235/75R15XL vs 225/75-15 trailer tire

[tlavergne]

Just put Michelin 15" on my trailer yesterday. Went with LTX M/S2 235/75R15. Rated at 2185 lbs per tire.

[Max Well]

I went with the same tire after reading the huge comparison thread here. I have always had great luck with Michelins and so far so good! They ride like a dream! I just didn't want the nightmare of the Marathon blowouts that everyone seems to have. I think you will be very happy with them.

[tlavergne]

I spent most of the winter pondering what to get, reading reviews, reading threads here, etc. I have been using Michelin's on all my cars since my 1970 Saab 95. Never have had a problem with a Michelin tire...ever.

[tinman1]

Does anyone know if there has been a tire survey taken? It might be interesting to see what is the most popular brand.

I have used Goodyear Marathons and Carlisle Radials 225 x 75 x 15 never experienced problems (my luck might change now that I made such statement)

I soon will have to purchase replacements and would like to know which brands hold up best.

I use Michelins only on my other vehicles with good experience.

[tlavergne]

The tires I replaced were Goodyear Marathons. Ran them for 10 years almost to the day with no problems. However, I think that is the exception to the rule. That's why I went with Michelin's.

[r.swanson]

235 75 15 on1971 as 29 ft cooper pulls good .

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by tinman1

Does anyone know if there has been a tire survey taken? It might be interesting to see what is the most popular brand.

I have used Goodyear Marathons and Carlisle Radials 225 x 75 x 15 never experienced problems (my luck might change now that I made such statement)

I soon will have to purchase replacements and would like to know which brands hold up best.

I use Michelins only on my other vehicles with good experience.

Popular as far as number of tires on the road has to be the ST rated Marathon. It is probably standard equipment for most trailer brands. Popular as far as likes goes on this forum seems to be trending towards the Michelin LT 16" tires as replacements for the various branded ST rated tires.

Here is the link to the tire failure thread that provides some statistics relative to tire failures. http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...oll-76867.html

[perryg114]

Any tire of this size is a good choice. I am running the BF Goodrich version. I will probably buy the Michelins in that size when these need replacing.

Perry

Originally Posted by r.swanson

235 75 15 on1971 as 29 ft cooper pulls good .

[lwp99]

Had them installed yesterday on my 2005 25' Safari. I can't help but believe they will provide superior service over the original (and replacement) "trailer" tires. I'll be running them at 45# cold; it was a challenge to find accurate information on load ratings for the various psi. NOTE: I did find a couple of links via this forum which led me to choose the 45# - Thanks!

The original tires (225/75-15 trailer only) were specified to run at 65# cold - meaning they would support 10,000# - way above the 6300# gvr for the trailer. Going to a lower SAFE pressure should enable greater longevity for all the components.

[perryg114]

Bias ply tires were prone to overheating and failure even when they were used on cars. The design is such that there is more internal friction and less traction to the road. I remember them being a pain compared to modern radials. When folks did not drive 1000 miles in a day going 90MPH it was not as big of an issue. I expect there is NO testing of ST tires now days and they are just using existing designs for construction. There is probably little or no quality control in China for ST tires because no one cares about them. The Chinese are capable of making good stuff but you don't know what is good and what is bad because of the above issues.

Perry

[OilnH2o]

I have my AS scheduled for 4 new Michelin LTX 235/75R MS/2 XLs to be installed on Wednesday morning by what must be the only "independent thinking" tire guy at my big box membership store! Only question from the tire manager was if I knew what the torque values were for the aluminum AS wheels and my only question was whether to install with the white lettering inside or out.... But, I think this thread was helpful to me in deciding on the Michelins - and that so many have done so without a problem, including Xeno who has the same year and model. The PO had Toyo 225/75 STs (running at 50psi) and this is the "6th or 7th year" he said when I got it 3 weeks ago. They have lots of tread but are wearing as if they are toed-in so that outside-edge wear, plus their age (especially the "unknown" aspect of their true age), lead me to look at all these threads. Thanks to all who have helped educate the rest of us.

[redwoodguy]

Originally Posted by OilnH2o

I have my AS scheduled for 4 new Michelin LTX 235/75R MS/2 XLs to be installed on Wednesday morning by what must be the only "independent thinking" tire guy at my big box membership store!

I am going to have my LTXs mounted by Thursday. I am planning on keeping a specific tire log for the life of these tires. I will keep track of miles, conditions, pressures and of course any failures that might occur. I would like to encourage others to keep similar tire logs on AS trailers in order to build a database that can be used by others when evaluating trailer tires. The more data that is collected, the more difficult it will become to argue against reason with hope and faith and wishes. Good solid data should put this issue to rest.

[Kamiak]

Originally Posted by redwoodguy

I am going to have my LTXs mounted by Thursday. I am planning on keeping a specific tire log for the life of these tires. I will keep track of miles, conditions, pressures and of course any failures that might occur. I would like to encourage others to keep similar tire logs on AS trailers in order to build a database that can be used by others when evaluating trailer tires. The more data that is collected, the more difficult it will become to argue against reason with hope and faith and wishes. Good solid data should put this issue to rest.

