How to know when to buy new tires

[moxie t. moto]

If you can wait till you get to montana. No sales tax!

[m.hony]

My tires gave absolutely no warning.
Trip to Toledo Bend in Louisiana last August- no issues-
Next weekend trip to Grenada Lake- tread separation visible on one tire-
Got new tires and discovered weird tread separation on 3 of 4 tires-
Tires were 2 years 10 months old, but may well have had 30,000 miles.

[Ted S.]

It's shocking to research tires and find so many blowouts from owners of all brands.

Its almost as if the tire industry knows most FRV's just sit in one place.

The least amount of issues on trailer tires were Maxxis from what I read.

[Silverflames]

Originally Posted by Silverflames

I'm interested in hearing about peoples experiences with the Maxxis E rated tires. My current tires are 65 years old, and the tread is starting to look cupped in sections. Also they loose about 10 PSI in just a few days. Thus, I'm thinking about replacements.

So if you have Maxxis Tires Please sound off!

Sorry they are 6 years old.

[Action]

Originally Posted by Silverflames

I'm interested in hearing about peoples experiences with the Maxxis E rated tires. My current tires are 65 years old, and the tread is starting to look cupped in sections. Also they loose about 10 PSI in just a few days. Thus, I'm thinking about replacements.

So if you have Maxxis Tires Please sound off!

Once the tires hit 62 I would be looking for a social security check.

>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Tom_T]

Baretta -

Actually the tire date codes go back well before 2002 noted above - but in 2000 they changed the date code as explained in the link below on how to read the date codes of both <2000 & 2000> ....

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

The common recco by pros is to replace trailer tires at 5 years (as many have said above) - & cars/SUVs & Light Trucks at 7 years - or earlier for both due to wear, sidewall damage, micro-cracking in either/both tread grooves &/or sidewalls.

So check both your TV & AS tires & ages very carefully yourself before the trip & decide.

If it were me & close to those ages &/or definitely with any of the other red flags - I would change them out before going on a long trip, in hot months &/or hot areas (e.g.: desert southwest) - as I did when I picked up our "new to us" `60 Avion T20 in Albuquerque & drove it 800+ miles to SoCal in July 2012. Nothing spoils a road trip like car/TV or trailer problems, so if you can eliminate potential tire problems, then do so.

Also note that ST trailer tires are only rated to 65 mph in most cases, & speed raises tire temps almost exponentially at higher speeds - so keep the speed down to do whatever tires on there a favor. Heat is the enemy of tires!

Also - I end up replacing almost new tires on my cars at maybe 80% tread due to age/ozone cracking, since we only put 2-3000 miles/yr. on them now that the kids are gone & everything is close. It's a hard bullet to bite when the "look" so new otherwise, but those cracks in the treads & sidewalls are telling you that the rubber is compromised & you need to chuck them!


Silverflames -

Yes - it's definitely time to change out those 65 year old tires!
.... okay 6 - still ready for replacement.

I've been running Maxxis 8008 ST225/75R15-E's (8PR) on our vintage kin 1960 Avion T20 since we got it in July 2012 with no issues - including on the 800+ mile run from Albuquerque to SoCal in July where we bought it, & since them to vintage trailer rallies around CA. By the date codes, they'll be due for replacement (still with lotsa tread) next summer-ish, but maybe sooner if I see the cracking or sidewall/tread damage &/or plan a long trip as noted above.

PS - We could've gone with D rated since the older kin & AS's were lighter, but the 225/75R15 was the correct change-over for the OE Bias Ply 6PR (D Load in today's ratings) tires on the OE 15" steel rims, & that only came in E so we have an extra wt. capacity cushion.

PSS - I'll do the same Maxxis next time, but do check the date codes before mounting them, & do so for all tires on all vehicles when getting new tires anytime!

The Maxxis were recco'd by the AS/Kin restorer who did our PPI on the Avion, who reccos them to all his customers & runs them on his +/-6 ASs himself.

