psi for speeds between 66 and 75 according to GY, but that is going beyond normal and most TT rims are not rated for that increased pressure. Normally 14" rims will be rated for 50psi and 15" rims rated for 65psi. I normally tow at 60mph for both tire reasons, mpg considerations, and my level of comfort. Another problem is because you are running them at close to their limits both pressure/load/speed wise a single significant pot hole hit at interstate speeds can damage a tire and cause either tread separation or side wall failure.

6. On my current trailer and it's China made GY's my axle wts are only 200 or so lbs under the max for the four tires and with around 6K on them so far no problems.

7. If you have the Tor-Flex type axles which do not use the exposed springs, but use a system of rubber inside the axle for suspension there is a minimum spacing between the tires at max load that needs to be maintained and that is around 1 to 1.5" so be careful if increase your tire size that you don't end up violating that min. distance.

8. I have never had a TT tire balanced since I don't see the need. You're not concerned about ride like in a car/truck.

9. While nice metal valve stems are really not needed on TT tires IMHO and I have never had a valve stem failure on either my trailer or any of my vehicles in the last almost 45 years.

Just MHO and some tidbits to chew on and either spit out or digest :lmao:

Larry
 
The one failure I had could have been much worse had I not been as attentive as I am while towing. We had just stopped at the service plaza on the turnpike in FL and I checked the tires there. About 10 miles North on 75 and I see debris on the road, behind me on the left side, I scan the roadway thinking maybe I had run thru someone elses tire debris and didnt see any, I then looked back and saw the light blue smoke and pulled over immediately. The entire outer sidewall was shredded but the tread stayed intact. I think I must ahve run over something sharp and the tire leaked air out and ate itself up running flat, I would have never noticed it form the way the trailer handled, there was no change in the way it towed.

Coach tires and ST trailer tires are entirely different animals and are not subject to the same replacement timeline. I will say that any tire that is exposed to UV will degrade and its always a good idea to cover them when not in use.

There are better tires out there than Goodyear, Michelin makes excellent tires but I dont think they have an ST line. Goodyears delaer network and nationwide service are part of what keeps me buying them.

Town tire in Gainesville off of I75 has very good service and reasonable prices if you are ever in a jam on the way to WDW.
 
Thank you everyone for the time and advice! This is great information and we have learned a lot from everyone.

I am sure others have too. I know when other threads have came out I have soaked up that info even though I did not reply.

I checked on the Maxxis ones and our nearest dealer is over 40 minutes away. bummer or I would go with them.

Husband is calling Sears today to find out what deals are being offered too. He is military and we are both govt and I think they give a discount.

So, we might go with goodyear from all the points pointed out on this thread too.

We have tire covers (bought them last year) but we have not used them. With these new tires we are going to cover and keep them healthy as possible.

I have 4 kiddos and I want to make sure we make the safest purchase. Plus, never want to make a bad decision and hurt anyone else out there on the road either.

Thanks a million!
 
I have read to many blowout stories of ST tires is my biggest reason. I also don't understand why IF it's such a great tire why it's only for a trailer. I know, alot of people have never had any problem's with them, but why not just run a good light truck tire and be done with it. I have read and heard all about how the ST's have more of this and more of that, but I still want to know if they are that good why not put them on your TV, your car and everything else. This is only my opinion which is worth nothing, but I do not use ST tires for nothing.

Our camper came with LT tires on it when new, but they were the kenda junk, so I replaced them before going anywhere. kenda did pay for the new tires once I cut the DOT numbers off and sent them to them.
 


Have you ever seen how the axles flex the tires in a sharp turn, thats why ST rated tires have larger load rates and reenforced sidewalls. I cannot find a LT tire with a heavy load range for our trailer in 15". I have talked to a couple of RV repair sites that said to reverse the Axles and use 16" tires, but that seem like to much work to me..
 
