ST vs LT tires

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by RTurnConn

I am a newbie to AS but if we all listened to, and believed every comment posted we would have an AS with no tires or batteries or convertors for that matter. You just take it all in, use your own intellect, and make what you believe is the best decision. The input fom others is invaluable however.
My AS is a 1985 31 ft. limited. My owners manual lists the dry wt as 5500 lbs. I think as the years went on the general weight increased.

No question that newer units are generally heavier. But understand that the dry weight is a base weight before any optional equipment. And, of course, before any of your gear, groceries, clothes, etc, etc..... Also, from my experience, our particular units gain a significant amount of weight as we live with them over time and slowly add items. MUCH more than you would think. I suggest at least annual weighings.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

We changed to 16" Michelin LTX tires a couple of years ago and are very happy with them. We now have something like 24,000 miles on them and they are wearing much better than the Marathons did. I have been running 68 lbs. in them, but have increased it to 72 as the edges were wearing slightly faster than the centers. The Marathons lost air despite changing valve stems. The Michelins do not lose air.

We got the same wheels Moosetags did. They come from Tredit, a tire and wheel company in Indiana that Airstream gets supplies from. They are not the only company that has similar wheels. Just make sure they are rated for Load Range E tires and have 0˚ offset.

It is difficult to find a good LT tire in 15" for the size tire Airstream has been using in recent years, so we went to 16" wheels after measuring the space available about 100 times. We wanted Michelins because we have always had good experiences with them and they ride smoother than many other tires.

We got 5 new wheels, all the same, and rotate the spare around and will thus get more miles out of the set of 5 wheels and tires. The tire carrier has steel holders around it that can be bent outward to fit the 16" tire, but we carry it in the truck bed as it is easier to get in and out and easier to check air pressure.

Some people use the Michelin Rib tire. This is a tire designed for commercial trucks and the carcass will last a very long time as the tire is meant to be retreaded. It has steel cord in the sidewalls and appears to be a very firm tire, perhaps too much so. I expect the carcass will last well over 100,000 miles and seems like overkill to me. The firmness of the sidewalls may make it harder to back up at extreme angles because of the inability of the tire to bend sideways until it skips. The LTX looked like the best deal—it should last 50,000 miles or more and we will probably get to that in 5 years of use when it is time to get new tires anyway.

Gene

Gene, do you know how much weight you have on your tires? I have noted, albeit only after about 1000 miles, that I am not running with the edges on the ground at 65 psi. I was thinking about dropping to 60 psi.

[Gene]

dzn', I haven't weighed the trailer full or empty. I tried but there are no scales in the county anymore and by the time I've left the county, I don't care anymore. GVWR is 7,300 lbs.

Do you have 3 axles? Each tire on yours may have less weight than mine. I believe Moosetags has his tires at 72 lbs., but I could be wrong. We both have 25's, but I don't know how close his is in weight.

Pressure is determined by a gauge which may be wrong. There's a 3 lb. (about 4%) difference between my hand held gauge, the TPMS and the 12 v. compressor's gauge.

Gene

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Let me ask this....I've been trying to figure out what to do for a spare....Then I asked myself, if it's ok to drive to the next tire store on 3 wheels (4th, flat, removed), then why can't you use the stock 15" spare to get to the next tire store? I understand why you wouldn't travel long distances this way, but it is an EMERGENCY spare only for my use.

This is a valid question and I hope others may share an opinion on this. The owner's manual that came with my trailer says it is allowable to remove the failed wheel and drive up to 100 miles not exceeding 30 mph. Doing the math for my trailer as weighed and the ST225/75/15 LRE tires, the solo tire would be carrying 37% above rated capacity. It seems reasonable to use a 15" spare to augment the other 3 or 5 in a pinch vs no support at all. That seems comparable to using the donut spare we're so used to on our cars.

[r carl]

I wonder if you could find a donut that would fit a trailer axle?

[AlbertF]

Originally Posted by r carl

I put these 15" LT tires on my trailer and my worries about tires disappeared.

Yokohama RY215

I thought about these, and even priced them out. A bit hard to obtain, but certainly the correct size and type (7.00 x 15) for an older Airstream. Perhaps a bit stiff, but keeping air pressure to 50 psi or so should help.

I went with Yokohama Geolander H/Ts - 215/75/15, Load Range C. I am very happy with them, and they are quite adequate for the 5500 lbs or so that we have on the trailer axles.

[AlbertF]

Originally Posted by r carl

I wonder if you could find a donut that would fit a trailer axle?

I don't carry a spare. If I have a flat, I'll travel on three tires to the next town, as suggested by Airstream.

One advantage of staying with 15" wheels is the ready availability of P-metric tires from any tire store, if an emergency replacement is needed.

[MervM]

We have a 2009 -28' Flying Cloud. We recently installed 4 -16 wheels c/w Toyo 16" load range E ,I run 60 PSI in both the TV and the trailer.We have just returned from a 6000 mile trip. The tires seem to be wearing evenly across the tread. It may just be my imagination, but I feel that the trailer tows easier, I don't know how to substantiate this, but I feel it is so.As far as any other performance factors ,I have not noticed any, except for the feeling of safety.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

dzn', I haven't weighed the trailer full or empty. I tried but there are no scales in the county anymore and by the time I've left the county, I don't care anymore. GVWR is 7,300 lbs.

