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kiddoc1 · 06-07-2013, 07:06 AM

The Michelin P235/75R/15 LXT S/M have been recommended here and elsewhere for my 2008 Safari 28'. I have called Costco and one other place and they will not install them. They say the tires are not rated for this vehicle and that I need trailer tires (which cost a whole lot less). Any suggestions?

mstephens · 06-07-2013, 07:12 AM

Costco, Sears and other retailers will not install these tires on a trailer. I had the same thing happen. I took mine to a pro tire shop in town. The kind of place that does big rigs and other commercial vehicles. No problem at all. And in fact, they do a better job. I only showed them where the jack points were. I also had them install Dill TPM, and asked them to set the torque to 115#. I was out in 30 minutes. Good luck.

NJtoNC · 06-07-2013, 07:38 AM

try a local place. or you could take the wheels in and tires in and not the entire trailer... oh your in tryon! Well, its a bit of a drive but Cowan Tire does all my tires. highly recommended.

edit: the 235's work on my globetrotter BUT they are too thick for a vintage double axle trailer and could be too tall... i have no idea how they will be on a newer trailer. if you want to come to our place you can try ours before committing. PM me.

Bill M. · 06-07-2013, 07:47 AM

The last 2 times I have taken the wheels off and to the tire shop. Saves worrying about how they are jacking it up. Here the Goodyear service shop I go to would have put them on but I preferred not to hook up and pull into their small lot.

Captain Hank · 06-07-2013, 08:00 AM

Kiddoc1,

Are you sure you have the correct tire size? Other 27' & 28' have upgraded to 16" wheels and Michelin 16" tires which have the load capacity for you trailer. 15" would not have the load capacity for your trailer.

I just upgraded mine to 16". You can also see many threads on this forum that can give you advice on what they did to upgrade.

BoCox · 06-07-2013, 08:02 AM

Just installed my new tires and wheels last night. Bought tires from simpletire.com ($175 ea no tax + 50 in shipping) and wheels from trailer-wheels.com ($93 ea no tax free shipping) Took them to my local shade tree and he mounted and balanced the set of three for $30. Walmart wanted $50+. I'd agree with Bill, easy to do yourself and peace of mind it was done correctly.

ROBERT CROSS · 06-07-2013, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Hank

Kiddoc1,

Are you sure you have the correct tire size? Other 27' & 28' have upgraded to 16" wheels and Michelin 16" tires which have the load capacity for you trailer. 15" would not have the load capacity for your trailer.

I just upgraded mine to 16". You can also see many threads on this forum that can give you advice on what they did to upgrade.

^
X2

I'm not sure I would mount a "P" tire on the trailer, not even a Michelin.
Make sure of your load ratings.

Bob

perryg114 · 06-07-2013, 09:16 AM

I had a kid at Sam's give me a hard time about the putting car tires on trailer rims. I brought in loose rims. They asked me what they came off of and I should have told him they came off an old pickup truck. He said he won't warrantee them. I said fine put them on the rims. I would not put an ST rated tire on anything accept my garbage trailer. Now what cars/trucks would have the 6 bolt 5.5" bolt circle? My advice is take in the loose rims and lie about what they came off off. I take in loose rims all the time because it takes them less time to mount and balance them. I can also leave them and come back if they are real busy.

Perry

SeeMore · 06-07-2013, 09:43 AM

The 6x5.5(139.7mm) bolt pattern is the same as the Chevy '71-91 Suburban 4x4 6 lug pattern. From '92 onward it is found on the Denali, Tahoe, and Yukon 4x4s. It is also used on some of the older Chevy 2wd trucks, the '74-92 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, on almost all Toyota 4x4's, and a number of other Japanese mini-trucks.

ventport · 06-07-2013, 10:23 AM

I bought mine at Costco in Minneapolis, and just brought the wheels in and they installed and balanced them with no problem. Then I installed them on the trailer at home.

Moflash · 06-07-2013, 01:02 PM

I would not put the P metric Michelins on your trailer.You need to buy 16 inch wheels and put the LT Michelins with the E load rating along with metal valve stems.There is a good reason they wont install them on your trailer.