I understand. The absence of real data has made analysis on this topic challenging. I see some respondents mention that they tow in excess of 70mph, a speed I wouldn't even consider approaching while towing, regardless of the tires. Don't forget to track speed and weight.

While the intention is laudable. it's difficult to perform large-scale statistical analysis on a single user, or even small, uncontrolled group. I've seen many posts of users having traveled a few hundred, or even few thousand miles on their new xyz tires without incident. It's interesting, but irrelevant; it's kinda like the old joke where the man falls off the 40-story building, and after 39 floors, says, "so far, so good".

Nevertheless, gotta start somewhere. It would be nice if the NHTSA would track this data and publish their results. The biggest seller can reasonably be expected to have the greatest number of failures in nominal terms. Do they have they greatest failure rate, and what were the weights, speed, ambient temperature, inflation, etc. at the time of failure?

[redwoodguy]

Originally Posted by Kamiak

While the intention is laudable. it's difficult to perform large-scale statistical analysis on a single user, or even small, uncontrolled group. I've seen many posts of users having traveled a few hundred, or even few thousand miles on their new xyz tires without incident. It's interesting, but irrelevant; it's kinda like the old joke where the man falls off the 40-story building, and after 39 floors, says, "so far, so good".

Some organization to the data will be beneficial, even it not perfect. The cost of perfect information here is orders of magnitude out of range of the subject matter. However, organized data is still valuable.

What I imagine for data collection is a chart with a row for each user. The columns will include trailer; tire ID; nominal pressure carried; auto or manual pressure gauge; date installed; miles; visual wear; failure incidents; comments. It is probably unrealistic to attempt to capture road conditions, temperature and all those environmental variables. If the above was captured for say three years, and had a few hundred users, I think some interesting stats would precipitate out.

[Kamiak]

Yup. We have to "tease the data until it yields". I'm hoping for the best. Meanwhile, my next tire purchase is fairly imminent, not eminent, so I'll have to take my best guess.

[perryg114]

I think that the ride quality of radial tires is much better than bias ply tires which means less problems with loose rivets etc.

Perry

[nilesrob]

Someone mentioned previously on this thread that there are less and less 15" options. In my current explorations, and I am looking at 16" wheels, there are not many options for 6" width wheels and tires (16x6), more options and availability with a 7" width (16x7). Has anyone else found this and has anyone gone with a 7" wheel?

On my trailer I have 1 1/2" clearance from the wheel well and the tire itself.

[Kamiak]

Originally Posted by nilesrob

Someone mentioned previously on this thread that there are less and less 15" options. In my current explorations, and I am looking at 16" wheels, there are not many options for 6" width wheels and tires (16x6), more options and availability with a 7" width (16x7). Has anyone else found this and has anyone gone with a 7" wheel?

On my trailer I have 1 1/2" clearance from the wheel well and the tire itself.

In my search of 15" alternatives, I've prepared a spreadsheet from Tire Rack data. In my spreadsheet, I included non-ST tires at either 235/75R15 or 225/70R15 with a load capacity equal to or greater than 2,183#, compared to my GYM 225/75R15's. There's 12 tires on this spreadsheet, excluding the comparison GYM. They range in load capacity from the 2183# on several tires to 2470 for the Continental and Goodyear 225/75R15 ribs. I've tried to upload the spreadsheet several times, without success. I get some sort of error code, but I don't recall the specifics. I'm guessing it's because I have a number of formulas and conditional formatting in the spreadsheet, essentially macros that the website blocks.

In any event, there are several 15" options out there, including tires made by Continental, Goodyear, Goodrich, Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Firestone, and Hancock. I'm most intrigued by the Goodyear and Continental ribs and their significant load capacity, load range D, 65# psi. They have the "summer" caveat against use in temperatures near freezing, as I'm told the material becomes harder at those temperatures, yielding lower traction. Traction would be relevant in stopping, but I don't typically Airstream at those temperatures, so I'm not persuaded it is relevant to me. Others with experience with these tires may be willing to share their experience. The other potentially relevant factor pertaining to these tires is their 225/70R15 size, almost 1/2" lower to the ground. That could matter exiting some driveways, but I have no idea how frequently that issue might arise. It might matter more to some coaches than others, i.e., particularly those with a longer overhang behind the rear tire. I'm careful with my 25-footer, so with my current 225/75R15's that's not an problem.

[nilesrob]

Helpful, thanks Kamiak.

[Wayward]

Originally Posted by Kamiak

I've tried to upload the spreadsheet several times, without success. I get some sort of error code, but I don't recall the specifics.

That would be great to see. Can you export as CSV maybe?

Do you have the Firestone Destination's on there? I use those now on my TV after having sidewall failures on Michelins on my previous 3/4 ton truck (yes, tires other than GYM fail too )