Knowledge of this Tire

[The Flintstones]

Hi All,
When I bought our AS the tires were dry-rotted, not knowing anything I removed them and took to the local Discount Tire Store, told them what they were for and that I needed replacements.

They replaced with:
Supermax LT.0015 Made in China
QZ-106
8P.R
Max Load Single 2040lb. @ 60psi
Max Load Dual 1820lb. @ 60psi

Are these suitable/good/poor tires, as I know nada.
thanks for the help
James

[Melody Ranch]

Lots of discussion here, and in the press, about the delamination problems with some China made tires. Discount Tire Co has a good rep here in this part of the country. I wish you would have researched more before the tire buy. For all your future buys...look thru these forums....great info from great folks. Helps is always at hand.

[66Overlander]

Never heard of the brand nor the size you note, but "LT" sure sounds "Light Truck". Generally people chose ST or "Special Trailer" tires for their Airstreams, because ST's are made for trailers and LT's are not. That said, I think LT's are used on some of the larger 5th wheels.

ST's supposedly have a different compound to better withstand UV exposure, because they tend to sit and not move for longer periods of time than truck tires. This is becuase most trailer tires "rot out" rather than "wear out".

The tire you got may be OK, but who knows. I'd have preferred to have gotten an ST tire in a known size from a brand I'd at least have heard of. Sometimes in an emergency that may not be an option. Good Luck.

[The Flintstones]

Thanks
I wish I had of researched more to but I knew nothing of this forum or travel trailers at that time. Just told them what the tire was for. Thanks to this forum I have learned tons in the past year. Hopefully I can start to be a contributor instead of an "asker" in here. Tracked fedex this am and axles are due for delivery today!!!
I will call Discount and talk to them about the tire today.

James

[3Ms75Argosy]

Fedex? What kind of axles did you buy?

Welcome to the forums by the way! Enjoy the new AS!
Marc

[Silvertwinkie]

Not familiar with that tire, but if you do a search on tread seperation, you may find lots of great info on tires.

[Minnie's Mate]

You know, with all the "bad press" products from China have been getting over this summer, I really am more than ever disposed to buying Made in America. For years I've heard about the "junk" coming out of China and now it is being born out in the press so I would be a little leary of anything, especially something as safety oriented as tires, from China these days.

I know at the time you had few options and didn't have the information at your disposal to make quick decisions. But it seems like many of the tire issues discussed on this forum have been related to Goodyear Marathons and other brands that were manufactured in China. IIRC, the Goodyear Marathons that were manufactured in Canada haven't had the same problems as those from China. I know I seem to be ragging on China a lot considering there have been two food processing plants right here in Georgia that have had botulism contamination within the last 4-6 mos. (Peter Pan peanut butter and Castleberry meats) but they are the exception to the rule here, I think, and both cases were issues of building maintenance, IIRC, not the actual food processing/recipes.

Anyway, you have the tires so I would keep a very close eye on them. Keep the tire pressure at the max listed on the tire wall. Make sure you do a visual before you hit the road each and every morning of the trip. Keep a close eye on the side wall temperature and make sure that none are unusually warm/hot compared to the others. If you can, find out the safe operating range for the temperatures and invest $50-$80 in an infrared thermometer to keep a closer check on those temps at each stop and make sure those stops are at least every 2-3 hours. Get a tire dressing product that replaces the rubberizes and apply it to the tire sidewalls several times a year. Don't get the petroleum based product, get the silicone based one. And plan on replacing the tires earlier than you might have otherwise. I think the lifespan of camping trailer tires is about every 5 years or 10,000 miles whichever comes first. Perhaps you should plan on replacing them at 4 years or 8,000 miles whichever comes first unless you see a problem developing. Your trailer being an older one, it is probably lighter and shouldn't wear them out as soon as if it were a newer, heavier one so you should be OK. But when it's time to replace them, you will have time to research tires on this forum and there may be a shift in opinions as to what is best as far as brand performance by then.

Now, here I have rambled on and on as if I were an expert and all I've done is give my personal opinion. It is worth every penny it cost you, but I hope it has offered you some advise as far as keeping an eye on the tires you have.

Good luck and happy camping.

[The Flintstones]

Its FedEx Freight, axles from Inlandrv. Discount assures me this tire is one of their standard tire for TT's, its an 8ply and the LT does not stand for light truck. I will continue to look into it though.
James

[richinny]

Originally Posted by jsflint

Hi All,
When I bought our AS the tires were dry-rotted, not knowing anything I removed them and took to the local Discount Tire Store, told them what they were for and that I needed replacements.