Do you have 3 axles? Each tire on yours may have less weight than mine. I believe Moosetags has his tires at 72 lbs., but I could be wrong. We both have 25's, but I don't know how close his is in weight.

Pressure is determined by a gauge which may be wrong. There's a 3 lb. (about 4%) difference between my hand held gauge, the TPMS and the 12 v. compressor's gauge.

Gene

You are correct, Gene. I do run the LT's at 72 psi. Our 25FB tips the scales at 7400# ready to camp.

Brian

[Kosm1o]

My 28' Safari has a gvwr of 7300 also but I did the scales on a fully loaded camping trip and found that it weighed about 6400. Only 5500 was on the wheels and the rest on the truck. That works out to less than 1400 per tire assuming loading is equally displaced. Even with a flat you would still be under the load rating of my 15" Michelins. In any case ST tires don't fail because of overloaded trailers. They suffer tread separations apparantly at any load and pressure.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Silver Goose

This is a valid question and I hope others may share an opinion on this. The owner's manual that came with my trailer says it is allowable to remove the failed wheel and drive up to 100 miles not exceeding 30 mph. Doing the math for my trailer as weighed and the ST225/75/15 LRE tires, the solo tire would be carrying 37% above rated capacity. It seems reasonable to use a 15" spare to augment the other 3 or 5 in a pinch vs no support at all. That seems comparable to using the donut spare we're so used to on our cars.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by r carl

I wonder if you could find a donut that would fit a trailer axle?

That would be the answer, but I have never seen a donut for trucks (higher load rated). They are all apparently for cars and not rated for more than a C load rating. Anybody else seen one capable of ....say....2200lbs?

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

dzn', I haven't weighed the trailer full or empty. I tried but there are no scales in the county anymore and by the time I've left the county, I don't care anymore. GVWR is 7,300 lbs.

Do you have 3 axles? Each tire on yours may have less weight than mine. I believe Moosetags has his tires at 72 lbs., but I could be wrong. We both have 25's, but I don't know how close his is in weight.



Pressure is determined by a gauge which may be wrong. There's a 3 lb. (about 4%) difference between my hand held gauge, the TPMS and the 12 v. compressor's gauge.

Gene

No, I have 2 axles. Last time I weighed, I was at 7600# on the axles, but I have added stuff to the trailer and stuff to the truck bed since. I gotta be getting close to 8000#. I need to weigh again next spring.

[Whirlaway]

[QUOTE=CrawfordGene;1076530]We changed to 16" Michelin LTX tires a couple of years ago and are very happy with them. We now have something like 24,000 miles on them and they are wearing much better than the Marathons did. I have been running 68 lbs. in them, but have increased it to 72 as the edges were wearing slightly faster than the centers. The Marathons lost air despite changing valve stems. The Michelins do not lose air.

We got the same wheels Moosetags did. They come from Tredit, a tire and wheel company in Indiana that Airstream gets supplies from. They are not the only company that has similar wheels. Just make sure they are rated for Load Range E tires and have 0˚ offset.

What does this refer to?

Many thanks,

Lin

[Silver Goose]

Offset is the distance from the centerline of the wheel to the plate with the mounting holes. A zero offset means the plate is centered in the wheel. The sketch was snagged from Wikipedia.

[Gene]

Silver' is correct and explains it better than I could. Some people put wheels on that do not have 0˚ offset, but that will shift weight off center and I would think that would put extra strain on the bearings and other parts. Zero offset has been the standard for some time on Airstreams, but it is best to check because sometime in the past the offset may have been different.

I have driven about a 1/2 mile on 3 wheels when a bearing went and I had to remove the wheel (actually it removed itself when I touched it). Thinking about the extra weight on the remaining wheels I went very, very slowly and fortunately the campground I was looking for was very close. Had I had to go further, I would have added air to all three tires to carry more weight. Tires can hold a lot more pressure than "cold pressure" and since you have to go slowly, not a lot of pressure will build up.

Gene

[Cracker]

I know that this discussion has been going on for a long time now - and I'm not trying to start another feud - but, if the LT tires are superior to the ST tires, I'll pose the question once again -"Why does Airstream continue to use ST tires?" Serious and thoughtful answers only please!

[Gene]

They are cheaper and Airstream does not change very fast.

They will put 16" wheels and Michelin tires on as an option if you want to pay a lot extra.

Gene

[r carl]

Originally Posted by Cracker

I know that this discussion has been going on for a long time now - and I'm not trying to start another feud - but, if the LT tires are superior to the ST tires, I'll pose the question once again -"Why does Airstream continue to use ST tires?" Serious and thoughtful answers only please!

Knowing how most company's operate nowday's you have to ask?
Its all about the almighty DOLLAR!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil&Sher]

Since my 2008 Greenball 15's are showing some corrosion anyway, I'll probably switch to Tredit 16's...T02

Tredit also has a galvanized steel wheel that I'll check out for a spare... Spoke