Tires Again (recommendations?)

[gandttimes]

Originally Posted by Collimare

All the more reason to replace them.

Why do you need to go faster than 65 mph?

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by gmeikle

Why do you need to go faster than 65 mph?

Why should you be limited to 65?

But my answer to your question is, to be able to cover long distances in a shorter period of time.

[handn]

Focusing on GYM's and where they are made seems to me the wrong way to go about analyzing the issue.
Myself and other Airstreamers who travel lots of miles on the freeway in extremely hot weather have almost universally had blowouts or tread separations with ST tires of all brands, including Maxxis' which are thought to be the best. The bottom line is all will eventually blow up at freeway speeds (65 mph or less) if temps are over 100.
The people who have no trouble with ST tires live and drive in cooler areas according to their avitars.
I switched to 15 inch Michelin extra load tires. I had a flat with one tire because I ran over a screw but the tire was easily patched. The tires are designed to run at temps over 100 and speeds over 65 so I don't worry if my speed creeps up to 70 or so. At 50 lbs of pressure, the trailer rides like a dream unlike the oxcart ride of E rated ST tires inflated to 75 pounds that were on my rig before they blew up.
I am on my second year with the Michelins. No trouble and they look new. I expect them to last six years. After that any tire should be replaced regardless of treadware. I have read all the tire threads on this forum and no one has complained about a problem with LT tires.

[jcanavera]

I'm at the same conclusion. No matter the manufacturer, I don't believe that ST rated tires are ever going to give us the reliability we see in auto or truck tires when you are dealing with higher loads, speed, and road temperatures. I think most folks on this forum who have had failures have most likely had one of the three combinations that I describe as a component in the failure of their ST tires.

After my experience in June with two broken belts on my ST's current and the previous failure of the OEM ST's, I'm pretty much throwing in the towel on ST's. It would be smart if Airstream breaks the lockstep that the travel trailer industry is in and moves to LT's for their trailers.

Jack

[mtntime]

Originally Posted by gmeikle

Why do you need to go faster than 65 mph?

Still got a 12 year old in the back. Have limited time to be on the road. I do the speed limit plus 3. I do not think tires intended to be used on every cheap utility trailer is appropriate for a 60k Airstream. Perhaps Airstream should do like the old U-Haul trailers and put max speed numbers on the front corners of the trailer in reverse so we see them in the rear view mirrors if they are going to put the GYM tires on. NOT!

[Steve & Mary]

handn...I have he exact same experience as you. After our GYM failure which resulted in expensive repairs, I also put on a set (spare included) of Michelin LT tires. Did my homework and put on what I considered the best tire in keeping with the original 15 inch wheels. I considered going to 16 inch but decided that could happen later. On our way from south La. to Oklahoma City we also picked up a screw and had a tire go flat. I put the spare on and had the tire properly fixed. I will mentioned I noticed the tire low while making a stop so it had not lost all of it's air. We are happy with our Michelin tires. I run them on a number of other vehicles and have had no issues. Our tires are within the weight range and we seldom pull over 65 mph. We travel light in the trailer with pretty much only clothing and some kitchen stuff. We load up when we get near our destination....steve

[BeachHouse]

Could you tell me the exact model # of Michelin's you used? I would have expected the weight in a 31' to be too great for a set of LTs. Ours in only a 25'.

Also, did you have any difficulty getting the tire store to sell you LTs for a trailer? Some posts have indicated that name brand stores won't do it.

[handn]

There are several Michelins, size P 235 R 75 15 XL which have the extra load range (about 2100 lbs per tire). The XL at the end of the tire designation stands for extra load and those are the tires you want. Although mine are P rated tires, they are the equivelent load range of C LT tires. I selected the tires that have the least agressive tread pattern (all are MS tires).
There are several manufacturers including BF Goodrich who make the same size and same load range 15 inch tires.
My trailer is a 2004 26 safari 6300 gvw. I have about 4000 lbs of extra load range in the tires for my rig. Stock tires were ST 225 R 75 15. The new tires are slightly bigger than the old ones but a DIY tire change was no problem when I picked up a road hazard.
15" tires may be marginal for heavier tandem axle trailers. I would switch to 16 inch wheels and E rated LT tires if my trailer were over 8000 gvw.
Those with triple axle trailers state concerns about sidewall flex with P or LT tires. With my tandem axle trailer, I have had no problems and I have taken some turns with my steering wheel locked.
I purchased my tires from the small town garage where I live. I paid a few dollars more per tire but I don't have some twit who doesn't know Jack refusing me service and telling me about tires.

[Steve & Mary]

I am running the Michelin LTX M/S 235/75R15 which has a max load rating of 2183. As long as we travel with a light load in the trailer the tires cover my trailer's weight with some cushion. The best move would have been to move up to a 16 inch but at the time I was unable to decide on a new wheel. I only plan to run these for a couple of years and then move up to the 16 inch Michelins. I ordered the tires on-line and had an independent dealer install them on the rims. I replaced them on the trailer myself.

[rbs]

We just installed the Michelin tires, 235/75R15 tires on our 25' Classic, and our elated with the ride improvement and peace of mind. We just returned from Ohio, trailer CAT scaled a little less that 6000 lbs and after a 200 mile stretch in close to 90 degree temp (we pulled at 65 mph if road conditions allowed), all of the tire's temps were at 104 degrees, and all have maintained the same pressure. Believe me, the very first thing you will notice and appreciate is how much nicer the trailer rides and pulls.