Bill M. · 06-07-2013, 01:05 PM

Whether or not to run a P tire is a personal choice. The load ratings for the tire mentioned by the OP are 1985 lbs at 50 PSI. It is a P tire that runs at C load range tire pressures. That is after the Dot required derating of 10% for use on a trailer. On the sidewall it says 10% higher than that. It is a little confusing that the Michelin LTX is a P tire. My last set was a Michelin LTX that was a LT tire. But they stopped making them. The new LTX's I just put on are the P tire mentioned in the OP. I do not know what a 28' Safari weighs. My 25' Excella lists a gross axle weight of 6300 lbs. When I have weighed it it actually has 5800 lbs on the axles, so load capacity is good for me. I have steel wheels that I think will only take 50 psi, so I would have to run the C range GYM/s or under inflate the D GYM's. Neither of which I want to do. If someone is not really sure what tire they want and why then maybe they should just run the GYM's. On paper and reading specifications they look awful good for the application. Is it only an internet myth that they fail a lot? I personally do not think so. But they are cheap and you could replace them every couple of years or so. And of course the 16" Michelin LT's would carry plenty of load.

Apparantly the whole trailer industry is letting us down by staying with 15" wheels. My neighbor has a top of the line 5th wheel that came with 15" wheels and it is in the shop for repairs and to find the cause for 3 catastropic blowouts involving several thousand dollars repair each time and 1 or 2 tires on a side in 5 years and just a few thousand miles of pulling a year. He thinks it is something wrong with the trailer? I think it is the heavily loaded ST tires. He has been running 10 ply in several brands with not much good results.

3campers · 06-07-2013, 03:05 PM

I purchased and had them installed at a real tire store... A real store with real employees that really know tires. Watch them carefully though when they jack it up...most not experienced on Airstreams... Once I showed them the jacking points they installed them and I was on my way... No questions...

perryg114 · 06-07-2013, 03:52 PM

It would be nice to see a crossection of the ST, LT, and P tires. If you look at the 3 tires from a weight standpoint the ST is the lightest and most flimsy.

Perry

switz · 06-07-2013, 07:08 PM

The GVW on our 25FB International Serenity is 7,300 pounds. The Shureline scale reports the tongue weight as 1,175 pounds. When I crossed the scales all loaded for a trip, the trailer axles were carrying 5,880 pounds. Thus, the Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires are more than adequate for this application.

We have a 2014 Classic 27FB on order with a GVW of 9,000 pounds. The 15" Michelins are not adequate for this loading. I will install five Michelin LT 225/75R16E M/S2 tires on five SenDel T03-66655T rims for the new rig.

I will buy the tires at Costco, just like I did the 15" tires. I had them install new tires on the original wheels. The installers all knew that GYM ST tires are unsafe and that these 15" Michelins were the best choice. The trailer was in it's storage facility ten miles away. I brought two in at a time, leaving the spare on each side while the two new tires were installed. The spare was done last.

For the new trailer, I will bring in five new bare wheels to Costco. No issues. Then I will go to the trailer and put all five tires and wheels on by myself.

Andrew T · 06-07-2013, 07:21 PM

A real tire store with the owner in the store is the best option.

If you need to explain what the rims are for you have a 1990 1/2 ton Suburban 4x4.

Andrew T

overlander63 · 06-07-2013, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew T

If you need to explain what the rims are for you have a 1990 1/2 ton Suburban 4x4.

Andrew T

After we ran int the same issue last week with a friend's tires (he made the mistake of saying the "T" word), I bundled him and the tires up in my truck, and we went elsewhere. I told the kid at the counter at the next place they were going on a Blazer. No problem.

NJtoNC · 06-07-2013, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switz

We have a 2014 Classic 27FB on order with a GVW of 9,000 pounds.

I'm sorry to get off topic here, but i nearly choked on this number. The weight of our 1957 26' overlander is #3280, almost 1/3 of the weight of a 2014 in nearly the same length.

incredible, eh?

overlander63 · 06-07-2013, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJtoNC

I'm sorry to get off topic here, but i nearly choked on this number. The weight of our 1957 26' overlander is #3280, almost 1/3 of the weight of a 2014 in nearly the same length.

incredible, eh?

And the cargo carrying capacity is probably almost double the new trailer. I've seen a few models with less than 100# cargo capacity.

switz · 06-07-2013, 08:17 PM

I would guess the 100# cargo capacity was supposed to be 1,000#. The 9,000 GVW of that Classic 27FB reflects over 700 pounds of solid Hickory woodwork in all the cabinets, two 40 pound gas tanks, 54 gallons of water with a literature payload of 2,328 pounds, or 2/3 of the GVW of the 1957 Overlander trailer. Also, the longer newer models are typically 6" wider than the older units.