Remember the tires on our TT have 65 psi not like our cars witch have about 35 psi. If a 65psi tire lets go it will do lot’s of damage. The big rigs have 100 + psi in there tires
 
Remember the tires on our TT have 65 psi not like our cars witch have about 35 psi. If a 65psi tire lets go it will do lot’s of damage. The big rigs have 100 + psi in there tires

Almost all 14" TT ST tires are Load range C (that being most out there in the under 8K GVWR) with 50psi max including the rims, and 15" are Load range D (65psi and I'm unaware of any 15" E ST or LT rated tires) with 16" being either Load range C, D, or E with E being 80 psi. All 3/4 and 1T TV come with load range E tires. As I mentioned a major consideration for a tandem axle trailer with closely spaced axles is the tire scrub or ladder rack in very tight turns at slow speed where one tire is twisted on the rim to pavement and the other is in the opposite direction ... that puts a tremendous stress on the side walls which ST tires are designed to withstand whereas LT tires except once you get to the 16" E rated ones are not. This twist is often reported as a problem in folks with 4x4 with lockers on their axles when they are in 4x4 mode locked and in a turn on non slick areas where the front or rear tries to "jump" because of the twisting forces on either the rear or front axle.

There have been a lot of threads on various forums concerning poor towing performance from the Ford Excursion with heavier trailers. That vehicle typically comes with 16" load range D tires and just up grading to the heavier sidewalled E range 80 psi tire has helped with the towing issues with that very capable tow vehicle.

I know some TT/5ers use LT tires, but to my knowledge almost none have 15" tires and most are into the 16" E rated tires which in the 235 profile have a load range of 3042 a tire so for a GVWR that's around 12 to 13K GVWR.

Larry
 


Well we ended up ordering tires through a local goodyear dealer.

We talked to NTB, Sears, Sams and then the local dealer.

NTB had the Tomax brand and we could have gotten those for around $94/tire or less (they said they would give us a govt discount).

Sears said they have no ST tires that are D load. All they had were C load. I found the goodyear tire that we thought we would get online and Sears said they could not get it. I called and asked her again and she called and asked someone else and they said that they do not have any in there first or second warehouse. I guess they can not or do not order direct from Goodyear.

Sams had the same goodyear tire on their website but it said "special order". So I called them and after looking into she said it was not available. She said that sams does not sell trailer tires. But, before she found out that it was not available she did price it to me so at least I had one comparison.

So, we with the local tire store who is a goodyear dealer. They were able to order the tires from Goodyear and could get them in one day. So we did it. The entire price counting tires, mounting, balancing and tax cam out to $497. I don't think that is too bad. Sams priced me $116/tire before tax. Sams said that they will not balance. We also told them that the tire would need to be manf w/in the last few months. They said they would be because they are coming from goodyear. We will check though.

Here is the tire that we ordered:
It is the ST225/75R15 D load

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/products/marathon.html

Here is a link on their site about weighing.
http://www.goodyear.com/rv/weighing/

Sure hope we made a good decision!

Carrie
 
9. While nice metal valve stems are really not needed on TT tires IMHO and I have never had a valve stem failure on either my trailer or any of my vehicles in the last almost 45 years.

Just MHO and some tidbits to chew on and either spit out or digest :lmao:

Larry

Everything sounds good except for this in my case I have had rubber valve stems fail on both trailer and truck. Although in all fairness I was driving through a creek when the one on the truck went out. A floating tree branch got it.
 
Hello Lone-star!

What part of Texas are you from?

We live in GA because of Govt jobs but are trying to get back to TX in the next 3 or so years hopefully. Waiting for the housing market to turn around!

Anyway, I am from Arlington, TX and my husband is from San Antonio, TX.

Carrie
 
Hello Lone-star!

What part of Texas are you from?

We live in GA because of Govt jobs but are trying to get back to TX in the next 3 or so years hopefully. Waiting for the housing market to turn around!

Anyway, I am from Arlington, TX and my husband is from San Antonio, TX.

Carrie

Houston area. I want to move to Florida and my whole family does but we like our jobs so we are here for now. Even my boss wants to move to Florida.
 
Smart idea to replace the tires. Also make sure you have a spare and the proper tools. We thought since our pop-up was fairly new and the tires looked good, we were fine. Admittedly we made lots of trips to FW with no mishaps, but last summer we had a big blowout that made DH have to really fight to keep control of the truck. And once he got it stopped, the tools he had didn't fit the lugnuts on the camper! We were just north of Valdosta on I-75 and luckily one of the contractors working on the hwy stopped to help and had the right tools.
 