Good Luck All!
Tom
///////

[Silverflames]

Thank you Tom!

So my AS is about 5k lbs, I considered the load E range for the extra strength, but with just a lower PSI in the tires, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. How did the load E ride?

Load D are rated at 2500, so it clearly covers the load I need to carry.

[Patricia720]

I'm with Bob. Tires don't just blow for no reason. If the guy at the tire stores says they are okay, they are okay. Lots of AS owners baby their trailers. That's fine and if you have unlimited funds and have to have everything new, I can see why older tires might bother you. I did 4.5 months in Alaska last year. I had brand new tires on my truck but the tire guy said the trailer tires were fine, so I kept them. Long story short, I had two blown tires on the truck and the trailer tires were fine. The truck takes the greatest shock. Luckily, I had two spare tires for the truck, as recommended for travel in Canada and Alaska, so I had no real problems. I kept the blown truck tires (both with holes in the sidewalls) and returned them for new ones once I hit the lower 48, where Discount Tire stores are abundant. BTW, I am an older woman traveling alone and find that I have no more problems than my male friends. If anything, I have far more offers of help, from both men and women, than I can count. I've traveled to every American National Park on this continent so I've seen a wide variety of road conditions. Of course, you should know how to change a tire if you are going to remote areas but roadside assistance is available almost everywhere in the lower 48.

[larryglarson]

In my opinion you will find my fellow forum friends are real "worry worts". If I were you I would go to the Good Year web site and read what they say. I you do not have deep cracks on the side way and the tire face "the part that touches the road" is flat and wearing even, you are in good shap. Enjoy the wine you buy with the savings and relax.

[tweetie2]

Hello,Definitely replace the tires, cheap price for big reward.
When you are traveling thru MN you should stop by. We live in central MN on a 80 acre farm and have a collection of trailers and vintage vehicles which we restore in our spare time. We have a 1959 28' Airstream, all original, even upholstery & curtains, a 1962 Avion T-20 restored and a 1964 T-21 Avion which we are working on at present. You could stay with full hook ups...just extending our hospitality. Let me know if you're interested, PM me.
Happy trails,
Linda

[dannydimitt]

Ancient Chinese saying = " examine tire closely , if it stamped S T , immediately replace with Michelins "

we run 235/75R15 P rated 50 PSI , Michelins on our AS and they preform flawlessly !

[SeaLevel]

Originally Posted by dannydimitt

Ancient Chinese saying =

I thought the consensus was to avoid all things Chinese when it came to tires.

[Ted S.]

Originally Posted by larryglarson

In my opinion you will find my fellow forum friends are real "worry worts".

Its funny because I was told I was a "worry wort" about the BF Goodrich tires I had on my Excursion just 2 weeks before we blew one to pieces on I94 in WI. They looked perfect, my mechanic and Town Fair Tire said they should be fine.

Well let me tell you, I never realized how violent a blow out could be. My son was desperately trying to maintain control, I had to unbuckle my seatbelt to get to the brake controller because the belt had me pined to the seat. The police had to come a close 1 lane because there was no shoulder as the section we were at was under construction.

The truck came from Florida so the consensus was they had UV damage but here was no cracking. The tire was 4 years old I was told at the new tire shop.

I looked online about GYM's and I am shocked how bad of reputation they have. I don't care if they are 1 year old, they are up for sale if you want them, along with the 15" rims.

Keep in mind I drive with a family of 6, with the youngest being 4 yo. I might feel different if it were just me.

[Mrjkq]

After reading all this I'm still leaning toward Maxxis E rated ST tires.

[Silverflames]

I called Maxiss today to discuss the D vs E, thinking like I always do to over engineer the project so it holds up better. The tech guy told me that the E tire is essentially a D rated tire at 65 PSI but with extra material to heat up. You get the extra load rating from the increased tire pressure. So to get the 3800 rating the tire has to be filled to 85 PSI. He did not feel the E would hold up any better at 65 PSI than the D, and theoretically worse do to the extra material holding the additional heat.