[Kosm1o]

You can buy them from Tire Rack and take the rims in to a local garage. I like my 15" Michelins but can't honestly report any noticeable difference in ride or handling from the older GYMs. Gas mileage might be slightly higher with the Michelins. As my loaded 28' Safari weighs about 5600 on the axles I am not the least concerned about load. The peace of mind factor is huge with these tires.

[BeachHouse]

Thanks, I found the tire. I expect I will do this in September.

[crispyboy]

At this point in life we are mostly just weekenders traveling no more than 4 hours one way so the 15" ST tire have done the job but I'm sure my time is coming for a bad tire. I will probably go to 16" tires so I can run 70 mph with traffic and not be a slow hazard.
My trailer has Carlisle tires so I was perusing their website after reading this thread. They are now advertising something called "heatshield" and "duratrail" on their ST radial tires. Probably just marketing hype.

Trailer Tire

They have some good "tire tips" for those of us still running ST tires. I clipped two pages out. One thing that really bothered me when I read the tips is that after 3 years the ST tire has lost a third of its strength!!

tire tips.pdf

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

They have some good "tire tips" for those of us still running ST tires. I clipped two pages out. One thing that really bothered me when I read the tips is that after 3 years the ST tire has lost a third of its strength!!

Attachment 164277

I saw this same statement on another tire site too. Interesting is that all of my ST tire failures have come in mid year 3 of use or late year 3. Those of us who pull the "heavies" probably need to keep that in mind if you plan to stay with ST's.

I bought my new Michellins from Discount Tire Direct. Tires were just a few weeks old, shipped free and no sales tax. Discount is not in my area and they provided several places to get mine mounted. I took mine to NTB here in St. Louis. Their computer has a code for Discount Tire Direct tires. Cost for me was $61 for mounting the tires on new wheels, balancing, unmounting the tires from the original 15" wheels and disposal of the old tires. No issues about vehicle I was planning to mount the new tires on, nor were their any grumbles that I didn't buy the tires from them.

Jack

[Uzzah]

Driver's side rear tire on my 31'. Chinese bias ply tires 7.00x15 st that I bought last August. I think I may have done that while turning around at mammoth hot springs. Pic isn't the best, but there is a large chunk missing, and the sidewall looks to be separating. I feel lucky to have made it the 50 miles to the in-law's house in Livingston. It didn't look like that when I left bridge bay, but it's garbage now.

All that to ask, could turning sharp (a u-turn) tear a chunk out of the tire like that? I ordered another bias ply to match, as there are only 5k miles on the tires.

[JimGolden]

You guys ever look at BF Goodrich's offerings? I just checked on Tire Rack's website and Goodrich has a 235/75 15 that's rated at 2205lbs each, same as the Michelin LTX. Michelin owns Goodrich, for whatever that's worth.... But, I've run Goodrich Comp TAs on performance cars for 20 years. I've had very good luck with them.

BFGoodrich*Long Trail T/A Tour

This is the Load Range XL in the 15". I currently run Maxxis UE168's on my triple axle 34 footer so I've got a bit of extra margin (which I like). But I wouldn't mind putting Goodrich rubber on it when the Maxxis gets a little older. This tire is rated at 2335 pounds load. I've towed my Avion at 80mph in hot weather and had no troubles of any kind. It's a commercial tire and is rated as both LT and ST (it has both stamped on the sidewall).

I really don't want to buy six new 16" wheels if I can help it....

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by Uzzah

All that to ask, could turning sharp (a u-turn) tear a chunk out of the tire like that? I ordered another bias ply to match, as there are only 5k miles on the tires.

It's hard to say now, but I've never damaged a tire on a trailer by making a sharp turn, and I doubt if your u-turn caused the damage.

I think it's more likely you hit some sharp object in the road.

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by JimGolden

You guys ever look at BF Goodrich's offerings? I just checked on Tire Rack's website and Goodrich has a 235/75 15 that's rated at 2205lbs each, same as the Michelin LTX. Michelin owns Goodrich, for whatever that's worth.... But, I've run Goodrich Comp TAs on performance cars for 20 years. I've had very good luck with them.

BFGoodrich*Long Trail T/A Tour

This is the Load Range XL in the 15". I currently run Maxxis UE168's on my triple axle 34 footer so I've got a bit of extra margin (which I like). But I wouldn't mind putting Goodrich rubber on it when the Maxxis gets a little older. This tire is rated at 2335 pounds load. I've towed my Avion at 80mph in hot weather and had no troubles of any kind. It's a commercial tire and is rated as both LT and ST (it has both stamped on the sidewall).

I really don't want to buy six new 16" wheels if I can help it....

There used to be a pretty big price difference between Goodrich and Michelin, but the last time I looked, not so much any more.

[r carl]

Originally Posted by SteveH

It's hard to say now, but I've never damaged a tire on a trailer by making a sharp turn, and I doubt if your u-turn caused the damage.
I think it's more likely you hit some sharp object in the road.

Dont underestimate a chinese tire.

[Uzzah]

I am glad that what ever did that, had the decency to not take the tire totally out. At least the trailer tire is only $100 to replace. The wive seems to think that it's no big deal and wanted to head on home to bothell, wa.