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Old 02-09-2015, 06:07 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r carl View Post
Fact is, running st tires you have a 50% chance one of them is going to blowout. If you have a blowout your not taking your Avion to Jackson center to get repaired. Your going to get a check for your totaled trailer.
Amazing. 50% chance?

I know for a real fact that this trailer has been all over North America. Maine to California, Florida to Washington, Alaska, Mexico, Canada. (Yep, that's pretty much all of it.) No indication of ANY damage to the trailer due to tire problems. Verified with the two previous owners that they always ran ST tires and never had any problems with tires. The first owner accounted for 95% of the miles. The first owner told me that they towed at 60-65mph on the highway.
This spring I'll be putting a new set of load range E ST's on it.
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Old 02-09-2015, 06:50 AM   #22
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Two tire questions.

Will those Avion wheels handle LR-E pressures? And the tires are a bad match by spec. Closer is better assuming quality.

65-mph on ST is the same as running an engine at redline. Why push ones luck? A few dollars?

The Yokohama RY215 has more capacity in 7.00x15 than that Avion needs, and is a far better tire in every respect.

9500-lbs ~ six = 1,580. Add 15% load reserve = 1,820. RY215 = 2040. So even if one or more tires are loaded heavy, ought to still have capacity remaining.

I ordered them through Tire Rack for one of my trailers. Needed almost no balancing. Added Centramatics to offset drum imbalance (inherent to that brake type unless corrected; good luck finding someone today who can and will balance drum assemblies).

Runs cool in my more heavily loaded tandem versus your tridem in peak of summer Texas heat, and doesn't lose pressure (another ST problem). Better on wet roads as well. Longer till wheel lock up.

There is no bargain in cheap tires, and ST is cheaply made. Not so long ago there was no such category and we all ran LT, but it's a profitable way to keep old machinery at work.

There are plenty of tire dealers now who will not recommend ST for the reasons experienced here and on other RV forums. Just because new trailers are often almost substandard in axle and tires is no reason to continue the problem.
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Old 02-09-2015, 07:05 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by PaulnGina View Post
Amazing. 50% chance?

.
Oh I'm sorry, it is 55% chance in the Airstream tire poll. Do as you wish, I am just defending your beautiful trailer, I would hate to see anything happen to it.
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Old 02-09-2015, 07:09 AM   #24
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Agreed. The purchase price was probably low, and the TV was as well, it was the same path I followed.

Low quality tires aren't worth the chance, however.
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Old 02-09-2015, 07:14 AM   #25
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I believe load range e st tires have a higher speed rating. Jim
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Old 02-09-2015, 07:17 AM   #26
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Great information. There is nothing like experience even if it is tempered with opinions.

Thanks for your comments.
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Old 02-09-2015, 07:27 AM   #27
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Thank you, slowmover and r carl.

I made a typo earlier: The tires on my trailer are load range D, on 15x6 rims (according to the plate on the trailer, haven't measured the alloys myself). I was planning on replacing them with like-spec tires.
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Old 02-09-2015, 08:00 AM   #28
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I suggest inspecting the 15" factory rims for the load and pressure rating for that load before putting load E tires on those wheels that could have higher air pressures than load D tires.

The factory is using the SenDel T03-66655T wheel as it is rated 3,580 pounds at 80 psi which is the maximum pressure for the Michelin LT225/75R16/E LTX M/S2 which are rated 2,680 pounds @ 80 psi.

The 16" Michelins were on display when I visited the factory in October of 2012 along with a sign stating the factory service center could install them on any customer's trailer with 15" tires. At that time they were a build option for the Eddie Bauer trailers. They are now standard on the 2015 31' Classic.

I knew that since the factory selected a different tire and wheel and made them available to their customer base, my installing that same tire and wheel would not be grounds for voiding the trailer warranty if there was a suspension issue.
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Old 02-09-2015, 09:29 AM   #29
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Will any dealers swap wheels and tires if buying a new AS?
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Old 02-09-2015, 10:08 AM   #30
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Quote:
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Will any dealers swap wheels and tires if buying a new AS?

For a price! $$$$
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Old 02-09-2015, 10:19 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hans627 View Post
Will any dealers swap wheels and tires if buying a new AS?
When we bought New Lucy (2015 FC 25FB) in October of last year. I asked one dealer that question. They wanted over $800 per wheel/tire for 16" Michelins, and didn't offer to give me anything for the OEM wheels/tires. That would have been over $4,000 for the upgrade.

I was able to buy the Sendel 16" wheels mounted with Michelin LT's for $330.00 each delivered ready to put on the trailer.

