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switz · 03-11-2016, 07:09 PM

Many of the tire manufacturers are planning on abandoning the 14" tire market. That is one reason why I wanted to more to 15" tires and wheels.

m.hony · 03-11-2016, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by perryg114

E rated tires at 85 psi on a 8000lb trailer or less is insane and will shake your trailer to death and reduce the contact patch. You only need two out of the 4 tires touching the ground with those. The 235/75-XL15 tires are more than enough for all but the heaviest trailers. I run 50 psi in the above size tire and they run cooler than the E rated tow vehicle tires. The trailer rides comfortably and is not jarred to death by running dump truck tires on the equivalent of a Porsche. Tire pressure is best determined by measuring the temperature of the tire in the center and the sides. When you get all 3 close to each other you are golden.

Bigger rims give you the option of putting disk brakes on older trailers which is not a bad way to go. My old alloy Excella rims don't have room for disk brakes.

Perry

You don't have to run them at 86 psi.
65 psi per the tire placard on the side of the trailer is fine.
50 psi would probably be fine.

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CapriRacer · 03-12-2016, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

Reserve capacity is built into the tires. You can run them at the rated loading stamped on the tires 24/7 and they will hold up just fine.

A person re-engineering a vehicles needs to underutilize the tire - that is, use less than the load carrying capacity, or put a different way, have reserve capacity. Do not depend on the tire manufacturer to have ENOUGH extra capacity to do the job. That is apparently some of the problem.

NoResults · 03-12-2016, 10:55 PM

I see people recommending a new Michelin tire the Defender coming out this month.

What is different from the current 235/75 R-15 LTX . Discount tire told me it is only a 4 ply tire. Does this sound like a good RV tire for a 23'?

SteveSueMac · 03-13-2016, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoResults

I see people recommending a new Michelin tire the Defender coming out this month.

What is different from the current 235/75 R-15 LTX . Discount tire told me it is only a 4 ply tire. Does this sound like a good RV tire for a 23'?

See this discussion here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...xl-144555.html

Bill M. · 03-13-2016, 07:22 AM

I have been very happy through 2 sets of the 15" LTX on my 25'. So yes, if the Defender is As good as the LTX it sounds like a good fit for a dual axle 23. I would buy the LTX over the Defender just based on the past performance.

switz · 03-13-2016, 08:36 AM

My understanding from the CostCo tire chap is that the existing Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tire will be discontinue when the new Defender comes out with a slightly higher sidewall rating that still will need to be derated 10% for trailer use.

**jcanavera** · 03-13-2016, 09:51 AM

It really comes down to the fact that I tried to upscale the tires going from the Marathon's to an E rated Maxxis. I got 6 months more usage of the Maxxis tires before the belt separations started occurring. At that point I reached a decision point that said I could either continue changing out Maxxis tires every 3 years, or I could go with the larger wheels and 16" LT tires and get at least 5 years of usage. While there was the cost of the wheels, I cut that cost in half by selling the old wheels to another Airstream owner. If you are going to keep your trailer for a while, the economics of getting 5 seasons of use vs 3 seasons of use is economically justifiable.

I think there are owners here on the forum who are at or have exceeded year 5 of use with their 16" LT's. We don't see threads about the failures of those tires. I am starting year 4 of use with mine.

Jack

m.hony · 03-13-2016, 09:58 AM

What he said-

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Tbeck11931 · 03-14-2016, 05:47 PM

Anyone have a website to purchase the 16" Alloy wheels and new Michelin tires? I have a triple axle 34' limited I'm rebuilding

m.hony · 03-14-2016, 06:27 PM

I ordered my Sendel T03 wheels from a seller on Amazon.
I bought the tires locally.
Mounted and balanced myself.

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tjdonahoe · 03-15-2016, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbeck11931

Anyone have a website to purchase the 16" Alloy wheels and new Michelin tires? I have a triple axle 34' limited I'm rebuilding

King of wheels, in calif, around 110$ and no freight...
Sendel 0 offset

Tbeck11931 · 03-15-2016, 07:13 AM

Thank you for the info

switz · 03-15-2016, 08:45 AM

Bought both the 15" (T03-56445T) and 16" (T03-66655T) SenDel wheels at a local Discount Tire in Mesa, AZ.

