16" wheels/LT tires

[Gene]

Ross, when I had 68 lbs., there was slightly more wear on the outside of the tread, then I increased pressure to 72 sometime last year. So far, I haven't driven enough miles to make a difference, so I'll check again with the gauge later this summer.

Gene

[COUNTRYSONG]

I am not a tire Guru eventhough my brother is a huge wholesale tire dealer....I run 72 lbs in my 16"- XPS Ribs and don't find anything unusual anywhere except I don't have belt separation, as I did on 9 GYMs and my tire pressure doesn't vary... I haven't added air in 6 mos...and we are now NYS residents and get a lot of Temp variation....My tire wear is such that it does'nt really show....I'm sure XPS Ribs are not so rare as stated ,and I am sure my brother probably has them in his wholesale warehouse..."Terry's Tire Town" -- Alliance, Ohio... but I see nothing wrong with the LTX M/S tire....I have run them on my SUVs for years.....and in fact have one for my spare on the AS.....

[nilesrob]

Booyaah. New wheels and tires. Don't know if they look better, can't tell if they ride better, but I sure FEEL a whole lot better.

Before picture (with my favorite plastic gray thing).

After picture (16" LTX)

15" wheels and tires for sale if anyone interested (PM me).

[casa3805]

Originally Posted by nilesrob

Booyaah. New wheels and tires. Don't know if they look better, can't tell if they ride better, but I sure FEEL a whole lot better.

Before picture (with my favorite plastic gray thing).

After picture (16" LTX)

15" wheels and tires for sale if anyone interested (PM me).

Love the look! And the grey plastic thing. I think I NEED one of those....

[nilesrob]

For those interested, the gray thing is a Rhino Ramp. Great tool to keep with you - no lift needed if you run into a flat for whatever reason. And dogs love them too. Don't remember where I got it, sorry.

[boondockdad]

"Do these wheels make me look fat?"

LOL. Maybe it's because I know it's properly outfitted, now... but the proportions just look better with 16" rubber

Enjoy!

PS. those ramps are great, only problem is they take up way too much space...

[Doug C]

Originally Posted by moosetags

I've been running Maxxis E's for the last 48,000 miles. I'm just fed up with ST tires.

Brian

I'm trying to learn and figure out what tires to buy. Why did you get fed up with ST tires? Is there something about them I should know?

Thanks,
Doug

[dznf0g]

Doug,

Use the search function and search goodyear marathon, st tires, etc, and you will have all the reading you can handle! Many, many complaints about various ST tries, especially in hot area of the country.

[Gene]

Doug, here's a post listing many links on the ST question.

Gene

Originally Posted by boondockdad

Five minutes on google, all related to Goodyear Marathon ST failures (some dating back to '08):

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ion-34105.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ace-74629.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ain-45428.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...uts-50926.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...uts-43172.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...two-84928.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ure-84703.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...res-28293.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...sue-89518.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...5-a-75896.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...hon-67407.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...res-55550.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...oll-76867.html


An excellent discussion on ST and LT tires:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ore-87862.html


And one involving MAXXIS:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ion-42493.html

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Doug C

I'm trying to learn and figure out what tires to buy. Why did you get fed up with ST tires? Is there something about them I should know?

Thanks,
Doug

I got fed up with the ST tires because I had three separate catastrophic failures (blowouts) with OEM Marathons. After that, I went to the Maxxis E's. They all suffered premature tread separation. I just got fed up with looking for new tires every time I turned around. At one point I was held up for almost a week in rural Maine, waiting for a new ST tire to be shipped in from New York.

We tow use our Airstream a bunch (1,090 nights/100,000 miles in six years). We also tow a little on the fast side (70 mph). We finally decided to bite the bullet a little over a year and a half ago and got 16" wheels and Michelin LT's. That was 35,000 miles ago. The LT's show no wear and have not given us any problems. I check the pressure often, and they never need any adjustment.

Brian

[Kosm1o]

Brian. Wow that's a bunch of miles and I knew you would put them to the test. Good report. I haven't read of any issues with them on any trailer. We opted for the 15" Michelin LTs last year as we simply couldnt justify the extra cost of switching size due to our much lower mileage than you. So far as I know, there have been no issues with the 15" tires either and they are in use on hundreds of Airstreams.

[SilverCottage]

Don't forget that the cost is the difference to go from your 15" to 16" AFTER you sell the old Marathons and rims. We got about $350 for the old tires and rims which made the move to the 16" LTX a lot less painful.

[BAB]

I recently took my brand new trailer on its first "semi-long" trip (a couple of thousand miles round trip). After I bought it last November I spent A LOT of time on this Forum trying to avoid lessons learned by other people who have years of experience with their Airstreams. It seemed to me then that if I were to prioritize any upgrades it would be safety related. The many threads on catastrophic failure of ST tires motivated me to buy 16" wheels and Michelin LT's. I did. I also invested in a TPMS. Now having towed my trailer, and having watched the tire pressure while driving up to 70 MPH (not my preferred speed), I can tell you that I would absolutely positively make the larger wheel/LT change. Remember the adage: "we repeat lessons until we learn them!" Well, this thread has way too many people who have suffered the loss of inadequate tires.

[MaxAB]

After having given much thought to the 16" upgrade I pulled the trigger a couple weeks ago. My wheels and tires came in last week.