I was able to sell Lucy's almost new OEM tires and wheels here on the Forums Classifieds for $600. They sold the first day that they were listed.

The 16" tire/wheel upgrade ended up costing me a little over $1,000 which I felt was a bargain. I also added a set of Centramatic Balancers which set me back another $200.

I knew that I wanted this upgrade as I had put 60,000 miles on Old Lucy (2005 Safari 25FB) with this same set-up. When I traded her in, there was no discernible tread wear. In Old Lucy's first 50,000 miles, I had gone through four sets of ST tires. Her OEM Goodyear Marathons were gone by 10,000 miles with three catastrophic failures (blowouts) at highway speeds. Fortunately, she only sustained minor body damage. After replacing the first two original Marathons with new ones, one of those blew out in pretty short order. I finally replaced the Marathons with a set of Maxxis (load range E) ST's. These did much better. I had one flat, but no blowouts. At about 25,000 miles, the Maxxis suffered tread separation. I replaced them with another set of Maxxis E's. This set only went about 15,000 miles before the tread separation started again. I replaced two of these with Carlisle ST tires as these were all I could get in rural Maine, and I had to wait five days for those.

As we were traveling so extensively, I decided that I could not put up with the crappy ST tires any longer. I brought Old Lucy to Jackson Center and treated her to a set of 16" Michelin LT's, and never looked back. In the 60,000 miles that followed, Old Lucy had no tire issues whatsoever.

The moral of my story is that if I had gotten Old Lucy the 16" Michelins at the beginning when she was new, I would have saved a couple of thousand dollars and a whole lot of grief and down time.

Brian
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Old 02-09-2015, 11:10 AM   #32
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I have 14000 miles on our 31' so far so good,even tread wear on, old trailer the replacement tires were junk at 17000 miles, were worn out with bulges in tread, caught them before they blew though, when the present original 15" are worn down they will be replaced with 16".
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Old 02-18-2015, 08:57 AM   #33
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Like moosetags, been there, done that and got the T-shirt!

Got my AS in Oct 2011 with new ST tires. By summer of 2014 I had 2 tread separations and a blowout. Using an infrared thermometer, I saw that the ST tires ran quite hot, hot enough to trigger my TPMS system. Since I service at the mothership (JC) and the axles needed replacing, I went whole hog - upgraded axles, 16" wheels and Michelin LTX(M+S2)225/75R16(E) tires, Centramatics & Dill TPMS. JC had a deal on the wheels and tires and they also adjusted the spare tire carrier to hold the slightly larger tires. I tow about 15,000 miles a year.
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Old 02-18-2015, 09:50 AM   #34
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Switz - the SenDel T03-66655T wheel as it is rated 3,580 pounds at 100 psi - not 80? Or am I missing something?

Some great data and facts in this thread - thanks all.
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Old 02-18-2015, 10:26 AM   #35
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Thanks!

I very much appreciate everyone's "real world" sharing of their trailer tire experiences. Incredible!

Phoenix, I also appreciate the tire survey results. So very helpful! For everyone who participated in the survey, thank you!

With this combination of sharing and knowledge we each get to make an informed decision that we think is best for us and our particular circumstances.

I am very thankful to each of you and to all who share so willingly on this forum to keep us each safe and to make our trips as enjoyable and as fun as possible!
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Old 03-12-2015, 06:14 PM   #36
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Has anyone tried a 16" ST tire, something like a GYM ST235/80R16D? It certainly would give a larger load safety buffer (3000# vs 2540# on stock GYM 15's) and at 65 psi max inflation a potential softer ride than the alternative 80 psi LTs. But would the 30.7" diameter and 9.2" width be too much for the AS wheel-well.
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Old 03-12-2015, 06:34 PM   #37
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You don't need it until you need it. The "I haven't had a problem yet" statement is not a valid argument for why XYZ is perfectly fine. I haven't had an vehicle accident, so I should stop wearing a seat belt.

Just because it hasn't happened YET doesn't mean it can't. Congratulations you're beating the odds right now. Please don't use fallacies as arguments.

It's also marginalizing a large number of people to say they just "Want to tinker with things". (another fallacy) As to say there are no valid reasons for their tinkering or upgrades.

The pros and cons along with the reasons for upgrading have been heavily debated, discussed and vetted. One only needs to determine if those qualifications are in line with their own objectives & needs for their Airstream.

16 LT's are not ideal for every trailer and every user, but it's kind of annoying to see those who post up dismissing the entire notion all together as though someone is just doing it because everyone else is doing it.

I know these discussions fall heavily into the territory of personal opinion. But try to make valid arguments without marginalizing each other or accusing others of being lemmings. Some of us do a lot of research before hand.
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