They replaced with:
Supermax LT.0015 Made in China
QZ-106
8P.R
Max Load Single 2040lb. @ 60psi
Max Load Dual 1820lb. @ 60psi

Are these suitable/good/poor tires, as I know nada.
thanks for the help
James

i believe they are made by maxxis. try searching under "maxxis"

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by jsflint

Hi All,
When I bought our AS the tires were dry-rotted, not knowing anything I removed them and took to the local Discount Tire Store, told them what they were for and that I needed replacements.

They replaced with:
Supermax LT.0015 Made in China
QZ-106
8P.R
Max Load Single 2040lb. @ 60psi
Max Load Dual 1820lb. @ 60psi

Are these suitable/good/poor tires, as I know nada.
thanks for the help
James

Use "extreme caution" when adding 8 ply tires.

If your trailer has used 6 ply tires for an extended period of time, adding 8 plies to them will cause the wheels to split.

If you want to use 8 plies, and the old tires were 6 plies, you must change the wheels, to avoid the failure problem.

The wheels must have a minimum rating of 2600 pounds each.

Andy

[Wabbiteer]

To add to Andy's info - our vintage wheels have trapped moisture along the tires' bead sidewall seal for so long corrosion will have etched away considerable metal just from where it is needed the most.

When I bead blasted my wheels, one could count how many times the tires had been changed and/or how many times the AS had sat long term exposed to the elements by the various swoop shapes of missing metal, mm wide trenches of noticeable depth running for about 90° just above the rim shoulders. Before I tow seriously there will be new wheels installed, the spare rim was affordable but trailer ain't going far for now... I went with Canadian Goodyear tires and so far there are no problems!

I painted the bead area with a single coat of automotive epoxy spray paint - no issues with long term air leaks for now. I wonder if there is a product that would protect the rim more than paint without harming anything over a period of years?

[47WeeWind]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Use "extreme caution" when adding 8 ply tires. If your trailer has used 6 ply tires for an extended period of time, adding 8 plies to them will cause the wheels to split. If you want to use 8 plies, and the old tires were 6 plies, you must change the wheels, to avoid the failure problem. The wheels must have a minimum rating of 2600 pounds each. Andy

Hi Andy:

jsflint's new tires have an 8 ply rating, not 8 plies, and are rated to carry a maximum load of 2,040 pounds when inflated to 60 psi and used as a single tire. Why would he need new wheels rated at 2,600 pounds for this 2,040 pound maximum load tire?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by 47WeeWind

Hi Andy:

jsflint's new tires have an 8 ply rating, not 8 plies, and are rated to carry a maximum load of 2,040 pounds when inflated to 60 psi and used as a single tire. Why would he need new wheels rated at 2,600 pounds for this 2,040 pound maximum load tire?

There are three reason for using 2600 pound wheels.

1. Airstream says so for 40 plus years.

2. Experience says so.

3. Side loads on wheels become huge.

The tire rating has nothing to do with the rating of the wheels.

Andy

[The Flintstones]

Getting really nervous now
New axles arrived

[DFK]

Fred makes a good point. My 67 Caravel has the original five lug OEM steel wheel that came with the trailer. The wheels showed some rust so I thought I might replace them. After reading a number of posts stating that the wheels on an airstream should be rated at 2600 lbs. I began my search for new 15" 5 on 4.5 OEM steel wheels. No luck. Best I could find were wheels rated at about 1850 lbs in steel and around 2000 lbs in aluminum.

This got me thinking (no, I didn't hurt myself) about the whole weight capacity issue. The original henschen axle on the trailer is rated at 3000 lbs. New 10" brake drums and assemblies to replace the existing 10" Brakes are are rated at around 1800 lbs each. The appropriate size metric tires to replace the original 7.75 x 15 tires (original size of tires used by Airstream on 67 Caravels) are ST207-75/15. These are rated at around 1800 lbs each.

Suddenly it all made sense, Axle, tires wheels brake drums all working together as a single suspension system. No one component with a significantly higher rating than another. My theory is that the folks that engineer this stuff for the various manfactures of components actually understand this relationship and don't over engineers the product. Why make a 2600 lb 5 on 4.5 steel wheel when the rating of the brake drum and assembly that supports the wheel is only 1800 lbs.

Some folks might want to upgrade all the components to have a larger weight margin. But I think the point Andy is always making about not over suspending the trailer good also makes sense. Anyway, decided sometime ago to stop fussing about whether the tires should have a larger weight rating than 1800 lbs or If I should continue my hunt for the 2600 5 on 4.5 steel wheel and go with suspension replacement parts consistent with what came with the trailer. This is the solution that works best for my peace of mind. Now if I could just get Andy to stop harping about the feeble axle spindles on the early Caravels I might be able to get a good nights sleep when I'm on the road.