Smart idea to replace the tires. Also make sure you have a spare and the proper tools. We thought since our pop-up was fairly new and the tires looked good, we were fine. Admittedly we made lots of trips to FW with no mishaps, but last summer we had a big blowout that made DH have to really fight to keep control of the truck. And once he got it stopped, the tools he had didn't fit the lugnuts on the camper! We were just north of Valdosta on I-75 and luckily one of the contractors working on the hwy stopped to help and had the right tools.

That make me think too campingdawgs! My husband said that is why he brings the jack and I assume tools, in case something like that happened. I had not really thought about it because I leave it up to him. I do all the planning and packing so...

We had AAA RV service for the first year that we had a camper and then I went with Goodsam.

The last year I have not renewed. When diesel was over $4/gal we kind of quit going anywhere except a local campground.

So what does Fort campers do? Do you keep a roadside service in place all the time? And do you prefer goodsams? Do some of you just go without?

I probably need to think about renewing again.
 
Houston area. I want to move to Florida and my whole family does but we like our jobs so we are here for now. Even my boss wants to move to Florida.

I love TX and it is in my blood. We want to be back there. I like WDW and I like Florida but I would not want to live in Florida. We are in Georgia right now which is about 6 hours from WDW. I have actually thought about may be not moving to Texas because we would be further from the Fort! Now that is sad! haha I don't know what it is exactly that lures you in so much to Fort Wilderness. But it is extemely addicting.
 
There are many different design elements between the ST vs LT tires. Although I wouldnt, I can see how an LT tire would work on a trailer, an ST tire however would not work on a tow vehicle due to the sidewall and tread design, the ST would have way too much sidewall flex and the tow vehicle would be unstable.
Another issue with the ST vs LT would be weight, the LT will weigh more, this "unsprung weight" or rolling mass if you will, would have an effect on the suspension and braking of the trailer, it may or may not be noticeable but it will be a factor to consider. Like many, I would prefer to buy an ST tire that offers a wider margin of weight carrying than most of whats offered, thats why it pays to shop and see whats out there, as our OP did, You cant beat an informed consumer !
 
Having blown a tire on the way home from FW in June, we are really in the market. We have found Carlisle tires are "E" rated 15" ST for around $100 each. We are getting the nitrogen put in because DH has read that it keeps the tires cooler and it's free so what the heck. I had asked about balancing on the Titanium User Group site and they said the same thing as here..yes, balance and yes, good valve stems. Not sure where they are made any more, but originally it was PA.
 
Having blown a tire on the way home from FW in June, we are really in the market. We have found Carlisle tires are "E" rated 15" ST for around $100 each. We are getting the nitrogen put in because DH has read that it keeps the tires cooler and it's free so what the heck. I had asked about balancing on the Titanium User Group site and they said the same thing as here..yes, balance and yes, good valve stems. Not sure where they are made any more, but originally it was PA.

dtum,

where did you find these tires?

I looked and read about E tires and it seem like they take more "air" or something like that. It seemed more complicated but heck my brain is tired and it might not be a big deal.

I did not realize that Nitrogen runs cooler. Good to know.


Anyone have comments on road side assistance?
 
At a place called "Terry's Tire Town." I think they are only in NE Ohio though.
 
We actually have Good Sam, but recently joined Coach-net because we had read so many good things about them and Good Sam had a few bad reviews and I wanted to make sure we were safe on the road. When we blew the tire we were in the middle of no where land on the WV turnpike and they were there in 40 min, changed our tire and we were on our way. They actually offer quite a bit of "extra" services that Good Sam doesn't and the price is about the same. We've been happy so far.

https://www.coach-net.com/
 
I love TX and it is in my blood. We want to be back there. I like WDW and I like Florida but I would not want to live in Florida. We are in Georgia right now which is about 6 hours from WDW. I have actually thought about may be not moving to Texas because we would be further from the Fort! Now that is sad! haha I don't know what it is exactly that lures you in so much to Fort Wilderness. But it is extemely addicting.

I know what you mean there is just something about Texas when your from here your proud of it.(as you can tell from my screen name) If I moved to Florida I would spend 2 weeks a year camping in the Texas hill country and floating the rivers.

Here are a couple of good Texas songs for you.(they sound better on cd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ6Ar78HzC4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DNSHmYaqkc
 

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