**Rocinante** · 05-09-2016, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switz

My understanding from the CostCo tire chap is that the existing Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tire will be discontinue when the new Defender comes out with a slightly higher sidewall rating that still will need to be derated 10% for trailer use.

I just heard back from Michelin customer care regarding availability on the new Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires in the size 235/75R15 109T:

"Thank you for your email and your interest in the Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires. Since this is a new tire line some of the sizes are not yet available. Our records indicate that size 235/75R15 will launch on the first week of June. This means that dealers should be able to place an order at that time."

The last time I asked, Michelin gave me an "end of March" date. <sigh>

Oh, and like many others, when I called Costco to ask about putting these on a trailer they said two things, which I've paraphrased: (1) we don't work on trailers though we can mount the tires on rims if you bring them in, and (2) if you bring in rims and have us mount / balance the tires for you, don't tell us what vehicle you'll put these on because we'll freak out.

So, we won't be using Costco. I have neither the time nor the patience to use our "Trailer Aid" ramp to swap each rim myself, one at a time, unless it's a roadside emergency. Even then I'd try AAA first because we have their RV service option.

Hopefully, when the tires become available, we can get Discount Tire to do the deed.

**jcanavera** · 05-09-2016, 01:17 PM

As far as sites go, I bought my Sendel wheels from Tredit.com and the tires came from Discount Tire's Internet sales site. Since we have no Discount Tire in the St. Louis area, they have agreements with many tire stores in the area. Since many tire dealers will only mount ST tires on trailers, I brought in my new wheels and tires to a dealer that honored the Discount Tire deal. They pulled the tires off my Alcoa wheels and disposed of the old ST tires. They also mounted the Michelin tires and stems on my new 16" wheels. Cost for the demounting, disposal, new tire mounting and balancing was $16.50 per wheel. Not a bad deal. Dealer couldn't touch the deal I got on the tires. What was great was I got the tires delivered free and there was no sales tax on the tires. When it was time to replace the tires on the tow vehicle, I did the same thing and bought from Discount Tire's Internet site. Went back to the same local dealership for the mounting and balancing. I also gave him some additional business by allowing him to align the wheels.

Jack

**Rocinante** · 06-07-2016, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocinante

I just heard back from Michelin customer care regarding availability on the new Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires in the size 235/75R15 109T:

"Thank you for your email and your interest in the Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires. Since this is a new tire line some of the sizes are not yet available. Our records indicate that size 235/75R15 will launch on the first week of June. This means that dealers should be able to place an order at that time."

The last time I asked, Michelin gave me an "end of March" date. <sigh>

Oh, and like many others, when I called Costco to ask about putting these on a trailer they said two things, which I've paraphrased: (1) we don't work on trailers though we can mount the tires on rims if you bring them in, and (2) if you bring in rims and have us mount / balance the tires for you, don't tell us what vehicle you'll put these on because we'll freak out.

So, we won't be using Costco. I have neither the time nor the patience to use our "Trailer Aid" ramp to swap each rim myself, one at a time, unless it's a roadside emergency. Even then I'd try AAA first because we have their RV service option.

Hopefully, when the tires become available, we can get Discount Tire to do the deed.

Just ordered a set the new Michelin Defender LTX M/S 235/75R15/XL 109T tires from Discount Tire in our area. They are finally available, so we'll have them installed on Friday if all goes according to plan. There's even a $70 rebate in effect thru Saturday based on buying 4 tires.

They will mount, balance and sell us a road hazard warranty. The only thing he asked was the GVWR for the trailer (7600). He did the math and said again he would be fine with putting them on for us.

So by this weekend we'll have our new tires and Centramatics mounted. Then I'll just reprogram the TPMS for the lower pressure (44-45 PSI is the number I've been seeing here on the forum) and we we'll be good to go.

switz · 06-08-2016, 10:14 PM

The math does work out pretty well for a 27FB.

7,600 pounds GVW - 770 pounds literature tongue weight = 6,830 pounds

6,830 pounds divided by 4 tires = 1,707 pounds per tire.

Based on the older 15" Michelins I have on the 23D derated pressure of 1,983 pounds, the tires are loaded to 86% of capacity in the example above. That percentage improves (tire load decreases and so does the tire load percentage) with the actual tongue weight being higher.