The D appears to be rated at 2500 lbs at 65 PSI, so with four tires that's 10,000 lbs. Also I think they are down graded a bit for dual axel use.

So either way, way over my trailer weight of 5500ish lbs.

They also come with a 5 year warranty. Not covering road hazards of course.

He informed me that Maxxas makes their tires in Taiwan, but they are engineered state side.

So I'll be ordering the D rated tires tomorrow. $575 out the door.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Mrjkq

Hi, you post is timely as there are a few threads running about tire failure, especially Goodyear Marathon Tires (GMT).
In short you definitely need to replace those tires. From what I've been reading the GMT trouble begins around 8 to 10K mile mark. My AS is brand new & I'm replacing those tires with either Maxxis E rated ST tires or Michelin Defender 225/75R15 109t
tires coming out next mo,nth, I haven't decided which yet as I'm waiting for a few reports on the Michelins. If you replace stay away from GMT & Carlisle tires. If you were to decide on Michelin you need new rims also as your are 14" vs 15". Many forum members have gone that route on the 23' AS. Maxxis tires are the very best trailer tire on the market whereas Michelin are LTX meaning passenger (car, light truck) tires but are being used more & more on AS trailers.

I Second that advise.
2013 International about 13,000 miles on GYM tires. Massive blowout and tread separation on one tire and 2 others were ready to separate as well .
This happened at 65 MPH on I- 4 heading to Disney in the middle lane.
I just glanced on my tire monitoring system and all was well. As I looked away Boom & Ratatatat. $ 9,200.00 damage to the Trailer plus the hassle associated with this. Trip to JC drop the trailer of, trip to retrieve, etc,etc.
Insurance picked up the cost accept for the tires. We found out that the tires that came with the trailer from AS were already 2 years old when we bought it new in 2013.

[guskmg]

After 21 tires in 9 years, of which one tread separation blew out and the other 20 just had tread separation, I now own Michelins. The ST tires were Goodyear, Carlisle, and Maxxis. The blow out cost $1,200 at Airstream Service to repair. About the cost of the set of Michelins, 'nuf said.
guskmg

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I replaced two Marathons at about 3 years old due to a small bubble in the sidewall of each tire. I replaced the other two Marathons due to separation at 7 years old and at 10 years I replaced the never used Marathon spare tire. These were the original tires that came on my trailer since new.

These were "Canadian" made Marathons.


The replacements were Chinese Marathons which never had any problems. At 10 years, I replaced all of my tires with Carlisle ST's rated for 82 MPH.

[Tireman9]

Simply looking at the tires on the trailer is not a good way to do a thorough inspection. I have a couple posts on my tire blog on "Inspection" that cover the process in detail. Including a most important "free spin" examination with video example of a tire with no sidewall cracks and good tread but my examination showed it had already failed, just not come apart yet.

Sidewall cracks are more of an indicator of possible structural weakness or other problem that may be present.

Much like taking your temperature. If you have a high temp reading it is an indication that there is probably something wrong with you that needs more detailed examination to learn the real cause. Same with sidewall cracks.

BUT not having a temperature doesn't mean there is nothing medically wrong with you. Same with sidewall cracks.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Ted S.

It's shocking to research tires and find so many blowouts from owners of all brands.

Its almost as if the tire industry knows most FRV's just sit in one place.

The least amount of issues on trailer tires were Maxxis from what I read.

What the tire industry knows is that a majority (based on thousands of actual load measurements) of RV owners, as a group have one or more tire in overload and operate at speeds that exceed the max speed rating of their tires. RV community on the whole does a poor job if maintaining their tire pressure and RV trailer manufacturers in general provide a very low safety margin for load capacity.

Not sure if MAXXIS is OE on any RV trailers. It is possible that people that research their tire purchase and don't just buy the lowest cost tire are likely to take better care of their tires.