Considering the complete Marathon failure I experienced last May - I knew that I was going to do something to limit the probability of having it happen again. I was fortunate with my blow-out that it didn't cause any collateral damage to the trailer - others of us have not been so lucky.

Reading this thread, it was extremely helpful to me in listing the Pro's/Con's regarding the upgrade. I settled on the Michelin Ribs - five of them. I'll be mounting them on new axle sets from Inland RV this week. My spare will be mounted on a newly acquired "A-frame Rack" from Out-of-Doors-Mart, as my '85 didn't come with a spare tire rack.

Regarding Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems - they provide me a peace-of-mind in knowing I'll be alerted to not only the "slow leak" but also immediate blow-outs caused by nasty road hazards. The system I use attaches an RF sensor directly to each of the valve stems, others use an internally mounted sensor inside the wheel/tire - I'm sure there are other types of systems out there. The point is, from a safety perspective, I believe TPMS's are useful technologies to minimize damage, or even injury, as we pull these rigs around on the highways.

More pix to follow after the axles are installed...

NOTE: For those who have experienced tire failures - EUBANK is conducting an interesting poll and I would recommend taking a few minutes to participate in uploading the details of your tire failure experience(s).

Keep 'stream'n the dream...

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by SilverCottage

Don't forget that the cost is the difference to go from your 15" to 16" AFTER you sell the old Marathons and rims. We got about $350 for the old tires and rims which made the move to the 16" LTX a lot less painful.

Also remember the cost to repair the damage a shredded tire can cause. For all intents replacing the wheels and tires cost less than the damage and the potential cancellation of a trip due to the damage.

Jack

[SuperTrouper]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Also remember the cost to repair the damage a shredded tire can cause. For all intents replacing the wheels and tires cost less than the damage and the potential cancellation of a trip due to the damage.

Jack

Amen

[boondockdad]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Also remember the cost to repair the damage a shredded tire can cause. For all intents replacing the wheels and tires cost less than the damage and the potential cancellation of a trip due to the damage.

Jack

Streetside:


Curbside:

[Phoenix]

Holy cow! -- Is the $17,931.82 total the actual cost to repair, or did Airstream come down from this quote? I hope you didn't have to pay this out-of-pocket...

Boondockdad; a couple of questions, if you don't mind disclosing the details:

* I notice that after the initial Goodyear Marathon tire failure, the tire failure poll indicates that you had another failure within 30 days, and more after that (within a year of the initial incident). Was all of the damage from the original tire failure; or was this damage the cumulative result of several incidents?

* Could you please advise which tires have subsequently been installed, what you are running now (tire size, brand and model), and your tire-related experience since April of 2009?

Thanks,
Phoenix

==============

Link to Airstream Tire Failure Poll: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...oll-76867.html

Note: Click on number in third column to reveal User IDs of poll respondents.

[boondockdad]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Holy cow! -- Is the $17,931.82 total the actual cost to repair, or did Airstream come down from this quote? I hope you didn't have to pay this out-of-pocket...

Boondockdad; a couple of questions, if you don't mind disclosing the details:

* I notice that after the initial Goodyear Marathon tire failure, the tire failure poll indicates that you had another failure within 30 days, and more after that (within a year of the initial incident). Was all of the damage from the original tire failure; or was this damage the cumulative result of several incidents?

* Could you please advise which tires have subsequently been installed, what you are running now (tire size, brand and model), and your tire-related experience since April of 2009?

Thanks,
Phoenix

==============

Link to Airstream Tire Failure Poll: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...oll-76867.html

Note: Click on number in third column to reveal User IDs of poll respondents.

IIRC, that was pretty much what the actual repair bill ended up being. Of course, that doesn't include the cost of gas getting the trailer there and back- or more significantly, the cost of my time to transport it. No, the actual repair bill wasn't 'out of pocket', per se...

These two repair quotes were for damage that occurred while on vacation to FL. The streetside damage happened just west of Jacksonville, on the freeway. Goodyear Marathon ST blew apart at 60mph, and left a long reinforced rubber tread attached at one end, that flailed the side of the trailer until I could get to the shoulder safely (heavy traffic).



The curbside damage occurred, from my best guess, somewhere north of Toledo, OH on our way home (about 2 weeks later). I had stopped for gas, and part of my regular routine is to walk around the rig, check the hitch, and check the running gear (psi and also temp using IR gun). Everything was AOK. But once home, I noticed the tread had completely come off the front curbside, and tore-up the lower panel, along with the wheel well lip and other trim. Interestingly enough, the tire was still inflated.

The other (3) Goodyear Marathon ST failures didn't cause any damage. One of those failures was an 'attached tread separation', that is; the tire looked fine, except it was larger in diameter-- and the disturbing thing was it did not trip my TPMS alarm. Either the sensor was not working, or the PSI drop was not enough to set off the alarm.

I'm now running 16" Tredit T02 rims, Michelin LTX M/S, 'E' load at 80 PSI. There's just under 10k miles on this new set, no problems.

PS. Goodyear covered the insurance deductibles, and reimbursed me for the cost of the tires, in all instances.

PSS. It only now occurred to me, you might be familiar with my experience- under my former screen name of "Finalcutjoe"

[Phoenix]

Thanks; really appreciate you taking the time to include the information in your last two posts.

You've certainly paid your dues for tire failures, and I wish you continued good luck and worry-free roadtrips with your 16-inch wheels and LT tires.